Memorable Manitobans: Elbridge Doty Parker (1884-1981)

E. D. Parker Click to enlarge

Educator, school inspector.

Born at Hebron, Nova Scotia on 10 April 1884, he came to Manitoba around 1900 and taught at Ninga School, Miami School (1907-1909) and Pilot Mound School until 1911, when he was appointed a School Inspector, serving until retirement in 1949. Then, he became the first Superintendent of Schools in St. James, serving until 1956. He collaborated in the writing of two books: Boys and Girls Around the World (with D. J. Dickie) and The English People (with Dr. Robert Jones).

On 28 December 1905, he married Olive Blanche Mulvin (c1887-1979) at Brandon. They had two children: Joyce Aileen Parker (b 1907, wife of R. H. Davis) and John M. Parker (?-1974). He was a member of the Shriners, Manitoba Red Cross, Manitoba School Trustees Association (Life Member), and Manitoba Educational Association (President, 1942-1943).

He retired to Victoria, British Columbia where he died on 22 March 1981.

His articles for the Manitoba Historical Society:

Pioneer Trails in Education Between the Lakes
MHS Transactions, Series 3, 1951-52 Season

Sources:

Birth and marriage registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

1916 Canada census, Ancestry.

Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.

Report of the Annual Convention, Manitoba Educational Association, Easter 1942.

“3 Manitoba School Inspectors mark 100 years of service,” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 December 1944, page 12.

“Education department makes staff changes,” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 July 1949, page 6.

“Eight school inspectors take over new districts,” Steinbach Carillon News, 12 August 1949, page 2.

The History of the Manitoba Educational Association by Ernest Butterworth, MEd thesis, Faculty of Graduate Study and Research, University of Manitoba, 1965.

“Birthdays,” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 April 1978, page 48.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 27 March 1981, page 40.

This profile was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Profile revised: 20 May 2013

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