Manitoba Business: Portage Mutual Insurance Company

Link to:
Presidents | Sources

In 1884 a group of farmers around Portage la Prairie met to discuss the difficulty in obtaining insurance on farm property. They decided to form a company and, in October 1884, obtained a charter from the Manitoba Legislature for the Portage la Prairie Mutual Fire Insurance Company. This was the first cooperative insurance company in western Canada.

The founding members were as follows:

James Armson

Selkirk Bannerman

Thomas T. Bell

James Brydon

John Brydon

James Bowman

A. B. Currie (Killarney)

James Cuthbert

Thomas Dalzell

John Dilworth

A. J. Fisher

William Gair

Angus Grant

Hugh Grant - Director

A. J. Green

Charles J. Green (?-1897) - Director

James McBain

Rod McCaig

James McKenzie

Kenneth McKenzie (1822-1911) - Director

L. D. McLean - Director

Lachlan W. McLean (1846-1913)

J. J. Mellen

R. Munro

Thomas Munro

William Munro

Thomas Oliver

John Smith (1817-1889)

George Tidsbury - Director

T. E. Wallace - Director

R. Watson

Maxwell Wilton (1837-1925) - Director

Presidents

Period

President

1884-1887

Kenneth McKenzie (1822-1911)

1888-1891

Elias Brown

1891-1896

Charles J. Green (?-1897)

1897-1910

Thomas Sissons

1911-1920

William Fulton (1846-1920)

1921-1935

Edwin Herbert Muir (1868-?)

1935-1950

Mathew G. Tidsbury

1950-1973

Joseph Charles Miller (1891-1987)

1973-1984?

Earl Brown

Managers

Period

Manager

?-1925

Reginald Henry Murray Pratt (1854-1925)

Sources:

Tread of the Pioneers, written and edited by Joseph H. Metcalfe and published by the Portage la Prairie and District Old Timers’ Association, 1932.

A Century of Service, 1884-1984: The Portage Mutual Insurance Company (1984).

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 8 September 2023