James Kirkcaldy (1867 - 1957)
5/18/2010 at 7:11 AM
Born May 18th 1867 in Fifeshire Scotland. He was the son of James Kirkcaldy, and Helen Brand.
He was educated in Fifeshire, and apprenticed in Gardening. He joined the Black Watch and was stationed for six years in Aldershot, England, County Kildar in Ireland, also in Dublin, Belfast, and Londonderry.
He was the Staff Instructor at the Hythe School of Musketry in Kent England for two years, and then immigrated to Brandon in the fall of 1891.
In April 1892 he was appointed Chief of Police, a position he held for thirteen years and four months.
On July 17th 1905 he and partner James Smith purchased the Empire Hotel, (it had 40 rooms). He was a member of the Brandon Lodge #19, and attended the Presbyterian Church.
In 1891, he married Rosina H. Perry, Daughter of Joseph Perry of Hythe England. Her birth date was in 1866, and she died on December 19th 1961 aged 95 years. They had seven children, Elsie, Kathleen, Archie, Jack, Ellen, Minnie, and Fred.
James Kirkcaldy died in Brandon on May 8th 1957, aged 90 years, and he and Rose are interned together in the Brandon Cemetery.
Kircaldy Heights School on the North Hill is named after him.
Source: The History of Manitoba. George Bryce. (1906).
http://www.brandonsd.mb.ca/kirkcaldy/ http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/kircaldy_j.shtml