Henry was born 21 January 1872 in Hull, England. He studied and mastered four European languages while living in France and Belgium. He came to Canada in 1888 and settled in Winnipeg. He worked as a horse-cart driver for two years.
He married Bertha May Mullett (1873-1904) and they had three children: Bertha Ellen (1897-1989, wife of Henry E Lewis), Kathleen Winnifred (1901-1986, wife of David A Wright), and Elizabeth May (1904-1993, wife of J. B Barrett). He then married Clara Ann Harriet Bird (1874-1951) and they had three children: Ida Isabel Mabb (1907-1994, wife of Mr. Barrett), Gratia Beatrice (1908-1941, wife of Arthur Davis) and Doris Myrtle (1911-1996, wife of William Gordon).
Policeman, MLA, Rancher, Inspector
He joined the Northwest Mounted Police 06 October 1890. His knack for languages soon had him speaking Cree and Sioux dialects fluently. His job consisted of four-hundred-mile patrols through the Alberta and Saskatchewan wilderness. He had chats with Chief Sitting Bull after the Sioux were driven from South Dakota to Canada. He received an honourable discharge 09 October 1895 in Regina, Saskatchewan with “very good character”. He was the oldest surviving member of the Northwest Mounted Police living in Manitoba and possibly in Canada.
After leaving the NWMP he ranched in the Northwest Territories and later settled in Fisher Branch as a rancher.
Henry was elected to the Manitoba legislature in 1921 and served a single term, being defeated in the 1922 and 1927 elections. He later became well-known as a homestead Inspector in the Interlake district.
He died at Fisher Branch on 25 December 1960 and was buried in the St. Johns Anglican Cemetery inFisherton.
Sources:
- Birth, Marriage and Death Registration, Manitoba Vital
- Birth and Death Index, Saskatchewan, ca
- “Henry L Mabb, Mountie, MLA”, The Winnipeg Tribune, 28 December 1960, page 26.
- “He Talked With Sitting Bull”, The Winnipeg Tribune, 30 August 1955, page 1.
- Obituary [Clara A.H. Mabb], Winnipeg Free Press, 11 October 1951, page 30.
- Obituary [ Kathleen W. Wright], Star Phoenix, Saskatoon, 07 July 1986, page B7.
- Obituary [Bertha Ellen Lewis], The Dauphin Herald, 12 September 1989, page C3.
- Obituary [Elizabeth May Barrett], Winnipeg Free Press, 18 September 1993, page C13.
- Obituary [Ida Isabel Barrett], Winnipeg Free Press, 30 October 1994, page C4.
- Obituary [Doris (Mabb) McCammon (Gordon)], Winnipeg Free Press, 29 March 1996, page D6.
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