Memorable Manitobans: Andrew Allison “Andy” Moffat (1895-1964)

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Andrew Allison Moffat
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Lawyer.

Born at Blandford, Dorset, England on 16 June 1895, one of three sons of Rev. Andrew Moffat, his childhood was spent at Edinburgh, Scotland. His family emigrated to Canada in 1904 when his father was appointed Presbyterian cleric at Victoria Lake in southern Manitoba. He lived successively at Holmfield, Beausejour, Poplar Point, Dryden (Ontario), Sanford, and Miniota. After finishing his public school education in Winnipeg, he began working in the law office of Thomas Roberts Ferguson. In 1915, he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, served in France where he was wounded at The Somme, and was taken prisoner, remaining in Germany until the end of the war.

Following his return to Winnipeg in 1919, he completed his legal training, articled with the firm of Aikins, Loftus and Company and was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1923. He worked in the office of the Manitoba Attorney-General from 1923 to 1929 when he succeeded Robert Blackwood Graham as Crown Prosecutor for the City of Winnipeg. He was made a King’s Counsel in 1933. He was appointed Deputy Attorney General for Manitoba in 1946 and served until 1950 when he moved to Ottawa as a member of a Royal Commission for a major revision of the Canadian Criminal Code. He returned to Winnipeg in 1953 and joined the law firm of Aikins, MacAulay, Moffat, Dickson, Hinch and McGavin where he was senior litigator.

On 31 July 1930, he married Jean Mitchell (c1896-1984) of Winnipeg at Graysville and they had a daughter and a son.

He died at the Winnipeg General Hospital on 20 May 1964 and was buried in the Garry Memorial Park.

Sources:

Attestation papers, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.

Marriage registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Moffatt-Mitchell,” Manitoba Free Press, 2 August 1930, page 27.

“Builders of greater Winnipeg,” Winnipeg Tribune, 18 June 1931, page 32.

“Eight members of Bar of Manitoba added to ranks of King’s Counsel,” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 January 1933, page 3.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 21 May 1964, page 29.

Obituary [Jean Moffat], Winnipeg Free Press, 21 August 1984, page 46.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

We thank Darryl Toews for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by James Arnett and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 6 June 2023

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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