Lawyer.
Born at Pembroke, Ontario on 27 October 1879, son of William P. Sweatman and Elizabeth Lyle Angus (1851-1924), he was educated at Tuckwell’s Private School (Winnipeg), St. John’s College, and the University of Manitoba (BA 1900, MA 1909). He articled in law with W. J. Tupper, F. H. Phippen and Isaac Pitblado and was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1906.
He was a partner in the firm of Richards, Sweatman, Kemp & Fillmore from 1913 to 1940. He defended Thomas Kelly in the litigation over the construction of the Manitoba Legislative Building, and was a Crown lawyer in the Winnipeg General Strike trials. He was a member of the Committee of 1,000 in 1919, and President of the Winnipeg Board of Trade (1921-1925). He served as assistant solicitor for the Canadian Northern Railways, from 1906 to 1912, and a Director of the Traders’ Trust Company, Occidental Fire Insurance Company, and other financial enterprises. He was made a King's Counsel (1920).
On 16 February 1910, he married Constance Winifred Newton (1879-1962, daughter of Charles Henry Newton) and they had four children: Travers Fraser Sweatman (1913-?), Constance Janet Sweatman (1917-?), Francis Sweatman (?-?), and Alan Travers Sweatman. He was a member of the Manitoba Club, the St. Charles Country Club, and the Lakewood Country Club. He was a founding member and one-time President of the Winnipeg Winter Club (1936-1937). In 1938, he ran for Mayor of Winnipeg against John Queen but was defeated in a close race.
He moved to Toronto, Ontario in 1940 and practiced law with the firm of Arnoldi, Parry and Campbell. He died suddenly at Toronto on 8 September 1941. There are papers at the Archives of Manitoba.
1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Birth registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“40 barristers and 9 K.C.s don gowns,” Winnipeg Tribune, 23 December 1920, page 1.
“Travers Sweatman K.C. dies suddenly in East,” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 September 1941. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B9]
Pioneers and Prominent People of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Canadian Publicity Company, 1925.
Obituary [Constance Winifred Sweatman], Winnipeg Free Press, 10 August 1962, page 35.
Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.
Obituary [Alan Sweatman], Winnipeg Free Press, 14 April 2012.
We thank Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 5 November 2024
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