Alexander VANCE (1866-1936)
Alexander was a native of Bruce county, Ontario. He was born 20 October 1869 at in the Kincardine Township, the son of Irwin VANCE (1835-1912) and Hannah “Maria” HUDSON (1846-1926).
On, 24 March 1893 he married Lydia Maria ANDREWS (1873-1954) and they had five children: William Alexander (1899-1900), Harold (c1900-1900), Sadie May (1901-1998, married George Alexander SMALL), Jeanette “Jen” (1903-1991, married Wilbert Clarence REID), Winnifred Maria “Winnie” (1905-1995, married Roy Adam PURVIS), Violet Marie (1907-1986, married Walter Dawson BENSON), and David Andrew VANCE (1909-1947).
Veteran Lake Skipper
He became a sailor of Great Lake boats in his youth. In 1891, he came to Manitoba and joined the crew of a boat on Lake Winnipeg. In 1898, he obtained his first mate’s certificate and on the old Premier, serving as second-in-command to Capt. T.E. Pollock. In 1904, he received his captain’s papers and was given command of the Lady of the Lake. Later he was skipper of the Wolverine for a number of years and of the Keenora. He retires about 1926 and moved to the shores of Lake Winnipegosis where he carried on a timber business and, also, worked as a fisherman for Booth Fisheries company. Alex was widely known as one of the Lake Winnipeg and Lake Winnipegosis skippers.
He died at his Winnipeg residence, 127 Jefferson Avenue, on 11 July 1936 and was buried in the family plot at Little Britain Cemetery.
Sources:
- Birth, marriage, and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
- Death registrations, British Columbia Vital Statistics.
- Obituary, The Winnipeg Tribune, 13 July 1936, page 16.
- “Veteran Lake Boat Skipper Dies Saturday”, The Winnipeg Tribune, 13 July 1936, page 7.
- “Captain Alex Vance, Veteran Lake Skipper dies at age of 69”, Winnipeg Free Press, 13 Jul 1936, page 4.
- “Fifteen Missing in TCA Plane”, Winnipeg Free Press, 29 Apr 1947, Final Edition, page 1.
- Obituary [Mrs Lydia Vance], The Winnipeg Free Press, 21 Jun 1954, page 33.
- Obituary [Margaret Thelma Wade], Times Colonist, Victoria, British Columbia, 23 Feb 1986, page D1.
- Obituary [Jeanette (Jen) Reid], The Province, Vancouver, British Columbia, 16 Sep 1991, page 58.
- Obituary [Winnifred Maria Purvis], The Winnipeg Free Press, 17 Aug 1995, page B4.
- Obituary [Sadie M Small (nee Vance)], The Akron, Akron, Ohio, USA, 08 Jan 1998, page 22
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