Memorable Manitobans: Henry Ernest Bletcher (1869-1949)

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Henry Ernest Bletcher
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Pharmacist, professor.

Born at Peterborough, Ontario on 8 March 1869, he attended the Toronto College of Pharmacy and received a BA from the University of Manitoba in 1891. He was appointed instructor to students of the Pharmaceutical Association in 1898, then was made Principal of the Manitoba College of Pharmacy in 1899. After the amalgamation of the College of Pharmacy with the University of Manitoba in 1914, he became the first Professor of Pharmacy in the British Empire, retiring in 1939 and being succeeded by Dougald McDougall.

On 16 December 1910, he married Margaret Adabelle Hanna (1883-1978) at St. Paul, Minnesota. They had two daughters: Margaret Mary Bletcher (1911-1985, wife of B. Stuart Parker) and Mary Jane Bletcher. He held a commission in the Winnipeg Rifles (Little Black Devils) from 1907 to 1909, transferring in the latter year to the Corps Reserve with the rank of Captain. He was a Freemason and served as Master of Prince Rupert Lodge No. 1 and senior resident and Grand Master (1916) of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba. He was a member of the Scientific Club of Winnipeg (1908-1949) and the Mentor’s Club of Winnipeg.

He died at his home, 152 Lenore Street, on 12 November 1949 and was buried in the Old Kildonan Cemetery.

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba College of Pharmacy Building (422 Notre Dame Avenue, Winnipeg)

Sources:

Birth registrations [Margaret Mary Bletcher, Mary Jans Bletcher], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Funeral Tuesday for former head of U Pharmacy,” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 November 1949. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B10, page 125]

The History of Pharmacy in Manitoba, 1878-1953, compiled by the Historical Committee of the Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association, 1954.

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 3 December 2022

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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