Municipal official.
Born at Moorefield, Ontario on 23 October 1879, son of Thomas Edward Thompson (1856-1903) and Huldah A. Cowan (1855-?), he came to Winnipeg as a boy and was educated at the first Central School and Euclid School.
In 1893, he began working as a messenger with the City of Winnipeg, later having a job in the City Clerk’s office, from 1896 to 1899. He worked for the Public Parks Board in 1899, and was assistant Clerk with the City Treasurer in 1900. By 1911, he was the City Treasurer, a position he held until his retirement in October 1944. He was a founding member of the Board of Administrators of the Teachers’ Retirement Fund Act (1925-1947).
In 1909, he married Ellen “Nellie” Stuart (1881-?, daughter of James Stuart). They had no children. He was a member of the Masons and founding President of the Civil Curling Club (1904-1905). He was made an honorary life member of the Manitoba Curling Association (1934).
He died at his Winnipeg home, 121 Garfield Street, on 15 April 1946 and was buried in the Brookside Cemetery.
1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
Death registrations [Thomas Edward Thompson, Harry Cowan Thompson], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
A History of Manitoba: Its Resources and People by Prof. George Bryce, Toronto: The Canadian History Company, 1906.
“Biographical sketch --- No. 5,” Winnipeg Tribune, 26 August 1910, page 1.
Who’s Who in Western Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of Western Canada, Volume 1, edited by C. W. Parker, Vancouver: Canadian Press Association, 1911.
“H. C. Thompson, former city treasurer, dies,” Winnipeg Tribune, 15 April 1946. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B9]
“Former city treasurer is dead,” Winnipeg Free Press, 15 April 1946, page 1.
Obituary, Western Municipal News, June 1946, page 158.
“Norquay sits where Selkirk Settlers once sowed grain” by Claire Tisdale, Winnipeg Free Press, 1 February 1949.
We thank Rick Mutton for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 31 October 2025
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