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Arthur W. Puttee
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Labour leader, MP (1896-1900), MP (1900-1904).
Born at Folkstone, Kent, England on 25 August 1868, son of William and Elizabeth Puttee, he was apprenticed as a printer. He came to Brandon in 1888 but worked for some years in the United States, chiefly in Seattle and St. Paul, before settling in Winnipeg in 1891. He was the Manager of Winnipeg Printing and Engraving then, from 1923 to retirement in 1953, was the proprietor of Printers’ Roller Company.
He was active in the International Typographical Union and was Canada’s first labour MP (Independent Labour), winning a hotly-contested by-election in January 1900 against Edward Daniel Martin. One campaign jingle went, “The Martin is a summer bird / Uncertain of his flight / But year round Puttee sticks and hears / The stalwart’s ‘Voice for Right.’”
There were charges that he was Clifford Sifton’s candidate, particularly in the November 1900 election, which Puttee again won. It was true he had much Liberal support. In 1904, he found labour sentiment had moved leftward and the Liberals no longer trusted him. He was easily defeated in the general election, even losing his deposit. From 1897 he was a moderate labour leader, editor of the radical newspaper The Voice, in which he had a financial interest until its collapse in July 1918, after which his role in Winnipeg’s labour movement diminished. During the 1940s, he called for the expulsion of “reds” from unions which he felt had become dangerously strong.
He was one of the strongest voices in favour of the organization of a Canadian Labour Party based on the British Labour Party model. He and Richard Arthur Rigg were nominated early in 1918 to meet with Prime Minister Borden on the conduct of the war, but neither man attended. In the 1922 provincial general election, he was one of eight Progressive candidates for a Winnipeg seat in the Manitoba Legislature, the others being George F. Chipman, Thomas J. Murray, Richard W. Craig, Martha J. Hample, Patrick James Henry, Peter McCallum, and Charles K. Newcombe.
On 15 December 1892, he married Gertrude Mary Strood (1869-1952) and they had six children: Harold Ewart Puttee (1894-1984), Gertrude Elizabeth Puttee (1896-1990, wife of John Francis Hyde), Dorothy Frances Puttee (1898-1980, wife of Christian Andreasen), Winnifred May Puttee (1901-1943), Arthur Tyrell Puttee (1904-1966), and Agnes Marjorie Puttee (1906-1991, wife of John Seymour Farmer, daughter-in-law of Seymour James Farmer). The family lived on College Avenue and later at 267 Queenston Street. He was a member of First Unitarian Church of Winnipeg.
He died at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital on 21 October 1957. There are scattered but extensive papers at the Archives of Manitoba.
Birth registrations [Harold Puttee, Gertrude Elizabeth Putter, Dorothy Frances Puttee, Winnifred May Puttee, Arthur Tyrell Puttee, Agnes Marjorie Puttee], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Puttee elected,” Manitoba Free Press, 6 February 1900, page 6.
Marriage registration [Gertrude Elizabeth Puttee, John Francis Hyde], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Vote Progressive for a united province,” Winnipeg Tribune, 3 July 1922, page 5.
Death registration [Gertrude Mary Puttee], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Labor Council pioneer dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 22 October 1957, page 24.
The Canadian Directory of Parliament, 1867-1967, edited by J. K. Johnson, Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa [Library and Archives Canada], 1968.
Obituary [Dorothy Frances Andreasen], Winnipeg Free Press, 18 April 1980, page 51.
Times of Trouble: Labour Quiescence in Winnipeg 1920-1929 by David Edward Hall, MA thesis, University of Manitoba, 1983, page 17.
Obituary [Harold Ewart Puttee], Winnipeg Free Press, 3 April 1984, page 49.
Obituary [Gertrude Elizabeth Hyde], Winnipeg Free Press, 20 March 1990, page 38.
Obituary [Agnes Marjorie Farmer], Winnipeg Free Press, 2 June 1991, page 32.
Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 25 June 2024
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