Howard Alexander Dangerfield (1871-1932)

Real estate agent.

His grandfather Samuel arrived in North America from England in the 1830s, first settling in New York state. Shortly thereafter, Samuel and his family emigrated to Oxford Mills, Ontario. Howard was born there to Samuel’s son George, and his wife Mary, on 27 August 1871. Although in England the family had been shopkeepers, they evidently had an appreciation for land. In Ontario they became farmers. By the 1850s, as Eastern Canada became increasingly settled and land more scarce, family members began to move to the American frontier as Canada’s was not yet available. The lure of free homesteads drew an uncle to Iowa, a sister to Illinois, cousins and uncles to Minnesota. Even his grandfather re-packed his bags and moved to North Dakota in the 1860s. (At the time, entire settlements in the midwestern USA were settled largely by expatiate Canadians.)

Dangerfield came to Winnipeg from Ontario in 1902 and began a career as a real estate agent, initially in the firm of Dangerfield and Doolittle, later on his own when partner Doolittle departed for Chicago. In 1909, he was married to Olive Maude Welsh, of Winnipeg. They had one daughter. His brothers James, A. H., and George moved to Alberta, British Columbia, and California, respectively. He also dabbled in stocks, particularly oil and mineral companies. His commissions were usually taken in the form of shares. He was an active Liberal and was involved in Sifton’s efforts to bring settlers to the prairies. Evidently he was a successful land speculator and accumulateda substantial portfolio of Winnipeg and Manitoba real estate. Unfortunately, most of his wealth was tied up in land, and the post World War I era was not what he or most others expected. In the land depression that took hold immediately after the war, he was forced to gradually sell all his holdings for taxes.

When Howard Dangerfield died on 29 December 1932, in Winnipeg, all that remained was the family home.

Sources:

Howard Mathieson, grandson of H. A. Dangerfield, provided information used in this sketch.

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.

Profile revised: 11 July 2009

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