Memorable Manitobans: Ernest Forster Haffner (1876-1942)

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Ernest Forster Haffner
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Lawyer, businessman.

Born at Listowel, Ontario on 29 May 1876, son of John Haffner and Mary Elizabeth Forster (1845-1936), he came to Winnipeg with his family in the late 1880s. He attended St. John’s College and graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1896. He taught school for four years, serving at Whitemouth School (1893-1894), Beausejour School (1895-1896), Birds Hill School (1898), and Melita School (1900).

In 1901 he entered law school and later articled in the offices of Alexander Haggart as well as Munson and Allan, later becoming a partner in the latter firm. He was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1904 and was made a King’s Counsel in 1927. He was a director for the Dominion Bridge Company, Vice-President of the Manitoba Bridge and Iron Works and the Phoenix Elevator Company, President of the Standard Iron Works of Edmonton, Alberta, and associated with the Riverside Iron Works of Calgary.

On 20 August 1908 he married Flossie McEachern (1881-1971) at Winnipeg. They had one child, Kenneth Ernest Haffner (1911-1973). He was an avid sportsman, a member of the St. Charles Country Club, Manitoba Club, and a charter member of the Winnipeg Winter Club.

He died at the Winnipeg General Hospital on 8 February 1942 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Haffner House (71 West Gate, Winnipeg)

Sources:

Ontario birth registration, Ancestry.

Marriage registration [Ernest Forster Haffner, Flossie McEachern], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Govt. names ten King’s Counsel,” Winnipeg Tribune, 24 December 1927, page 1.

“E. F. Haffner dies Sunday aged 66 years,” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 February 1942. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B9, page 110]

Death registration [Ernest Forster Haffner], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Prominent member of Bar dies suddenly,” Winnipeg Tribune, 9 February 1942, page 11.

Death registrations [Flossie Haffner, Kenneth Ernest Haffner], British Columbia Vital Statistics.

We thank Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 20 July 2023

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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