Businessman.
Born at Guelph, Ontario on 17 August 1869, he began working with the Alaska Feather and Down Company at Montreal, Quebec. He was sales manager for the firm (1901-1904). He came to Winnipeg in 1904 and founded the Alaska Bedding Company, serving as its President and General Manager until selling the business in 1919 and forming the Parkhill Bedding Company. The product line was expanded in 1927 with the manufacture of upholstered furniture including a type of couch which folded down into a bed. The firm had warehouses in the major cities of western Canada and another plant in Calgary.
On 10 August 1897, he married Alys Elaine Smith (c1867-1953, daughter of John J. Smith) and they had two children: Roy Hamilton Parkhill (?-1971, father of Roy Hamilton Parkhill) and Enid Parkhill (1906-1985, wife of James Henry Firth). He was Chair of the Prairie Division of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association, and a member of the Manitoba Liquor Commission and director of the Young Men's Christian Association. He was a member of the Winnipeg Board of Trade, Carleton Club, Elmhurst Golf and Country Club, Southwood Golf Club (President, 1925-1926), Manitoba Club, Winnipeg Flying Club, Masons (Northern Light Lodge), St. Charles Country Club, Winnipeg Winter Club, and Augustine United Church.
He died at Winnipeg on 20 May 1944 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Parkhill House (182 Spence Street, Winnipeg)
Birth registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
1906 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
“J. H. Parkhill dies in hospital,” Winnipeg Tribune, 20 May 1944, page 13.
“J. H. Parkhill’s widow dies at age of 86,” Winnipeg Free Press, 20 July 1953, page 7.
Obituary [Roy Hamilton Parkhill], Winnipeg Free Press, 3 July 1971, page 35.
Death registration [Enid Parkhill Firth], British Columbia Vital Statistics.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 20 November 2024
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