Memorable Manitobans: Edwin Arnold Hansford (1895-1959)

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Edwin Arnold Hansford
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Railwayman, MLA (1946-1949), MLA (1950-1953).

Born on a farm in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia in 1895, he served overseas in the First World War for 4 1/2 years, being severely wounded and spending several months in hospital before being discharged. He later moved to Winnipeg where he was employed with Canadian National Railways.

He was a candidate for St. Boniface in the 1930 and 1935 federal general elections but was defeated each time. Active with the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation party, he served as Provincial Chairman (1947-1952) and a member of its Provincial Executive. He was a CCF candidate for St. Boniface in the 1941 provincial general election but was defeated. First elected to the Manitoba Legislature at the 1945 general election, in 1948 he succeeded Seymour James Farmer as leader of the Manitoba CCF Party, relinquishing the position three years later to Lloyd Cleworth Stinson. Re-elected provincially in 1949, he was elected Mayor of St. Boniface in 1953, replacing George Campbell MacLean.

On 16 August 1922, he married Edna Buryl Perry (1897-1968) at Winnipeg and they had four daughters and two sons. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Legion (Norwood-St. Boniface Branch) and Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen.

He died at Winnipeg on 12 March 1959 and was buried in the St. Vital Cemetery.

Sources:

Marriage registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

The Canadian Parliamentary Guide, 1947.

“Former CCF leader, St. Boniface mayor, E. A. Hansford dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 12 March 1959, page 9.

Obituary [Edna Buryl Hansford], Winnipeg Free Press, 3 August 1968, page 30.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

We thank Oliver Bernuetz (Legislative Library of Manitoba) for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 7 April 2022

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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