Shoe merchant.
Born at Durham, Ontario on 2 December 1872, son of William Creelman and Annie Duthie, he was educated in Durham and Georgetown, quitting school at the age of 14 to work in the firm of McLeod and Anderson at Georgetown. He moved to Toronto in the 1890s where he worked until 1897 when he came to Manitoba to take a job in the clothing department of the firm of Wilson and Rankin at Brandon. A year later, he started his own shoe business in partnership with R. R. Dowling.
His military service started with the Queens Own Rifles of Toronto. He joined the 99th Manitoba Rangers when it was first organized in Brandon, serving as Quartermaster and Acting Captain). He was in command of “A” Company at the outbreak of the First World War and joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1915. He was a Major with the 79th Battalion went he went overseas in March 1916, serving at Ypres, Somme, and the Regina Trench where he was wounded and invalided to Canada. He operated the W. J. Creelman Company until retirement in 1955.
On 3 June 1902, he married Etta I. Laidlaw (?-1960, sister of Charles Walter Laidlaw) at Brandon. They had four children: Hubert Duthie Creelman (1903-?), Edward Evan Creelman (1904-?), Helen Irene Creelman (1907-?), and Genevieve Creelman (?-?, wife of R. W. Mummery). The family lived at 322 Fifteenth Street, Brandon. He was a member of First Presbyterian Church, Masons (Tweed Lodge), Brotherhood of American Yeomen, Retail Merchants Association, Brandon Athletic Club, Brandon Board of Trade, and Brandon Curling Club (President, 1909-1910).
He died at the Deer Lodge Hospital on 2 February 1964 and was buried in the Westlawn Memorial Gardens.
Marriage registration [William Creelman, Etta I Laidlaw], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Birth registrations [Hueber Duthie Creelman, Edward Evan Creelman, Helen Irene Creelman], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
The Story of Manitoba by F. H. Schofield, Winnipeg: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1913.
Pioneers and Prominent People of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Canadian Publicity Company, 1925.
Attestation Papers, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.
Obituary, Brandon Sun, 4 February 1964, page 11.
We thank Rick Mutton for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 19 December 2025
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