Memorable Manitobans: Joseph Haig (1849-1942)

Farmer, municipal official, curler.

Born at Colborne, Ontario on 17 June 1849, he brought his family to western Manitoba in 1883 and settled on a farm at Alexander. On 21 February 1877, he had married Elizabeth Broatch (1847-1930) at Hastings, Ontario. They had seven children: John Thomas Haig, Isabella Temple Haig (1879-?), Margaret K. “Maggie” Haig (1884-?), Kennethe McMahon Haig, Gordon S. Haig (1889-?), Clive Hastings Haig (1893-1968), and a foster son Arthur Haig (1899-?).

He organized the local school district and was chairman of the first school board. He helped to establish the local Presbyterian church and was a member of its first board of managers. He served as a police magistrate and was many years a councillor and Reeve for the Rural Municipality of Whitehead. In the latter capacity he attended the 1905 founding meeting in Brandon of the Union of Manitoba Municipalities. He moved to Winnipeg in 1925.

Curling was his favorite recreation and, at the time of his death, he was described as the oldest curler in Canada, having played the game for over 60 years. He attended 53 annual bonspiels of the Manitoba Curling Association of which he was an honourary life member. He also held life memberships in the Strathcona Curling Club, Thistle Curling Club, and Assiniboine Lawn Bowling Club.

He died at Winnipeg on 7 February 1942 and was buried in the Kildonan Presbyterian Cemetery.

Sources:

Marriage registration, Ancestry.

Birth registration [Margaret Xarifa Haig], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

“Mrs. Jos. Haig, well known in Winnipeg, dead,” Winnipeg Tribune, 16 April 1930, page 3.

“Joseph Haig, early resident, dies aged 92,” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 February 1942.

“Where was Haig before slaying?,” Winnipeg Tribune, 4 July 1968.

Obituary [Clive Hastings Haig], Winnipeg Free Press, 4 July 1968.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 1 August 2023

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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