462 Arlington Street - Private Residence (R.I.P.)

© 2022, Christian Cassidy

House in 2014 (Google Street View)

Place: Private Residence
Address: 462 Arlington Street (Map)
Constructed: 1910 (razed by fire 2022)

The 1,385-square-foot house at 462 Arlington Street was constructed in 1910. This was a couple of years after a streetcar line was added to Arlington Street making it a desirable street to live on.

The first residents were John M. Whitehead, plumber, and his wife, Grace. They were 28 and 22 respectively with no children. John was born in Canada and Grace came from Scotland in 1906.

Mr. Whitehead was the president of the Plumbers and Steam Fitters of America - Local No. 254  in 1914 - 15. By 1917, he worked for the plumbing firm W. K. Beairsto on Donald Street.

The couple lived here until about 1919 before moving on to 690 Pine Street.

March 28, 1916, Winnipeg Tribune

This became the home of what was left of the Dawson family in 1919.

Fred and Emma Dawson and their eight children lived at113 Kate Street during the war. All were adults except for 12-year-old Gladys. When war broke out all five of their sons enlisted.

Walter Dawson received gunshot wounds to the back and chest in September 1916 and after he recovered was sent back to the front. He was killed in action on June 4, 1918. (For more about Walter Dawson, see this post.)

Another son, William, was injured in a gas attack in 1915 but he and the remaining sons survived.

Added agony for Emma came in March 1919 when her husband died after what the Free Press described as "a lengthy illness".

1921 Census of Canada, Library and Archives Canada

To make a new start, Emma and three of her children relocated to 462 Arlington Street.

George was a clerk at varnish manufacturer Wilkinson-Kompass on Higgins Avenue, Gladys was a switchboard operator at Scott Hill Ltd., and Edith started as a clerk at department store Robinson and Co. though a  couple of years later is listed as a dressmaker.

The Dawons only stayed here a couple of years.  In 1923, they moved to 752 Home Street where Emma died on June 29, 1924 at age 66. George and Edith then moved on to Canterbury Place.

MacGregor Herald July 24, 1930

Next up were a couple of generations of the Ryley family. Alma and Alfred Z Ryley, farmers, and Alfred L., an employee at Harris Abbatoir.

Through the 1930s, this was home to the Bowie family.

After graduating from the University of Toronto Veterinary School, James Stanley Bowie came to MacGregor, Manitoba and practised there from 1916 to 1930. He then got a job as a federal government animal inspector and moved to this house in August 1930 with his wife Edith, son William (age 12), and daughter Beryl (age 5).

The Bowies were avid curlers, with Mrs. Bowie serving as the president of the Thistle Ladies Curling Club in 1938.

 
From: Prairie pride land, looking back

William and Constance Treble and their two sons lived here through the 1940s.

The Trebles were originally from Crystal City, Manitoba. While serving in World War I, William sustained gunshot wounds that shattered his left arm. After five months at various hospitals in England, he was invalided back to Canada in 1918.

William took over the family store and in 1926 married Constance Norris of Minnedosa and they had two sons. The family moved to Winnipeg in 1940.

William had numerous jobs while living here, including merchant, a clerk with the Manitoba Government, and by 1949 was a clerk at Deer Lodge Hospital. Around 1950, William got a job with the Department of Motor Vehicles and the couple moved to Strathmillan Road.

July 10, 2010 Winnipeg Free Press

The Burdon family were the next to live here.

Harry and Muriel Burdon were from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan where Harry worked at the newspaper and Muriel was a nurse. They married in 1947 after Harry returned from naval duty during the war and they had three daughters.

In 1951, the family moved to this house where they had two more sons.

Mr. Burdon was chief electrician at Affiliated Inspection Bureau, a division of the Grain Insurance and Guarantee Company that insured many grain elevators across the prairies. He was involved in athletics, having been a sports star back in Moose Jaw, and is mentioned often in curling news and as a member of the executive of Orioles Community Club.

Mrs. Burdon was also involved in numerous community organizations. After the children had grown, she went back into nursing at the Health Sciences Centre from 1966 to 1987.

Muriel Burdon died on September 13, 2011, at the age of 87. Harry Burdon died on April 22, 2012. It appears that they lived at 462 Arlington until their deaths.

House on April 16, 2022 (C. Cassidy)

The house was sold after the Burtons died. It appears to have been for sale again in 2020. This may have been after it suffered a fire in August 2020 that displaced a family of seven.

It was renovated and inhabited again through 2021 but vacant and boarded by April 2022.

On the night of May 22, 2022, the house suffered another, much larger, fire that sent one firefighter to hospital and will require its demolition.

UPDATE: The land at 462 Arlington went up for sale in June 2022 for $198,000