Civil servant, lawyer, educator.
Born at Rosseau, Ontario on 25 September 1881, son of William Flowers Sirett and Margaret Symington (1854-1938), he came to the Manitoba with his family as an infant. He grew up and was educated in the Glendale School District and went on to attend Wesley College, graduating with BA (1908) and LLD (1912) degrees and articled with Garland & Anderson. To help pay for his post-secondary education, for a time he taught in rural school districts, including at Ravens Glen School (1904). In 1912, he resided briefly with his parents at Neepawa before settling and practicing law at Rossburn (1913-1916).
In March 1916, he enlisted at Winnipeg for military service with the 196th Overseas Battalion (Western University Battalion) of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He trained at Camp Hughes and completed machine gun school. In November 1916, he sailed from Halifax to Liverpool and served in France and Belguim. In October 1917, he transferred from the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles Battalion to the 8th Canadian Maching Gun Company and, one month later, received a facial gunshot wound at Passchendale. His actions in the battle earned him the [Belgian] Croix de Guerre (1918) for bravery in the rescuing of wounded comrades while himself injured. After evacuation to hospital and recovery, he worked as a military instructor before being shipped back to Canada in January 1919. In February 1919, he was demobilized as a Corporal and was also awarded the Victory Medal and British War Medal.
Around March 1919, he gained employment as the District Registrar of the Neepawa Land Titles Office.
On 6 August 1919, he married Neepawa School teacher Winnifred Thompson (1898-1975, remarried to Robert Duncan Kippen in 1920) at Neepawa. They were on their honeymoon at Clearwater Lake when he drowned on 17 August 1919. He was buried in the Riverside Cemetery.
Attestation papers, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.
Marriage [Evenezer Tom Sirett to Winnifred Thompson, Winnifred Sirett to Robert Duncan Kippen] and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Decorated by King of Belgians,” Manitoba Free Press, 11 March 1918, page 3.
“Roblin locals,” Roblin Review, 29 January 1919, page 1.
“The Real Property Act,” Shoal Lake Star, 3 April 1919, page 4.
“E. T. Sirrett [sic] drowned while on honeymoon,” Manitoba Free Press, 19 August 1919, page 4.
Riverside Cemetery [Neepawa] burial transcriptions, FindAGrave.
Newdale Cemetery burial transcriptions, FindAGrave.
Obituary [Winnifred Kippen], Winnipeg Free Press 29 December 1975, page 37.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 18 December 2023
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