Born at Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland in 1863, brother of James McDiarmid and uncle of John Stewart McDiarmid, he came to Canada in 1883 and was a veteran of the 1885 North West Rebellion. In 1903 he established the J. McDiarmid general contracting business in Winnipeg. He was active with the Builders’ Exchange for many years.
On 19 April 1894, he married Christina Graham (1866-1946) at Winnipeg and they subsequently had six children: Lillian Graham McDiarmid (1895-1982), Annie Isabel McDiarmid (1897-1978), Kathleen Jessie McDiarmid (1898-1978), John Menzies McDiarmid (1900-?), and Peter Graham McDiarmid (1902-1903). He was a member of the Winnipeg Curling Club and St. Stephens Broadway United Church.
He died at his Winnipeg home, 363 Langside Street, on 7 November 1943 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.
Some of his construction works in Manitoba included:
Building
Location
Year
Status
87 King Street (88 Arthur Street), Winnipeg
1901
705-707 Main Street, Winnipeg
1901
Demolished (1998)
611-617 Main Street, Winnipeg
1901
Birth and marriage registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
“J. McDiarmid, builder, dies,” Winnipeg Tribune, 8 November 1943. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B9, page 142]
“John McDiarmid dies Sunday at age of 80,” Winnipeg Free Press, 8 November 1943, page 2.
We thank Nathan Kramer and Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 14 December 2023
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