Memorable Manitobans: Andrew Strang (1849-1913)

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Andrew Strang
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Businessman, municipal official.

Born at Montreal, Quebec on 9 March 1849, son of Struthers and Janet Strang, brother of Robert Strang, he spent his boyhood at Hamilton, Ontario. At sixteen he went to work for the Grand Trunk Railway in Toronto.

In 1868, at nineteen, he was sent to Fort Garry by several Hamilton merchants to ascertain trade possibilities and later acted as their agent. Following that he became manager of Andrew Graham Ballenden Bannatyne’s business and in 1881 he went into partnership in the wholesale liquor trade with one of Mr. Bannatyne’s sons. Four years later he became sole proprietor and operator under the name of Andrew Strang & Company.

He was elected to the first council of the newly incorporated City of Winnipeg in 1874 and served for several years. He was a promoter of the Hudson Bay Railway and was active in various organizations, including the Winnipeg Board of Trade and the Liberal Association. He served for seven years on the Exhibition Board, one year as its president. He was a director of the Winnipeg General Hospital. In 1910, he was appointed Collector of Customs for Winnipeg.

In 1870, he married Ann Harriott Sinclair (1851-1935, sister-in-law of John Beresford Allan) of St. Andrew’s. They had ten children: Margaret Caroline Strang (1871-1928, wife of Robert A. M. Clifford), Algernon Andrew Strang (1875-?), Campbell S. Strang (1877-1939), Walter Ewing Strang (1880-?), Harriet Strang (1882-?), Ethel Sinclair Strang (1884-1979, wife of Robert Rennie Swan), Harold Beresford Strang (1887-1969), Janet Marion Sinclair Strang (1889-1986, wife of Angus Purkis Cameron), Robert Sinclair Strang (1891-?), and Victor Sinclair Strang (1896-1956). He served as President of the St. Andrew’s Society of Winnipeg (1909-1910) and was an active member of Holy Trinity Anglican Church.

He died at Winnipeg on 4 September 1913 and was buried in the St. John's Cathedral Cemetery.

Sources:

Who’s Who in Western Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of Western Canada, Volume 1, edited by C. W. Parker, Vancouver: Canadian Press Association, 1911.

Birth and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Andrew Strang called by death,” Manitoba Free Press, 5 September 1913, page 9.

Pioneers and Early Citizens of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Manitoba Library Association, 1971.

Obituary [Ethel Sinclair Swan], Winnipeg Free Press, 4 January 1980, page 39.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

We thank Lyle Brennen for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 24 October 2022

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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