Born in Ontario in November 1869, he came to Winnipeg in the 1890s and worked in building construction. On 1 July 1897, he married Mary Eleanor Pollard (1870-1953) at Winnipeg and they subsequently had five children: Mildred Isabel Johnston (1903-1980, wife of Harry Alexander Tomkins), Allan Theodore Johnston (1904-?), Mary Helen Johnston (1907-?, wife of L. J. Bryant), Edna Mae Johnston (1910-1970, wife of George Allan Kitson Massey), and Gordon Alexander Johnston (1912-?). The family lived at 395 Spadina [later Stradbrook] Avenue (circa 1911). Despondent over a prolonged illness, he drowned in the Red River at Winnipeg on 23 April 1923 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.
Some of his construction works in Manitoba included:
Building
Location
Year
Status
468 Stradbrook Avenue, Winnipeg
1905
Burrows Block (repairs)
235 Burrows Avenue / 1056-1060 Main Street, Winnipeg
1906
Birth, marriage, and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
“Missing man found drowned,” Winnipeg Tribune, 3 May 1923, page 6.
Obituary, Winnipeg Tribune, 3 May 1923, page 17.
Obituary [Mary Eleanor Johnston], Winnipeg Free Press, 10 February 1953, page 24.
Obituary [Edna Massey], Winnipeg Free Press, 24 October 1970, page 40.
Obituary [Mildred Isabel Tomkins], Winnipeg Free Press, 28 November 1980, page 61.
We thank Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 2 July 2024
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