Memorable Manitobans: Colin Howell Campbell (1859-1914)

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Colin Howell Campbell
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Lawyer, MLA (1900-1903), MLA (1903-1907), MLA (1908-1910), MLA (1911-1913).

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Colin Howell Campbell
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Born at Burlington, Ontario on 25 December 1859, son of John Hook Campbell and Jane Kennedy, he was educated in the public schools of Burlington and Oakville, and the Toronto Law School. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1881 and practised for a time at Port Perry, Ontario, before coming to Manitoba in January 1882.

He was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1882 and joined the law firm of F. Beverley Robertson and Alfred Joseph Andrews. Robertson left the firm in 1888 and Andrews left when he became Mayor of Winnipeg, in 1898. The firm continued as Campbell & Crawford until 1903 when it became known as Campbell, Pitblado, Hoskin and Grundy. He served as a Bencher for the Law Society of Manitoba in 1889. In 1893 Campbell was appointed a Queen’s Counsel, and called to the Bar of the North-West Territories in 1893.

On 16 July 1884, he married Minnie Julia Beatrice Buck, of Palermo, Ontario. They had two children: Colin Howell Campbell (1903-?) and Elizabeth Gertrude Campbell (1908-?). He was a founding member, in 1905, of the St. Charles Country Club, and also a member of the Manitoba Club and Adanac Club. He served as a President of the Winnipeg Burns Club and the Winnipeg YMCA (five years). In 1891, he was appointed to the University of Manitoba’s Board of Governors, and served as its Chairman (1897-1914).

He served briefly as a Winnipeg city councillor in 1889. In the federal by-election of 1893, he was an unsuccessful candidate for Winnipeg. Six years later, in the Manitoba general election of 1899, he won as the Conservative member for the constituency of Morris and entered the cabinet of Hugh John Macdonald as a Minister Without Portfolio on 10 January 1900. On 9 October 1900, he was appointed Attorney-General and was re-appointed by Rodmond Palen Roblin, Premier of Manitoba, on 29 October 1900, which portfolio he held until 1911. He was re-elected in 1903, 1907, and 1910. He was appointed Minister of Education and Municipal Commissioner on 11 October 1911. Later he was appointed Minister of Public Works, and remained in that ministry until his retirement from politics in 1913.

Brother-in-law of A. W. Hooper.

He died at Winnipeg on 24 October 1914 and was buried in the St. John’s Cathedral Cemetery. His papers are in the Archives of Manitoba.

See also:

Colin H. Campbell, Dictionary of Canadian Biography XIV, 173-76.

MHS Centennial Business: Pitblado LLP

Sources:

Birth registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

The Story of Manitoba by F. H. Schofield, Winnipeg: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1913.

“Hon. Colin Campbell answers summons,” Winnipeg Free Press, 26 October 1914, page 1.

Pioneers and Early Citizens of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Manitoba Library Association, 1971.

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

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 2 July 2019

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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