Memorable Manitobans: William Wallace McMillan (1852-1928)

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William Wallace McMillan
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Grain merchant.

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William Wallace McMillan
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Born in Ontario in 1852, brother of Daniel Hunter McMillan, he came to Winnipeg in June 1875 and worked with John McKechnie at Vulcan Iron Works until 1882 when he turned to the milling and grain business. He dropped out of the milling business in 1902 to concentrate on grain.

In 1904, along with other grain merchants Samuel Peck Clark, Alexander Reid, John Love, and William Henry McWilliams, he formed the North-West Grain Dealers’ Association. In 1911, he was President and Managing Director of the Dominion Elevator Company, with offices in the Grain Exchange Building, Winnipeg. He was Vice-President of the Alberta Grain Company and Vice-President of the Dominion Elevator Company under President Frederick Phillipps.

He and his wife Sophia Louise Chambers (c1856-1938) had one son, Wallace Hunter McMillan (1882-?), He was a member of the Manitoba Club, St. Charles Country Club, Granite Curling Club (President, 1890-1891), and Carleton Club.

He died while vacationing at Miami, Florida on 23 February 1928 and was returned to Winnipeg for burial in the family plot in the Elmwood Cemetery. His honorary pallbearers were William Harvey, Robert Magill, Charles Napier Bell, John McEachern, William A. Matheson, and Walter Thomas Kirby.

Sources:

Birth registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

Who’s Who in Western Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of Western Canada, Volume 1, 1911. C. W. Parker, editor. Canadian Press Association, Vancouver.

A History of Manitoba: Its Resources and People by Prof. George Bryce, Toronto: The Canadian History Company, 1906.

1891 Canada census, Ancestry.

“W. W. McMillan dies in south: prominent here,” Winnipeg Tribune, 23 February 1928, page 1.

Obituary, Manitoba Free Press, 28 February 1928, page 21.

“W. W. McMillan, noted pioneer, is buried today,” Winnipeg Tribune, 28 February 1928, page 16.

“Former Winnipegger dies in Victoria,” Winnipeg Tribune, 5 December 1938, page 7.

We thank Rick Mutton for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 14 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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