Undertaker and embalmer.
Born at Caintown, Ontario on 1 June 1851, he apprenticed as an undertaker then worked in the business until 1879 when he came to Winnipeg. He established the firm of J. Thomson & Company in the spring of 1882. In 1873, he married Annie Maria Ferguson (1852-1926) of Brockville, Ontario and they had thirteen children, eight of whom lived to adulthood: John F. Thomson (1876-1934), Janet Thomson, Maggie Maud Thomson, Ethel Thomson, Ella May Thomson, Robert R. Thomson (1891-1953), Ruba Shela Thomson, and George P. Thomson. He was a member of the AF & AM (32nd degree Scottish Rite) and a Shriner, and also a member of the AOUW and IOOF. He died at Winnipeg on 27 May 1929.
See also:
MHS Centennial Business: Thomson Funeral Chapel
A History of Manitoba: Its Resources and People by Prof. George Bryce, Toronto: The Canadian History Company, 1906.
Pioneers and Prominent People of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Canadian Publicity Company, 1925.
Death registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“R. R. Thomson, former funeral director, dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 August 1953, page 29.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 8 February 2020
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