Alfred Joseph Andrews (1865-1950)

Lawyer, politician, Mayor of Winnipeg (1898-1899).

Alfred Andrews was born at Franklin Centre, Quebec on 24 April 1865, he was educated at Galt Collegiate Institute. He came to Winnipeg in 1880. As a law student, he articled to Attorney-General D. M. Walker. He interrupted his studies to serve, in 1885, in the North West Rebellion under Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Scott.

He was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1886 and formed a law firm with F. B. Robertson and Colin H. Campbell. He left the firm in 1898 when he was elected Mayor of Winnipeg, having served as a city alderman for four years before his election. His age (32) and boyish appearance earned him the nickname “the boy major.” He continued to practice law after his term ended. In 1911, he was a Barrister with the firm of Andrews, Andrews, Burbidge & Bastedo, located in the Aikins Building, Winnipeg. He served as President of the Law Society of Manitoba from 1922 to 1925.

In 1889, he married Maude Galbraith Watson of Winnipeg, a daughter of W. W. Watson. They had four daughters. He was a member of the Manitoba Club, Carleton Club, and St. Charles Country Club. Recreations: golf, riding. Conservative; Methodist. His home at 749 Wellington Crescent, where he lived from 1905 to 1950, was designed by architect George Browne.

He died at his Wellington Crescent home on 31 January 1950 and was buried in St. John’s Cathedral Cemetery. He is commemorated by Andrews Street in Winnipeg.

More information:

A. J. Andrews to Arthur Meighen: Winnipeg General Strike Correspondence by Tom Mitchell
Manitoba History, Number 24, Autumn 1992

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.

Learned Friends, Reiminiscences - Pitblado & Hoskin 1882-1974 by Anna Tillenius.

“Free Press Necrology Files”, Winnipeg Elite Study, G. Friesen Fonds, Mss 154, Box 15, File 16, University of Manitoba Archives]

Crescentwood: A History by R. R. Rostecki, Crescentwood Home Owners Association, 1993.

Profile revised: 26 December 2009

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