Real estate agent, developer, businessman.
Born at Monaghan County, Ireland, on 8 December 1864, son of R. McKittrick (c1856-?) and Catherine McKittrick (c1861-?), he immigrated to Canada with his parents in 1867, settling at Toronto, Ontario. He worked as a butcher around 1881 before venturing west, arriving at Winnipeg in 1882. He worked as a real estate agent, loan agent, and insurance broker, becoming heavily invested in property development, construction, and owned many apartment blocks and houses, eventually becoming one of the larger landowners in the city.
Beginning around 1909, he began spending the winter months in the southwestern United States for health reasons, traveling to Arizona, Colorado, and California. He married Edith Orvis (1874-1923) of California on 14 November 1910 and had a daughter, Madeline McKittrick. He lived at 551 Beresford Avenue and owned a significant amount of property in the neighbourhood. He was a strong supporter of a single-tax system.
In 1924, he became ill with pulmonary disease and moved to California permanently. He died at Redlands, California on 20 March 1927 and was buried locally. Bequests from his estate, valued at $250,000, went to the St. Joseph’s Orphanage, Ninette Sanatorium, Home of the Good Shepherd, Children’s Home, Middlechurch Old Folks’ Home, and Winnipeg Municipal Hospitals.
He is commemorated by McKittrick Park, on land which he donated to the city, as well as the McKittrick Clinic for Pulmonary Diseases at the King Edward Hospital. The clinic was opened officially by his daughter on 1 June 1938. A bronze plaque noting his donation was affixed near its entrance.
Some of his construction works in Manitoba included:
Building
Location
Year
Status
235 Burrows Avenue, Winnipeg
1900
643-647 Portage Avenue / 325 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg
1904
465 Beresford Avenue, Winnipeg
1911
469 Beresford Avenue, Winnipeg
1913
517 Beresford Avenue, Winnipeg
1913
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: McKittrick Park (790 Rathgar Avenue, Winnipeg)
1881 Canada census, Library and Archives Canada.
1901 & 1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
“M. T. McKittrick,” Manitoba Free Press, 11 May 1900, page 6.
“McKittrick and Eastman,” Manitoba Free Press, 4 November 1903, page 7.
“Demands investigation,” Winnipeg Tribune, 16 July 1912, page 8.
“$25,000 fire in Fort Rouge,” Winnipeg Tribune, 25 June 1912, page 8.
“Fire department blamed for loss of big building,” Winnipeg Tribune, 3 July 1912, page 2.
Winnipeg Estate file #14886, Edith O. McKittrick, Archives of Manitoba.
“Parks board accepts offer,” Winnipeg Tribune, 6 June 1924, page 3.
“Martin McKittrick dying at Whittier, California,” Manitoba Free Press, 28 April 1924, page 11.
“McKittrick Park is given name of donor,” Manitoba Free Press, 20 June 1924, page 7.
“[Martin McKittrick],” Manitoba Free Press, 17 July 1924, page 10.
“City and district,” Manitoba Free Press, 27 January 1925, page 4.
“Martin M’Kittrick dies in California,” Manitoba Free Press, 22 March 1927, page 4.
Winnipeg Estate file #17842, Martin T. McKittrick, Archives of Manitoba.
“Martin T. McKittrick left estate valued at quarter million,” Manitoba Free Press, 20 March 1928, page 5.
“Plaque to honor large donor to city hospitals,” Winnipeg Tribune, 19 February 1938, page 2.
“Municipal hospitals stand guard against epidemics,” Winnipeg Tribune, 11 May 1938, page 10.
“McKittrick Clinic to open Wednesday,” Winnipeg Tribune, 28 May 1938, page 8.
“A fine citizen,” Winnipeg Tribune, 2 June 1938, page 13.
“Pools are sheer joy to baking children,” Winnipeg Free Press, 30 July 1941, page 3.
Winnipeg fire insurance map, #133 February 1963, City of Winnipeg Archives.
Obituary [Madeline McKittrick], Winnipeg Free Press, 7 April 2005, page 20.
Mageary Irene family tree, Ancestry.
We thank Gordon Goldsborough for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 4 February 2024
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