Thomas Duncan (c1850-1910)

Blacksmith, MLA (1892-1895), MLA (1896-1899).

Born in Scotland around 1850, he came to Manitoba by way of Ontario around 1874. When the town of Nelson was organized, he moved there, opened a blacksmith shop and served as Mayor. When the town was bypassed by the railway, he moving with the town to Morden in the 1880s. A brother-in-law of James Rippoth Bonny, he had nine children: Dr. James Duncan (b 1872), Euphemia Duncan (b 1874), Margaret Duncan (b 1876), Thomas Duncan (b 1878), Georgina Duncan (b 1880, wife of W. H. Gray), Alexander Duncan, Harry Duncan, Ernest Duncan, and Jessie Potter Duncan (wife of E. J. Boardman).

He later defeated R. P. Roblin in the provincial election of 1892, serving two terms in the Manitoba Legislature. He retired from provincial politics in 1899 and took a position with the immigration department, which took him to Syracuse, New York. He died there, of typhoid pneumonia, on 27 October 1910. His body was brought to Morden, Manitoba for burial in the local cemetery.

Sources:

1881 Canada census, FamilySearch.

“Western pioneer”, Manitoba Free Press, 29 October 1910, page 20.

“Evacuation of Nelson” by Howard Winkler, Winnipeg Free Press, 7 May 1953, page 25.

Profile revised: 29 January 2010

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