Farmer, merchant.
Born in Scotland on 13 May 1863, he emigrated to Canada with his family in 1885 and settled on a farm in an area of southwestern Manitoba that subsequently became known as Broomhill. In 1892, he was appointed postmaster at Broomhill, holding the position until his death. He also built and operated a general store there in partnership with his brother John. In 1893, a sample of his wheat won a first prize at the World’s Fair in Chicago.
With wife Isabella Jeffrey (1864-1929), he had eleven children: Jessie Kilkenney (1886-?), Maggie Emond Kilkenny (1887-?), William Owen Kilkenny (1888-?), Mary J. Kilkenny (1890-?), Irene Isabella Kilkenny (1892-?, wife of Michael J. Cuddihy), Thomas Jeffrey Kilkenny (1893-?), John Kilkenny, Elizabeth Jeffrey Kilkenny (1895-?), Helen Shiel Kilkenny (1897-?), Robert Emond Kilkenny (1900-1916), and David Gibson Kilkenny (1902-?). Active in municipal politics, he served on the council of the Rural Municipality of Arthur and was its Reeve in 1905.
He died of heart failure at Melita on 25 October 1919 and was buried in the Broomhill Cemetery.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Kilkenny General Store (Broomhill, Municipality of Two Borders)
1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Birth and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Death of Wm. Kilkenny,” Manitoba Free Press, 30 October 1919, page 1.
Our First Century: Town of Melita and Municipality of Arthur, Melita-Arthur History Committee, 1983, Manitoba Legislative Library F5648.A78.
Post offices and postmasters, Library and Archives Canada.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Eileen Cuddihy for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 1 January 2019
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