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William Andrew Windatt
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Coal merchant.
Born at Bowmanville, Ontario on 31 December 1860, son of Richard Windatt and Janet Younie, he began his business career as a clerk in a Bowmanville branch of the Ontario Bank. He came to western Canada while a young man and worked in the banking and coal businesses at Port Arthur, Portage la Prairie, and Moose Jaw and also worked for a time for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Settling at Winnipeg in the early 1890s, he founded the Windatt Coal Company with which he remained involved for the remainder of his life. In 1896 he also became manager of the Home Investment Company, and he had a financial interest in several other companies, including Foothill Collieries.
On 6 July 1887, he married Elizabeth Ann Shedden (1862-1928) at Oxford County, Ontario. They had five children: Florence Shedden Windatt (1888-1967), Constance Windatt (1891-1971), Arthur Enderton Windatt (1895-1968), Richard Donaldson Windatt (1901-1986, son-in-law of Andrew Boak Alexander), and Margaret Windatt (1904-1962). Their Winnipeg residence was designed by architect John H. G. Russell. Windatt was a member of the Manitoba Club, St. Charles Country Club, Holy Trinity Anglican Church, and Masons.
After a lengthy illness, he died at his Winnipeg home, 657 Wellington Crescent, on 5 March 1924. He was buried in the St. John’s Cathedral Cemetery.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Windatt House (657 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg)
Marriage registration, Ancestry.
Birth and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“W. A. Windatt, local pioneer, called by death: Prominent business man of Winnipeg passes away after brief illness,” newspaper clipping (no source) dated 5 March 1924. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B7]
“W. A. Windatt dies after long illness,” Manitoba Free Press, 6 March 1924, page 6.
Obituary [Florence Shedden Windatt], Winnipeg Free Press, 12 August 1967, page 32.
Obituary [Constance Windatt], Winnipeg Free Press, 10 December 1971, page 28.
Obituary [Richard Windatt], Winnipeg Free Press, 14 January 1986, page 44.
Crescentwood, A History by R. R. Rostecki, Winnipeg: Crescentwood Home Owners Association, 1993.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 24 October 2022
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