Memorable Manitobans: John Bracken (1883-1969)

Professor, MLA (1923-1927), MLA (1927-1932), Premier of Manitoba (1922-1943), MLA (1933-1936), MLA (1937-1940), MLA (1941-1945), MP (1945-1949).

Born in Ellisville, Ontario on 22 June 1883, son of Ephriam M. Bracken and Alberta Gilbert, he graduated from the Ontario Agricultural College. He was a government employee until he became a professor of field husbandry at the University of Saskatchewan in 1910. Ten years later he took an appointment as principal of the Manitoba Agricultural College. One of his activities was a major survey of farm conditions in Manitoba. Within two years he had become premier of the province, his seat in the legislature representing The Pas. Although he regarded himself as a Progressive, most of his governments were of the coalition variety, distinguished for their cautious non-partisanship and reflection of the rural interests of the province.

In 1943 Bracken reluctantly became the leader of the federal Conservative Party, insisting that it add the word “Progressive” to its name. He was not a successful leader. He did not actually enter the House of Commons until 1945 (from Neepawa), and he lacked charisma. On the other hand, he did push the party towards acceptance of the welfare state. Bracken stepped down from the leadership in 1948, subsequently serving as chair of a Royal Commission on the liquor laws of Manitoba. He was also Chairman of the “Box Car Commission” in 1959, established to investigate the distribution of railway cars. He wrote two books, Crop Production in Western Canada (1920) and Dry Farming in Western Canada (1921), the latter book appearing just as the worst drought in Prairie history began.

In 1909, he married Alice Wylie Bruce (1883-1971), with whom he had four sons. The couple was inducted into the Manitoba Order of the Buffalo Hunt on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary, on 22 June 1959. He received an honorary degree from the University of Manitoba in 1927, and he was inducated to the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame.

He retired to Manotick, south of Ottawa, to raise Jersey cows, Palimino horses and Shetland ponies. He died at Ottawa, Ontario on 18 March 1969 and was buried in Rideauvale Cemetery at Kars, Ontario. There are papers at the Archives of Manitoba.

More information:

Documents and Archives: The Bracken Collection at the Provincial Archives of Manitoba
Manitoba History, Number 13, Spring 1987

John Bracken by John Kendle (1979).

“John Bracken, 1922-1943 ” by Robert Wardhaugh and Jason Thistlewaite in Manitoba Premiers of the 19th and 20th Centuries, edited by Barry Ferguson and Robert Wardhaugh, Canadian Plains Research Centre, 2010.

Sources:

Pioneers and Prominent People of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Canadian Publicity Company, 1925.

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by J. M. Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

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

We thank Susan Bracken for providing additional information used in this profile.

This profile was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Profile revised: 11 November 2010

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