Born at Bruce County, Ontario on 5 October 1866, he apprenticed on lake boats in the East before moving West to Manitoba in 1891 and joined a ship crew on Lake Winnipeg. In 1898, he earned a First Mate Certificate and became Second-in-Command to Captain T. E. Pollock aboard the Premier. In 1904, he earned his Captain’s papers, then taking charge of the Lady of the Lake, before going on to captain the Wolverine and Keenora. He retired in the mid-1920s, after which he moved to Lake Winnipegosis, there entering the lumber business and working as a fisherman for Booth Fisheries. On 24 March 1898, he married Lydia Maria Andrews (1873-1954) at Winnipeg and they subsequently had five children: Sadie May Vance (1901-?), Jennie “Jennette” Vance (1902-?), Winifred Maria “Winnie” Vance (1905-?, wife of Roy Adam Purvis), and Violet Marie Vance (1907-?), and David Andrew Vance (1909-1947). He died in West Kildonan on 11 July 1936 and was buried in the Little Britain Cemetery.
Birth, marriage, and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
1901 & 1911 Canada censes, Automated Genealogy.
“Captain Alex. Vance, veteran lake Skipper, dies at age of 69,” Winnipeg Free Press, 13 July 1936, page 4.
“Veteran lake boat Skipper dies Saturday,” Winnipeg Tribune, 13 July 1936, page 7.
“Five from Winnipeg on passenger list,” Winnipeg Free Press, 29 April 1947, page 1.
Obituary [Roy Adam Purvis], Winnipeg Free Press, 17 June 1980, page 59.
Little Britain Cemetery, FindAGrave.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 7 September 2015
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