He was born in Brandon, Manitoba on June 18th 1913, and was the son of Dr.
Wilfred Abram Bigelow, who was a pioneer horse, and buggy doctor who
combined general practice, and surgery in rural Manitoba. and Grace Ann
Gordon, a nurse, and midwife.
In 1913 Dr. Bigelow Sr. founded of the first private medical clinic in
Canada it was called ‘The Bigelow Clinic’, and was located at 9th Street and
Rosser Avenue. It served a large section of the west for fifty years. When
sold it became the Clement Block, and is now the home of the Canada Trust,
and TD Bank.
Dr. Bill Bigelow attended Brandon College, and in 1938, he gained his MD from the University of Toronto. During World War II he served as a Captain in the Royal Canadian Medical Army Corps, performing battle surgery on the frontlines.
After the War in 1947 he was appointed to the surgical staff of Toronto General Hospital, after spending a year at Johns Hopkins Medical School, he went in 1948 to the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto.
In the 1950s, Dr. Bigelow developed the idea of using hypothermia as a medical procedure. This involves reducing a patient's body temperature prior to an operation in order to reduce the amount of oxygen needed, making open heart surgury safer. He performed the world's first such procedure on a dog at the Banting Institute in 1949, and was also a co-inventor of the pacemaker.
Dr. Bigelow is considered the father of Cardiovascular surgery in Canada.
He was married to Ruffi Jennings on July 9th 1941, and they were together for almost 60 years. They had four children, Pixie, John, Dan, and Bill. His
grandchildren are Scott Currie (Sarah), Susanne Coutts (Rob), Mathew
Bigelow, and Angela Beatton (Don), and three great grandchildren, Sophie and
Chloe Coutts and Stella Currie.
He wrote two books, Cold Hearts, and Mysterious Heparin.
He served as a director of the Audubon Society, and the Nature Conservancy
of Canada.
In 1981 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1997 he was
inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 1997.
Dr. Bigelow died on March 27th 2005 in Toronto at age 91.
He was predeceased by his wife Ruffi, infant brother Jack, his sisters Mary
Grant (Millard), and Toody McKinnon (Keith), and is survived by his brother
Dr. Dan Bigelow, and his wife Dr. Sonia Saceda.
A private funeral, and internment was held followed by a memorial service held at Rosedale United Church, Toronto at 2 pm on April 23rd 2005.
Source:
http://www.cdnmedhall.org/dr-wilfred-gordon-bigelow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfred_Gordon_Bigelow
18th June 2005
The Brandon Club assets were sold at Auction (see story)
THE BRANDON CLUB was formed in 1896, and was a great social institution for
Gentlemen patterned on the ‘Old Boys Clubs’ of Victorian England. The first
Club was located at 12th Street, near Rosser Avenue in Brandon. Mr.
Frederick Granville, was the moving spirit in the Clubs inception, and
superintended its construction. The building was 48 X 60 feet in area, with
three stories, and was a substantial as well as ornamental brick structure,
and one of the architectural ornaments of the city. The building contained a
magnificently fitted Billiard Hall, a spacious Dining Room, capable of
accommodating nearly 100 guests, several sumptuously furnished parlours, and
45 bedrooms, while the whole inner arrangements were the acme of neatness
and fine taste.
This first Brandon Club cost over $40,000 and was one of the finest
institutions of its class in the northwest, and was a valuable addition to
the social arrangements of the city. When completed Mr. Granville assumed
its management. He was an established club manager with many years
experience in that line, both in the Old World and the New, and under his
able conduct he was able to render satisfactory results. Mr. M. Wylie was
the assistant, and also a Gentleman of large experience, and proved a
valuable aid to Mr. Granville.
In 1904 a new Cub House was constructed opposite the old provincial
Courthouse at 1239 Princess Avenue. The interior featured Oak and Mahogany
woodwork throughout, almost every room had a fireplace. From a second floor
balcony the Gentlemen members could sit and enjoy the expansive view of the
surrounding fields and forests. Nearby was a stable of horses from which
Club Members could go riding in the countryside. During the Great Depression
the Club fell on hard times, but was rescued by Brandon Sun proprietors
Ernest Whitehead, and Ted Woodley.
Over time the Club changed, by the 1940’s women were permitted to attend
special functions, and by the 1960’s to become members. In the 1990’s the
Brandon Club was a Social Centre for men and women of all walks of life who
supported a range of local Charities. At the turn of the 21st Century plans
were made to restore the Clubhouse to its former Victorian glory. Windows
that long ago had been covered over in an attempt at energy conservation
were reopened, and when wall panelling was removed a Grand Mural was
exposed.
The transformation and renewal of the Brandon Club was recognized by the
Manitoba Historical Society when on April 3rd 2005 the Lieutenant Governor
General John Harvard, Jacqueline Friesen, and Gordon Goldsborough presented
the Club members with a Centennial Organization award, but sadly in early
June of 2005 the Club was closed and its Assets were sold by Auction on June
18th 2005.
Brandon Lawyer Mr. Carl Burch has purchased the Historic Clubhouse, and who
is converting the building into residential, and office space.
Sadly I cannot find any Heritage protection from Federal, Provincial or
municipal corporations.
Source:
http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/organization/brandonclub.shtml
On this day on June 19th 1912,
The Canadian Northern Railway invested $500,000 in the building of a luxury
hotel, proving that they regarded Brandon the "wonder city of the
northwest."
After a two-year series of complications like material shortages, occasional
accidents, strike action, loss of furniture on the Titanic on April 12th,
and frequently postponed opening dates.
The Prince Edward Hotel opened under Manager Mr. J. E. Hutchinson with a
Charity Ball to aid needed General Hospital extensions. It took two years to
build this Railway showcase hotel, but only two minutes to implode it to
rubble on February 24th 1980.
This Lot has been a Parking Site ever since, but today it looks like a long
time dream of many Skate Boarders will soon come true, and Brandonites will
be able to enjoy a new location for family fun.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_National_Hotels
Queen Victoeia’s Diamond Jubilee June 20th 1897.
On 22 September 1896, Victoria surpassed George III as the longest-reigning
monarch in English, Scottish, and British history. The Queen requested all
special public celebrations of the event to be delayed until 1897, to
coincide with her Diamond Jubilee. The Colonial Secretary, Joseph
Chamberlain, proposed that the Diamond Jubilee be made a festival of the
British Empire.
In Brandon, Manitoba, city council responded to a British Council of Women
request for a public meeting anent starting a Victoria Order of Nurses’
(VON) movement commemorating Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. This was the
sixteeth anniversary of the septuagenarian Monarch’s rein, and plans to
establish the Order were on an internnational scale.
Many leading citizens of Brandon indorced this cause, and on June 20th in
St. Mathews Church, according to proceedures suggested by the Order of the
Sons of England around the world. The Exercises were shared by other local
Fraternities, City, 90th Regimental Bands, and Firefighters in full regalia.
In accordance with the Queens wishes the collection was turnerd over to
Brandon General Hospital.
Print Records read: “Flags flew from public buildings, and private homes.
Stores were on the most part closed. Decorations, though confined to a few
places, were effective. The only merchants who showed their loyalty on the
great occation by a lavish display were Wilson, Rankin & Company, W. Warner,
and W. Miller. Their respective decorations made the Syndicate Block look
its very best.”
Source: Brandon a City, by G. F. Barker.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/castlekay/2618174135/
June 21, 1919
Bloody Saturday marks the defeat of the Winnipeg General Strike.
The province had not settled down to a happy go lucky society after the
Second World War. The inhabitants of the provinces two major cities were in
a restiveness mood, and a growing turmoil in Winnipeg suddenly erupted in to
violence on May 15th.
Local Brandon Labour Officials stated: “No strike vote will be taken here!”
Just nine days later, while confusion reigned in Brandon once again, (a
previous Brandon Strike had ended at midnight on April 26th) a sympathy walk
out began.
The first group to walk were the Telephone Operators, closely followed by
the Teamsters. Next, the city was plunged into darkness when seventeen power
plant firemen quit. A Strike committee took control, and announced that only
authorized deliveries were to be permitted. The ice dealers were prevented
from serving their regular customers, and the Medical Health Officer Mr. E.
S. Bolton pleaded with the strikers to consider what their actions might be
doing to infant lives.
The ‘Sun’ did not strike because in an Editorial they declared, “A few men
have prostituted their positions, and usurped authority that was never
invested in them.” City Hall was almost deserted after its civic employees
walked out, followed by fire department personnel who left their Stations.
Again, as in the previous strike volunteers offered their services, but the
brewing company workers, C.P.R. shop men, and C.N.R. messengers joined the
sympathetic demonstration.
In retaliation the Telephone System issued an ultimatum to its striking
Operators to resume their positions, or lose them forever. City council had
a worker replacement plan, and offered civic posts to former employees, and
then began filling the vacated places with strikers who were told to work,
or otherwise they were finished. Rumours of intimidation followed acceptance
of such reinstatements.
At a mass meeting in the Opera House Mayor McDiarmid refused to recognise
the Strike Committee. Union spokesman Brother Fred Baker blamed the “Sun”,
and roared, “Labour men have been condemned by the yellow press of Brandon,
and we will not stand for it!” As well he protested the arrest of nine
Winnipeg strike leaders, including three Russians, and the contentious Mr.
William Ivens, calling for their immediate release.
Quite suddenly on June 25th the Winnipeg strike was over, and while Brandon
sympathisers hesitated, a statement from His Worship the Mayor pointed out
that because City Council had never received a proper Declaration, striking
civic employees had therefore deserted their posts. In addition, the
Aldermen refused to reinstate the workers, or withdraw an Agreement
renouncing “sympathetic” activities.
This led to yet another Labour offensive, Pumping House coal handlers quit,
and another mass meeting was called. Mr. H. M. Bartholemew urged the
strikers to “Stand pat,” while Socialist Baker said the strike would end if
all ‘slave pacts’ were suppressed. The Reverend A. E. Smith, who had
resigned from the Methodist Church so that he could serve in a Labour
Temple, spoke up. “We have everything except justice.” President Broadhurst
of the Civic Employees Union avowed: “Winnipeg may be beaten, but it is now
our fight.”
The labour dispute had run its course, many ‘Bread Winners’ had resigned
from the Trades, and Labour Council to return to their former positions, but
then followed a rash of stoned domicile windows.
Late in the night of June 30th a raid on the Fraternal Hall, and the Record
Printing Company offices by Mounted Police was carried out to seize
literature, and books described as ‘sedious material’. Also at the same time
armed with Search Warrants, lawmen raided the homes of railroaders, Mr. T.
Hancock, and Mr. Fred Baker.
Only Mr. Baker placed a grievance, he claimed some money disappeared from
his home. This was the final straw that caused the five week long
demonstration to ‘peter out’ after the citizens of Brandon lost interest,
and city industry spluttered back to normal.
Source: Brandon a city by G. F. Barker.
http://manitobia.ca/cocoon/launch/en/themes/strike/1
The first HMCS Brandon (K 149) was De-commissioned on June 22nd 1945, and
broken up in Hamilton Ontario the same year.
This ship was a “Flower Class Corvette (1939-1940)” that was commissioned in
Quebec City on July 22nd 1941. The Ship builder was ‘The Davie Shipbuilding
and Repair Co. Ltd.’ of Lauzon, Quebec. Her Keel was laid down on the 10th
of August 1940, and she was launched on April 22nd 1941.
She was 205.1 feet in Length, 33.1 feet in Breadth, had Draught of 11.5
feet, and a Displacement of 950 Tonnes. She was armed with one 4-inch Gun,
Lewis, and Machine Guns, two anti-submarine mortars, and two depth charge
racks located at the stern.
Her top speed was 16 Knots and she arrived in Halifax on August 1st 1941.
Her personnel consisted of 6 Officers, and 79 Crew member5s.
Her first assignment was with the Newfoundland Command and on September 26th
she left St. John’s for her first Convoy, SC 46. She served on ocean escort
duty to and from Iceland until December when she was sent to the United
Kingdom for three months to undertake repairs.
After three weeks of “work ups” at Tobermory she was deployed almost
continuously on the “Newfie-Derry” run from the middle of March 1942 until
September 1944.
From December 1942 she served with the Escort Group C4. In February 1943 she
was assigned to helping Convoy HX 224, and the following month she was
escorting convoys to and from Gibraltar.
In August 1943, she was docked at Grimsby, England for a three month
“Re-fit”, and on the 4th of March 1944 she was docked in New York, N.Y. for
a Foc’sle extension.
On February 5th 1945 she arrived back in St. John’s to join the Western
Escort Force, in which she remained until the end of WW II. At this time she
was of no further use to the Navy and was thus scrapped.
Source:
http://www.pbase.com/cjmax/image/59370168
http://www.ebrandon.ca/profile_blog.aspx?person_id=5983
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/Mariners/2001-05/0989587186
D’Alton McCarthy (1836 – 1898)
June 23 1896 - D’Alton McCarthy was the first MP elected for the new riding
of Brandon. The problem was the Dublin, Ireland born lawyer was elected in
Brandon, and also Simcoe North, Ontario. He chose to sit as member for the
latter forcing a By-election in Brandon.
He was born on the 10th October 1836, to Protestant parents, and immigrated
to Canada with them in 1847, and was educated in Barrie Ontario. He was
called to the Bar of Upper Canada in 1858, and was elected to Parliament as
a Conservative in 1876. He was re-elected in 1878 to the constituency of
North Simcoe, which he represented continuously until his death. McCarthy
claimed himself independent from 1891, the day prior to the election, then
for identification sat as a member of the “McCarthyite” party (presumably
for his last name).
After the 1891 election he began to advocate reform of the Protective
Tariff, a divergence from Tory policy that led in 1893 to a break with the
party. During the 1890s he continued his vehement opposition to
French-language schools, and his support of Manitoba's eradication of
denominational schools as a way of suppressing French instruction.
Consequently, he and his McCarthyite League worked to defeat the Federal
Conservatives in the election of 1896.
McCarthy was at the centre of the most heated political issues of his day.
He was President of Canada's Imperial Federation League for 7 years,
although he was forced to resign because of his support for unilingualism.
He relentlessly opposed the use of the French language outside Québec, and
voted against his leader over the Jesuits’ Estates Act. After the 1896
election he forged an alliance with Wilfred Laurier’s Liberal Party. It was
rumoured he was about to enter Laurier’s Cabinet at the time of his death.
He died in Toronto May 11th 1898 at age 61 following a carriage accident.
He was married twice, first to Emma Catherine Lally on 21st October 1867,
and second to Agnes Elizabeth Bernard on 15th July 1873. His son was named
Lally McCarthy.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27Alton_McCarthy
Thomas Mayne Daly…(1852 –1911)
He suddenly died on June 24th 1911 at his home in Winnipeg. Mr. Daly was
born in Stratford Ontario on August 16th 1852. He was the second Son of
Thomas Mayne Daly, and Helen McLaren. His childhood was blessed with
politics because it was the main topic of conversation at the Dinner Table.
He finished his education at Upper Canada College in Toronto, and was called
to the Bar of Ontario in 1876. He began his law career in Stratford where he
gained his first political experience as a Town Councilor, and Chairman of
the Public School Board.
In 1879 he married Margaret Annabella Jarvis, daughter of P. R. Jarvis, of
Stratford: she bore him two sons: Harold Mayne Daly born, 23rd April 1880,
who he died in 1969, and Kenneth Robinson Daly born on 26 February 1883 the
date of his death is unknown.
In 1881 he moved to Manitoba, and became the first Lawyer in Brandon,
population 100, and on July 3rd 1882 he became the first Mayor of Brandon,
Population 3,000, and guided the early development of the city.
He resigned his position of Mayor in December of 1882. From 1887 to 1896 he
represented Selkirk in the Dominion House of Commons, and from 1892 to 1896
he was ‘Minister of the Interior’ in the administration of Sir John
Thompson, and Sir Mackenzie Bowell making him the first Cabinet Minister
from Manitoba. He was not included in the Cabinet formed in 1896 by Sir
Charles Tupper, and declined to stand for re-election at the polls.
From 1901 to 1908 he was Police Magistrate of Winnipeg, and from 1909 to his
death Judge of the Juvenile Court in Winnipeg, the first such position in
all of Canada.
Judge Daly died suddenly of a kidney haemorrhage in 1911 at the young age of
59. He was given a Civic Funeral in Winnipeg, but Flags were also flown at
half-mast in Brandon.
Mr. Daly was buried at the Avondale Cemetery in Stratford, Ontario with the
rest of his pre-deceased family.
Daly Street in Winnipeg, Daly Crescent in Brandon, Daly Bridge on Eighteenth
Street in Brandon, and the Rural Municipality of Daly in Manitoba
commemorate him. His Brandon home at 122-Eighteenth Street is operated as
Daly House Museum.
Source:
http://www.mts.net/~dalymus/tmdaly.html
www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/daly_tm.shtml
Jubilation marked the arrival of 11 ‘Mounties’ on June 27th 1919.
The year of 1919 marked calls for a purge of Brandon’s local police force,
but citizen’s representatives were also mired in a venture that they had
started a few weeks earlier.
They had acted on little more than determination to acquire the services of
a locally established ‘Scarlet Riders’ detachment to be quartered at the
Exhibition Grounds, and had even voted monies to improve the facilities to
be used.
The day arrived when eleven ‘Mounties’ in full uniform, carrying rifles, and
marched with a Military appearance from the C.P.R. Depot to the Beaubier
Hotel.
Then came a Royal North West Mounted Police (R.N.W.M.P.) Commissioner advice
that Tenders for the proposed Barracks had exceeded the government estimates
of its cost, and had therefore been turned down.
The city in the mean time had undertaken, at Ratepayer’s expense laying
water, and sewer lines along Eighteenth Street towards the proposed
Barracks, and so this project was abruptly halted.
Irked resident’s learned that the original eleven Mounted Police had now
been increased to a one hundred, and fifty man contingent, and that they
were to be housed at the Armoury on Eleventh Street and Victoria Avenue.
Ottawa authorities were informed that Brandon had incurred expenses, and
that the city was against the Militia quarters plan. The city fathers felt
that the spending of money on alterations there were unwarranted.
Ottawa ignored Brandon’s concerns, and Armoury remodelling went ahead
anyway.
Source: Brandon a City, by G. F. Barker.