Memorable Manitobans: John Lawson McBride (1879-1959)

Labour leader.

Born at Orangeville, Ontario on 4 March 1879, he became active in trade unions while living in Toronto in 1900. Moving to Winnipeg in 1904, he became a delegate on the Winnipeg Trades and Labour Council. For some 30 years, he was Business Manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, retiring in 1946, and he served as Reeve of the Municipality of Assiniboia (1923-1924). He abandoned labour politics and was a member of the Conservative party when, in 1925, he ran for a seat on the Winnipeg city council against a Independent Labour Party candidate. In 1926, he was forced to resign from the WTLC when he caused outrage among labour groups over his support for Mayor R. H. Webb’s reelection bid. On 29 April 1908, he married Elizabeth Catherine McMillan (1880-1963) at Winnipeg and they subsequently had three children: Beatrice Hazel McBride (1909-?), John Lawson McBride (1911-1945), and Mary McBride (1913-?). He died at his Winnipeg residence, 663 Strathcona Street, on 12 April 1959 and was buried in the St. James Cemetery.

Sources:

Birth and marriage registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

“In labor circles,” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 September 1950, page 13.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 13 April 1959, page 31.

Obituary [Elizabeth C. McBride], Winnipeg Free Press, 21 January 1963, page 14.

Times of Trouble: Labour Quiescence in Winnipeg 1920-1929 by David Edward Hall, MA thesis, University of Manitoba, 1983, page 15.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

We thank Rod Stewart for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 11 April 2019

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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