Memorable Manitobans: David “Dad” Morrison (1861-1942)

Contractor, magistrate, municipal official.

Born at Scotland on 4 December 1861, son of John Morrison, he immigrated to Canada with his parents in 1866 and settled at Selkirk in 1878. On 30 April 1892, he married Mary Elizabeth Leask (1863-1944) at Winnipeg. They had seven children: Charles Alfred “Alf” Morrison (1892-1918), Marguerite Morrison (1893-?, wife of Henry Hawes), John William “Crunchy” Morrison (1895-?), Wilfred Laurier “Robert” “Bobby” Morrison (husband of Beulah Lyall Dickinson), Lionel Morrison (1898-?), Clifford Gersha Morrison (1904-?), and Walter Emmett Morrison (1906-1918). Alf, Crunchy, and Bobby played for the 1916 Allan Cup-winning 61st Battalion, and Alf and Lionel lost their lives overseas during the First World War.

He worked as a contractor across the province and served the community and district of Selkirk as a Police Court Magistrate, municipal councillor, and immigration official for the federal government in charge of East Selkirk and West Selkirk. He was also President of the Senior Manitoba Hockey League. A longtime Mason, he joined Lisgar Lodge, where he became Master (1903) and Life member (1934).

Following a heart attack in his office, he died at the Selkirk General Hospital on 5 January 1942, with burial in the St. Clements Mapleton Cemetery.

Sources:

Birth, marriage, and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

1901 Canada Census, Automated Genealogy.

“Alf. Morrison, one of former Allan Cup winners, missing,” Manitoba Free Press, 28 December 1917, page 6.

“Selkirk liquor infractions,” Manitoba Free Press, 12 November 1919, page 2.

“Savage, charged with attempt to poison his wife, to face hearing,” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 January 1936, page 12.

“Dr. Morrison, Selkirk, honored on birthday,” Winnipeg Free Press, 7 December 1938, page 12.

“D. Morrison, hockey stars’ father, dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 6 January 1942, page 2.

““Dad” Morrison, Selkirk pioneer, dies suddenly,” Winnipeg Tribune, 6 January 1942, page 3.

“Mrs. David Morrison, Selkirk, dies Sunday,” Winnipeg Free Press, 29 May 1944, page 2.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Charles Alfred Morrison.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 6 December 2014

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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