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Thomas Sharpe
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Building contractor, Mayor of Winnipeg (1903-1906).
Born in County Sligo, Ireland on 14 March 1866, son of Michael William and Jane Sharpe, he was educated at National and Parochial schools. After an apprenticeship as a mason, he became clerk in the Provincial Bank of Ireland, in 1880. He came to Toronto, Ontario in 1885 where he engaged in pavement contracting. He came to Winnipeg in 1892 and served as a Winnipeg City Alderman from 1899 to 1904. He was Chairman of the Board of Public Works for three years and Mayor of Winnipeg. In 1911, he was a partner in the firm of Sharpe & Colledge, Sargent and Kennedy Streets, Winnipeg.
In 1887, he married Mary Jane Cathcart (c1870-1922) of Toronto. They had eight children: William C. Sharpe (1891-?), Ethel May Sharpe (1894-1929, wife of Samuel Llewellyn Woods), Margaret Ellen Sharpe (1896-?, Mrs. D. W. Campbell), Alice Maud Sharpe (1901-?), Olive Mary Sharpe (1903-?), Nora Evelyne Sharpe (1908-?), George Edward Sharpe (1909-?), and Robert Allan Sharpe (1910-?). He was a Conservative candidate for the Winnipeg West constituency in the 1907 provincial general election. He was a member of the Carleton Club, Adanac Club, Loyal Orange Lodge (Grand Master, 1907-1908), Clef Club, AF & AM, Conservative party, and Presbyterian church. His recreation was hunting.
He died of a heart attack on 10 May 1929, while driving with his son to Lac du Bonnet for a fishing trip. He was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery. At the time of his death, he was living at 742 Dorchester Avenue, Winnipeg.
Some of his construction works in Manitoba included:
Building
Location
Year
Status
368-372 Ellice Avenue, Winnipeg
1903
Demolished (?)
329-335 Sargent Avenue, Winnipeg
1905
Demolished (1983)
103-111 Osborne Street, Winnipeg
1906
220 Hugo Street North, Winnipeg
1912
Imperial Oil Cooperage (renovation)
955 Alexander Avenue, Winnipeg
1920
111 Park Boulevard, Winnipeg
1925
Sharpe Block (addition)
404 Qu'Appelle Avenue, Winnipeg
1927
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Woods Apartments (742 Dorchester Avenue, Winnipeg)
Birth registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
1901 and 1911 Canada censes, Automated Genealogy.
Who’s Who in Western Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of Western Canada, Volume 1, edited by C. W. Parker, Vancouver: Canadian Press Association, 1911.
A History of Manitoba: Its Resources and People by Prof. George Bryce, Toronto: The Canadian History Company, 1906.
“Thomas Sharpe, former mayor, dies suddenly,” Winnipeg Tribune, 11 May 1929. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B8]
We thank Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 26 June 2024
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