Memorable Manitobans: Andrew Wingate McLimont (1870-1951)

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Andrew Wingate McLimont
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Electrical engineer, businessman.

Born at Quebec City on 26 March 1870, son of Andrew Wyngate McLimont, he was educated at the Ottawa Normal School then came to western Canada as part of military forces sent to quell the 1885 North West Rebellion. He began his engineering career with the Canadian Bell Telephone Company and, in 1889, began working as an electrical engineer with the Thomson-Houston Electrical Company at Boston, Massachusetts. In this capacity, he constructed electric railways in cities throughout the United States. In 1903, he became General Manager of the Dubuque Light and Traction Company of Dubuque, Iowa then entered the foreign service department of the General Electric Company, designing and operating lighting and power plants in Costa Rica, Argentina, Peru, and Mexico.

Returning to the United States, he became electrical and operating engineer for the Public Service Commission of the First District of New York. In 1909, he was appointed General Manager of the Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railroad and, the next year, became Vice-President and General Manager of the Michigan United Railways. He became Vice-President and General Manager of San Francisco-Oakland Terminal Railways in 1914 and later Vice-President and General Manager of the Georgia Power Company.

In 1917, he arrived in Winnipeg and served as General Manager and later President of the Winnipeg Electric Company, as well as Vice-President and Director of the Winnipeg Electric Railway Company, Vice-President and Director of the Manitoba Power Company, General Manager of the Winnipeg Selkirk and Lake Winnipeg Railway Company, and General Manager of the Suburban Rapid Transit Company. He organized the Manitoba Power Company which financed hydroelectric power development on the Winnipeg River. He was Vice-President of the Winnipeg Board of Trade (1918-1919), an Associate Member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and a Governor of the Winnipeg General Hospital. He retired in 1929 in poor health.

He died at his home in Ormond Beach, Florida on 4 July 1951.

Sources:

“City street railway pioneer dies in U.S.,” Winnipeg Tribune, 6 July 1951. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B10]

“Former WEC president dies in Florida,” Winnipeg Free Press, 6 July 1951, page 1.

We thank Bruce Owen for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 2 January 2020

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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