Memorable Manitobans: Edgar Allan Deacon (1887-1958)

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Edgar Allan Deacon
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Lawyer, municipal official.

Born at Mattawa Nipissing, Ontario on 2 October 1887, son of J. M. Deacon and Mary Kelly, he was educated at Mattawa Public and High Schools, and Stanstead College (Stanstead, Quebec). He articled in law to Elliott, McNeil and Deacon of Winnipeg, and was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1911. He practised in Winnipeg until 1923, moving to Crystal City in January 1923. He was the first Mayor of Crystal City, serving from 1948 to 1955. He was made a Queen’s Counsel in 1953.

On 26 June 1912, he was married to Olive May Decatur (1889-1988) and they had two children: Allan Arthur Deacon (1917-1939) and Mary Elizabeth Deacon (1928-1987, wife of Donald Shuttleworth).

During the First World War, he served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force with the 226th Battalion under Lieutenant-Colonel Gillespie, with the rank of Lieutenant. He saw service at Passchendaele, Arras, Amiens, Cambrai, Canal du Nord, and Valenciennes. He returned to Canada in March 1919. During the Second World War, he was director of auxiliary services on the staff of Canadian military headquarters in Ottawa, from 1940 to 1945. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire.

He was one of the founding members of the Manitoba Association of Urban Municipalities, was Chair of its first Resolutions Committee, and became its second President, serving in 1951.

He died at Crystal City on 5 October 1958 and was buried in the Crystal City Cemetery.

Sources:

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

Marriage registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“City woman first QC in Manitoba,” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 January 1953.

Obituary [Mary Elizabeth Shuttleworth], Winnipeg Free Press, 10 August 1987, page 26.

“Crystal City barrister, soldier dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 6 October 1958, page 10.

Obituary, Western Municipal News, November 1958, page 344.

Obituary [Olive May Deacon], Winnipeg Free Press, 8 March 1988, page 35.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 28 August 2020

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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