Merchant, MP (1930-1935).
Born at Stayner, Ontario on 27 February 1878, a son of William Burns and Eunice Randolph, brother of Edgar L. Burns, he came to Manitoba with his family in 1878. He attended elementary school at Portage la Prairie. He taught at Flee Island School in early life, was for a time in the City Comptrollers office at Winnipeg, operated a hardware business at Oakville (1902), coming to Portage la Prairie in 1907 where he opened a hardware business.
He served as a city councillor in (1919-1920) and Mayor (1921-1930) in Portage la Prairie. He was elected to the House of Commons for the Portage la Prairie constituency in the 1930 general election but was defeated in 1935. He won the Olympic curling championship at Lake Placid, New York (1932). He was a member of the Odd Fellows (Grand Master, 1928-1929), Elks, Masons, and Kiwanis.
He died unmarried at the St. Boniface Sanatorium on 1 January 1964. He is commemorated by Burns Bay in Portage la Prairie.
Pioneers and Prominent People of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Canadian Publicity Company, 1925.
“I.O.O.F. chooses W. H. Burns as Grand Master,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 15 March 1928, page 2.
The Canadian Directory of Parliament, 1867-1967, edited by J. K. Johnson, Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa [Library and Archives Canada], 1968.
Obituary, Winnipeg Tribune, 2 January 1964, page 22.
We thank Grace Jacobs and Darryl Toews for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 10 February 2025
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