Educator.
Born at London, England on 3 February 1887, son of Thomas Douglas Aiton McMeekin (1852-1942) and Susan Douglas Nicholson [Nickelson] Brown (1853-1929), he grew up locally, spent two years with the Fourth Territorial Battalion of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infrantry, and became a teacher.
In 1912, he immigrated to Canada following in the footsteps of his father who, in 1911, moved to Manitoba and homesteaded at NW13-20-2W in the Rural Municipality of Armstrong. In April 1915, he applied for his own homestead at SW18-20-1W and resided there from April to December 1915 while working and improving the land to fulfill the application requirements. By 1916, he relocated his primary place of dwelling back to his father's homestead, rejoining his two sisters and mother whom had arrived in 1914.
He worked as a teacher at Willowview School (1916) and was Principal of Happy Thought School (1919-1920). He was active with the 79th Cameron Highlanders of Canada [now the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada] at Winnipeg. Both his teaching career and homestead efforts came to a halt during the First World War.
In January 1917, he volunteered for military service via enlistment with the 174th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force at Winnipeg and undertook part of his training at the Minto Armoury and Camp Hughes. He departed via Halifax, Nova Scotia aboard the SS Olympic in April 1917 and arrived at Liverpool, England in May 1917. There, he underwent additional training and was reassigned to a reserve battaltion before crossing the English Channel. In November 1917, he landed on the continent. Over the 11 months he was stationed in France, he sustained gas attacks and gunshot wounds, including while at Cambrai in September 1918. He received his military discharge via the Clearing Depot at St. John, New Brunswick, in April 1919 and was demobilized. While under arms, he received military permission on 22 January 1919 to wed, whereafter he married Hilda Day [Doris] Thorington (?-?) and together they had at least one child, Ronald Douglas McMeekin (1920-1991). For his military service, he was awarded the Victory Medal and most-plausibly also the British War Medal.
In his return to civilian life, he brought home souvenirs for each of his former pupils at Willowview; the girls each received a spoon and the boys each received a pocket knife. He resumed his career in the classroom at East Selkirk, but would again return to England for much of 1921-1922, residing in Essex with his spouse and child. He also resumed the homestead process, which had been formally paused while he was on active service, and now for which he further qualified as a returning soldier, receiving his patent for land in October 1922. His whereabouts after 1922 are largely not established, though still alive and residing at London, England, as of his father's death in 1942. His later whereabouts are not yet determined.
Birth registrations [Ronald Douglas McMeekin], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Marriage registrations [Susan Jane Howatson McMeekin to Hardie Dewar, Christian Sarah Sloan McMeekin to William Coulter], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Death registrations [Susan Douglas Nicholson Mc Meekin, Thomas Douglas Aiton McMeekin], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Death registrations [Hardie Dewar, Susan Jane Howatson Dewar, Christian Sarah Sloan Coulter, William Coulter], British Columbia Vital Statistics.
1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
1916, 1921, and 1931 Canada censuses, Library and Archives Canada.
Attestation papers [Thomas Douglas Aiton McMeekin], Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.
Obituary [Thomas D. A. McMeekin], Winnipeg Free Press, 11 December 1942, page 2.
Obituary [Thomas D. McMeekin], Winnipeg Tribune, 11 December 1942, page 17.
Obituary [Thomas D. A. McMeekin], Winnipeg Free Press, 12 December 1942, page 4.
Wilderness to Wildlife: Chatfield and District History by Chatfield Oldtimers Club, c1981. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5648.C45 Wil]
Western Land Grants, Library and Archives Canada.
Federal Department of the Interior homestead files (NR 0215), Section SW 18 - Township 20 - Range 1W, GR2060, Archives of Manitoba.
Federal Department of the Interior homestead files (NR 0215), Section NW 13 - Township 20 - Range 2W, GR2060, Archives of Manitoba.
Genealogical records search, Ronald Douglas McMeekin, Ancestry.
Elmwood Cemetery burial transcriptions, FindAGrave.
History of the Regiment, The Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada.
The Medal Tales Project, Medaltales.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
We thank Gordon Goldsborough and Dan Barnfield for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 3 December 2025
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