Memorable Manitobans: Robert Briggs Hetherington (1844-1920)

Carpenter, farmer, jailer.

Born at Smith’s Falls, Ontario on 12 July 1844, son of John Hetherington and Eliza Briggs, he left home at the age of 21 years and trained as a carpenter prior to moving to Manitoba in 1879. The next year he worked at Portage la Prairie and, in the spring of 1881, he took up a farmstead north of Douglas which he operated until 1902. He also engaged in a lumber business at Douglas during this time. He was appointed provincial jailer at Brandon in February 1903.

In 1872, he married Mary Jane Mathers (1851-1911) and they had eight children: Robert George Hetherington, Charles Wesley Hetherington, Thomas Henry Hetherington, William James Hetherington, Albert Edward Hetherington, John Christopher Hetherington, Francis Briggs Hetherington, and Etta Angeline Hetherington. He was a member of the Independent Order of Foresters and Loyal Orange Lodge.

He died at Vancouver, British Columbia on 21 March 1920 and was buried in the Mountain View Cemetery.

Sources:

A History of Manitoba: Its Resources and People by Prof. George Bryce, Toronto: The Canadian History Company, 1906.

Obituary [Mary Jane Mathers Hetherington], Daily News Advertiser, 3 March 1911, page 3.

Obituary, Vancouver Daily Sun, 22 March 1920, page 3.

We thank Darryl Toews for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 25 May 2024

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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