Memorable Manitobans: James “Jim” Jackson (1889-1961)

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James Jackson
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Businessman, contractor, sportsman.

Born at Winnipeg on 3 November 1889, son of Thomas Jackson and Eliza Edmondson (1862-1920), he attended Carlton School, Isbister School, and Mulvey School. With his father and brother John Jackson, he carried on the Winnipeg-based building supply, fuel and contracting company Thos. Jackson & Sons. With his brother and a second partner Scott Fowler, he organized the Nelson River Construction Company in 1923 and the Scott Jackson Construction Company in the mid-1930s.

For many decades, the Jackson brothers hosted a popular sporting fraternity gathering at The Coal Hole in the back room of Thos. Jackson & Sons office on Colony Street in Winnipeg for many decades. The brothers were avid bowlers. Together, they enjoyed horse racing and co-owned, along with trainer William Flemming, the world champion pacer “Winnipeg”. Purchased as a four-year-old at Portage la Prairie in 1926, “Winnipeg” set the one-mile pacing record that held for 20 years.

On 20 November 1912, he married Greta Rae McBain (1887-1959) at Winnipeg and they had three children: Thomas Graham Jackson (1914-1980, husband of Muriel Patricia Boulton), Robert James Jackson (1916-1918), and Shirley Louise Jackson (1919-1999, wife of William Elric “Bill” Boivin). He was a member of St. George's Anglican Church.

He died at Winnipeg on 25 Apr 1961 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.

Sources:

Birth registrations [Gretta Ray McBain, James Jackson, Thomas Graham Jackson], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

Marriage registration [James Jackson, Greta Rae McBain], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

Obituary [Greta R. Jackson], Winnipeg Free Press, 7 September 1959, page 11.

This page was prepared by Julia McIlvride and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 30 November 2023

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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