James Osborne McLenaghen (1892-1950)

Lawyer, MLA (1927-1932), MLA (1933-1936), MLA (1937-1940), MLA (1941-1945), MLA (1946-1949), MLA (1950-1953).

Born at Balderson, Ontario on 4 September 1891, son of John McLenaghen and Elisabeth McIlquhan, he was educated at Balderson, Portage la Prairie Collegiate, and the University of Manitoba (BA). The family came to Canada and settled in Lanark County, Ontario, and his father came West and located near Portage la Prairie. McLenaghen was articled in law to Arthur Meighen and was called to the Bar in 1918. He practised with W. R. Sexsmith at Portage la Prairie for a year, then went to Selkirk.

In 1919, he married Catherine Newman of Portage la Prairie, with whom he had a son and a daughter.

He was first elected Conservative MLA for Kildonan in 1927, and was re-elected in 1932, 1936, 1941, 1945, and for a new riding in 1949. He held many cabinet posts in the 1940s. He lived at Hawthorne Lodge, Little Britain. He sometimes farmed at Selkirk.

There are some papers at the Archives of Manitoba.

Sources:

“Five Manitoba lawyers made King's Counsel” Winnipeg Tribune, 1 January 1937. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B9]

Profile revised: 29 November 2008

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