Memorable Manitobans: Gerald Stewart Rutherford (1890-1987)

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Gerald Stewart Rutherford
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Lawyer, civil servant.

Born at Winnipeg on 15 December 1890, son of William Thompson Rutherford and Agnes C. Stewart, he was educated at Winnipeg public schools, Guelph (Ontario) Collegiate Institute, and the University of Manitoba, graduating in 1911 from the latter with an Arts degree. He was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1914. His law career was interrupted by military service during the First World War, where he served with the 52nd Canadian Infantry Battalion from March 1915 to December 1918. He received the Military Cross from King George V.

Returning to Winnipeg, he practiced law with the firm of Aikins and Loftus from 1919 to 1926, later in partnership with Alfred Beatty Rosevear to 1930. He was then appointed Chairman of the Debt Adjustment Board, serving to 1940, then Counsel to the Controllers of Munitions and Supply Department at Ottawa. In 1941, he became Legislative Counsel to the Manitoba provincial government, serving to 1964 after which he was Revising Officer for the government from 1964 to 1972. He was made a King’s Counsel in 1948. He served as Chairman of the Uniformity of Law Conference. In 1986, he was inducted into the Manitoba Order of the Buffalo Hunt.

In 1918, he married Margaret Hope McRae (1892-1942) of Ottawa and they had two daughters, Margaret Hope Rutherford (1919-1998, wife of Herbert Marquis Pickard) and Nancy Ruth Rutherford (1924-2014, wife of W. J. Sissons). After his first wife’s death, he married Sophia Amy Woodman de Jardin (1897-1980), daughter of John Woodman, in 1959.

He died at Winnipeg on 15 July 1987 and was buried in the St. John’s Cathedral Cemetery.

Sources:

Birth registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

Obituary [Sophia Amy Rutherford], Winnipeg Free Press, 23 February 1980, page 40.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 18 July 1987, page 63.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

We thank Hope Smith and James Kostuchuk for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 24 August 2023

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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