Farmer, municipal official, historian.
Born at Penrith, Cumberland, England on 9 January 1870, son of William Metcalfe, he came to Manitoba in the late 1880s and successively farmed near Dauphin, Portage la Prairie, and Langruth. He moved to Portage la Prairie in the early 20th century, where he served as the Mayor of Portage la Prairie from 1919 to 1920 and was influential in making the city one of the first in the province to install hydroelectric power provided by the Manitoba Power Commission (forerunner of Manitoba Hydro). He was also Chairman of the Children’s Aid Society of central Manitoba and, for five years, President of the Manitoba Hospital Association. He wrote Tread of the Pioneers, a history of the Portage la Prairie area, in 1932. He died at Portage la Prairie on 3 January 1938 and was buried in Portage Hillside Cemetery.
“Birthday congratulations to”, Winnipeg Free Press, 9 January 1934, page 9.
“J. Metcalfe succumbs at Portage”, Winnipeg Free Press, 3 January 1938, page 1.
Death registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 29 June 2012
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