Manitoba Photographers: Leslie Witmer Eaton (1874-1923)

Link to:
Work locations | Sources

Born at Hespeler, Ontario on 10 April 1874, he trained there as a machinist before coming to Winnipeg and working for the Canadian Pacific Railway. He became interested in photography and, around 1908, partnered with Brabazon Joseph Saunders in the Winnipeg Photo Company (1908-1911) at Reston. He later worked with George Boynton (1911-1913). In 1913, he opened a machine and automobile repair shop at Reston in partnership with his brother Melvin. He and wife Emma Elizabeth Kenspeer (1873-?) had three children: Clive Robbins Eaton (1903-1955, husband of Viva Lillian Evans), Harry Leslie Eaton (1907-?), and Violet Isola Maud Eaton (1909-?, wife of Howard Tanner). The family lived at Reston where he was a member of St. John’s Anglican Church. He died at the Winnipeg General Hospital on 10 November 1923 and was buried in the Reston Cemetery.

Work locations

Year(s)

Location

1908-1911

Reston [Saunders & Eaton]

1910-1911

Waskada [Saunders & Eaton]

1911-1915

Reston [Boynton & Eaton]

1910-1913

Oxbow, Saskatchewan [Saunders & Eaton]

Sources:

Death registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

1921 Canada census, Ancestry.

Obituary, Winnipeg Tribune, 13 November 1923, page 16.

“Leslie W. Eaton passes,” Reston Recorder, 15 November 1923.

Obituary [Clive Robbins Eaton], Winnipeg Tribune, 13 June 1955, page 10.

Trails Along the Pipestone by Pipestone History Project, 1981, pages 289, 474.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

We thank Butch Pearson for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Andrew Cunningham.

Page revised: 23 November 2019

Manitoba Photographers: 1858 to Present

A list of professional photographers who have worked in Manitoba, from 1858 to the present, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society.

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Gordon Goldsborough & Manitoba Historical Society. All rights reserved.