Memorable Manitobans: David Adrian Mulligan (1893-1981)

Municipal official.

Born at Pembroke, Ontario on 13 October 1893, he came to Winnipeg in 1910. An avid sports fan, he was especially interested in boxing and baseball, and for some years was President of the Diamond Fastball League. Employed by the Canadian National Railways from 1915 to 1957, and retiring as a stationary engineer, he was a member of the Brotherhood of Maintenance and Way Engineers, and the CN Veterans’ Association. Following retirement, he was appointed supervisor for the railway at Grand Beach and he managed the Grand Beach Hotel in its final year of operation.

On 29 April 1919, he married Pearl Cuddeford (1900-1969). His favourite pastime was building boats and he was a familiar sight on Lake Winnipeg in his boat Valtannis, named for his daughters, Val and Tannis.

He was a founding member of the Manitoba CCF Party and later the New Democratic Party, running unsuccessfully in the 1940 and 1957 federal general elections and the 1958 provincial general election. He served on the Winnipeg city council for 18 years, including a term as Deputy Mayor, between 1944 and 1967. He and his wife were inducted into the Manitoba Order of the Buffalo Hunt for their role in the 1957 Pine to Palm Cavalcade in which a group of Manitobans travelled to Louisiana to promote tourism. In 1970, the Manitoba Historical Society gave him its Centennial Medical in recognition of “his efforts in improving the summer beach resort of Grand Beach and for his years of public duty to the community”.

He died at Winnipeg on 8 August 1981 and was buried in the Assumption Cemetery.

Sources:

1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

Marriage registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Eight contest six Ward 1 vacancies,” Winnipeg Tribune, 21 October 1961.

Obituary (Pearl Mulligan), Winnipeg Free Press, 28 April 1969, page 28.

“Ex-alderman, deputy mayor, David Mulligan dies at age of 88,” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 August 1981, page 6.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 10 August 1981, page 41.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 11 September 2023

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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