Newspaper publisher.
Born at Drayton, Ontario on 20 October 1881, son of John and Clara Smith, he came to Portage la Prairie with his parents at an early age. He was educated locally, and then became a newspaper apprentice, working for a number of newspapers before joining the staff of the Daily Graphic in Portage, which he purchased in 1922. He also published the Manitoba Liberal weekly paper.
On 4 June 1930, he married Maude Augusta Hawley (?-?) at Portage. He was active with the Red Cross, Portage Hospital Board, and Portage Horticulural Society. He was President of the Portage la Prairie Curling Club (1914-1915). He died at Portage la Prairie on 3 April 1946 and was buried in the Portage Hillside Cemetery.
1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Marriage registration [Norman Stanley Smith, Maude Augusta Hawley], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Norman Smith, Portage paper publisher, dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 April 1946. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B9]
Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, December 1999, 288 pages.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Rick Mutton for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 18 February 2026
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