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John Cowan Gillespie
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Businessman, soldier.
Born at Hamilton, Ontario on 26 February 1863, son of George H. Gillespie and Elizabeth Agnes Gillespie, he was educated at Upper Canada College. He came to Winnipeg in 1888 as a member of the firm of George D. Woods Company. By 1925, he was General Manager of Wood, Vallance Ltd. He retired from business in 1928.
Before 1910, he served for seven years in the 13th Royal Regiment at Hamilton, Ontario. He was an original officer of the 79th, 43rd, and 179th Cameron Highlanders of Canada, rising from the rank of Lieutenant to Captain to Major. He sailed with the 43rd Battalion to England. In November 1915, he returned to Canada in charge of "unfits" being sent back from England. Upon the organization of the 179th Battalion on 12 January 1916, he served as Major and sailed with it to England. He remained in England and was posted to the 11th and 14th Reserve Battalions. He returned to Canada, being struck off strength of the Canadian Expeditionary Force as a surplus officer on 24 December 1917. He commanded the Cameron Highlanders of Canada from 5 August 1920 until 1 December 1922.
On 24 June 1891, he married Mary Louise Scoble (1869-1939, eldest daughter of Thomas Clarkson Scoble) at Winnipeg. They had no children. He was a member of the United Service Club, Manitoba Club, Motor Country Club, and Presbyterian church.
He died at his Winnipeg home, Broadway Place, on 15 August 1936 and was buried in the St. John’s Cathedral Cemetery.
Marriage registration [John Cowan Gillespie, Mary Louise Scable], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Pioneers and Prominent People of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Canadian Publicity Company, 1925.
“The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Souvenir”, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1935, compiled and edited by Lieutenant-Colonel J. D. Sinclair, V.D.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 17 August 1936, page 16.
“Col. J. C. Gillespie, veteran O.C. of Camerons, dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 17 August 1936, page 4.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Stuart McLean for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 10 December 2023
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