Memorable Manitobans: George Victor Ferguson (1897-1977)

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George Victor Ferguson
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Journalist.

Born in Cupar, Fife, Scotland on 20 April 1897, he came with his parents to Nelson, British Columbia in 1903, and in 1912 moved to Calgary, Alberta. He served in France in the 196th Battalion during the First World War. On his return to Canada after the war, he attended the University of Alberta where he was chosen as a Rhodes Scholar. In 1923, he received his BA degree from Christ Church, Oxford. While at Oxford he heard J. W. Dafoe speak and decided that there was the man for whom he wanted to work. He joined the staff of the Manitoba Free Press in 1925 where he soon became one of the most distinguished of Dafoes young men.

In the late 1930s, he began political broadcasts on CBC Radio. On Dafoe’s death in 1944, he took over as Executive Editor of the Free Press, quitting abruptly in 1946 when he decided that he did not like the job. He moved to Montreal, Quebec where he worked for the international service of the CBC, later becoming Editor of the Montreal Star, from which he retired in 1968. He was also well known as a television commentator and speaker in the field of foreign affairs.

On 27 December 1930, he married Mary Simpson Doupe (1906-?, daughter of Jacob L. Doupe) at Winnipeg.

He died at Montreal on 26 January 1977.

His articles for the Manitoba Historical Society:

The Canadian Newspaper Today
MHS Transactions, Series 3, 1959-60 Season

Sources:

Attestation papers, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.

Marriage registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Ex-editor of Free Press, Montreal Star dies at 79,” Winnipeg Free Press, 27 January 1977.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 21 May 2019

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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