Civil engineer.
Born at Montreal, Quebec in 1839, son of Dr. William Forrest, he attended military college in Quebec then worked as a civil engineer on the Intercontinental Railway. In 1873 he came to Manitoba as a member of a group of engineers locating the route of the Canadian Pacific Railway between Kenora and Winnipeg. He remained with the CPR until the federal government turned it over to private interests in the 1880s. He then served as a government railway inspector and General Manager and Receiver of the Great Northwest Central Railway. When that road was taken over by the CPR, he became District Engineer with the Canadian Northern Railway, holding the position until retirement in 1913. He had three children: W. Wilson Forrest, H. F. Forrest, and Ida Forrest. He died at his Winnipeg home, 120 Scott Street, on 18 January 1915. He is commemorated by the community of Forrest, north of Brandon.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Forrest House (120 Scott Street, Winnipeg)
“Early Manitoba engineer dead”, Manitoba Free Press, 18 January 1915 [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B6]
Death registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Geographical Names of Manitoba, Manitoba Conservation, 2000.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 20 March 2020
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