Farmer, agricultural implements dealer, municipal politician, curler.
Born at Stornoway, Scotland on 5 April 1874, son of Angus McAskill (1844-1915) and Isabella Burns (1848-1926), he was educated in Scotland. In 1887, he came to Canada with his father, who homesteaded and started a tailoring business at Gladstone. McAskill attended the Winnipeg Business College and farmed with his father until 1906, and was a Road Agent for the J. I. Case Machine Company. In 1908, he started an agricultural implements business and served as Provincial Auto License Inspector from 1916 to 1919.
He was a member of the Gladstone Board of Trade, Gladstone School Board, and Gladstone Town Council for many years, being elected Mayor of Gladstone in 1924. He was a member of the Riding Mountain Association that advocated for the creation of Riding Mountain National Park, in 1930.
On 26 June 1907, he married Alice Maud Manwaring (1883-1975) of Birtle and they subsequently had four children: Hazel Isabel McAskill (1908-?), Rhoda Matilda McAskill (1910-?), Roderick Murry McAskill (1912-?), and Robert Francis McAskill (1920-?). His brother, Robert McAskill, played third man on the famous McAskill curling rink. He was one of Manitoba’s best known curlers, having skipped many rinks at Winnipeg annual bonspiels. He won the Empire trophy in 1908 and the Dingwall trophy in 1925. He was made an honorary life member of the Manitoba Curling Association (1936).
He died on 16 September 1957 and was buried in the Gladstone Cemetery.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Riding Mountain Visitor Centre (Wasagaming, Riding Mountain National Park)
1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Marriage registration [Roderick McAskill, Alice Maud Manwaring], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Birth registration [Hazel Isabel McAskill, Rhoda Matilda McAskill, Roderick Murry McAskill, Robert Francis McAskill], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Pioneers and Prominent People of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Canadian Publicity Company, 1925.
Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, December 1999, 288 pages.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Rick Mutton for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 30 October 2025
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