Montague Aldous (1850-1946)

Businessman.

Born at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on 30 September 1850, son of the Honourable John Aldous, he was educated at Prince of Wales College (Charlottetown) and Bowdoin College (Maine). He came to Winnipeg in 1874, in the employ of the Dominion Government (Surveys). He retired from Government work in 1882, and entered the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company in charge of their surveys for several years; later in charge of their Land Department. He resigned from the HBC in 1907. He served as President of the Association of Manitoba Land Surveyors from 1888 to 1892. [1]

In 1882, he married Mary Agnes Bate, daughter of Sir Henry Bate of Ottawa, with whom he had seven children: Claude Aldous (b 1883), Ethel Aldous (b 1883), Gerald Bate Aldous, Allen Aldous (b 1886), Henry Aldous (b 1888), John Aldous (b 1889), and Doris Thornton Aldous (b 1892). He served as President of the Manitoba Club (1909 to 1912), and was a member of the St. Charles Country Club, and the Winnipeg Hunt Club. Conservative. Anglican.

After his retirement, he lived during the winter at the Manitoba Club, summered at the Lake of the Woods, and between seasons spent time in Montreal and Barbados, where he was regarded as a “character”. Fond of curling, fast cars, golf, and sailboats, he was a huge bear of a man, 6 feet, 4 inches tall, and weighing 300 pounds.

He died on 25 May 1946.

Sources:

Who’s Who in Western Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of Western Canada, Volume 1, 1911. C. W. Parker, editor. Canadian Press Association, Vancouver.

1. Association of Manitoba Land Surveyors, 1930 Annual Report.

We thank Alan Crossin for information used in this sketch.

This profile was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Profile revised: 7 February 2010

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