John Melvin Moffatt
ID # 5182, (1895-1980)
| Father | Alexander Buchanan Moffatt (1856-1931) |
| Mother | Jean Lake Wallace (1869-1913) |
| Baptism | John Melvin Moffatt was baptized on 15 January 1895 at North Cypress, Manitoba. |
| Marriage | He married Elizabeth L. Brown on 15 April 1924 at Galt, Waterloo Co., Ontario. Mrge reg. 020437-24 Galt, Waterloo Co. John Melvin Moffatt, 29, bachelor, construction foreman, Presbyterian. Born Manitoba, residing Galt. Parents Alexander Moffatt and Jean Wallace. Elizabeth Lindsay Brown, 26, spinster, Presbyterian. Born and residing Galt. Parents John Brown and Annie Sinclair. Witnesses Eugene C. Moffat, 301 Belvedere Apmts, Winnipeg, and Marjorie Brown, 44 Chalmers St., Galt. At Galt on the 15th April, 1924, by Rev. E. S. Sinclair, B.D., 92 McNaughton St., Galt, Methodist. |
| Death | He died in 1980. |
| Burial | He was buried at Section 1, Mountview Cemetery, Galt. |
| Note | The date and place of Melvin's birth is taken from a Manitoba vital statistics index. Birth registration 1895-002306. The years of deaths for Melvin and Elizabeth are taken from a photo of their gravestone taken on a visit to Mountview during the summer of 2015. We draw on two sources for this short biography of Mel Moffatt, as he was known. One is from a list of inductees of the Waterloo Region Hall of Fame as provided by the Waterloo Region Museum. The other is from Mel's First World War military record. The Hall of Fame biography lists his many contributions to the community and mentions that he was mayor of Galt from 1948 to 1950 and that he was Galt's citizen of the year in 1962. It also tells that he served with the 48th Highlanders during the First World War. His military record is to be found on the website for Library and Archives Canada. This records men and women who served in Canada's armed forces during the First World War. This shows John Melvin Moffatt's attestation papers which are dated Sept. 2nd, 1915. He sailed for England on the SS Empress of Britain on the 20th of May, 1916. His trade at the time is shown as 'baker'. He served with the 92nd Battalion (on quota 48th Highlanders). While in England, he served for a time at least as an instructor in 'musketry'. He spent some time in France in 1917. In 1918, he suffered from bronchitis. On May 12 of 1919, he mustered out of the army. The 1921 census, shows Melvin back in Manitoba. His father had been in Ontario for some years and was in Galt during his son's service in the army. By the time of the 1921 census, however, Alexander is back in North Cypress, Manitoba, and Melvin is with him along with brothers Wallace and Stephen. Mel was back in Galt at least by 1924, for that was the year he married Elizabeth Brown. One final comment, and this is an opinion entirely which the reader is free to dismiss, but Melvin 'Mel' Moffatt was almost certainly named after his father's step-mother Melvina Ann Culham. Melvina was well favoured by the Buchanans and Leeces, but there is also evidence that she was beloved of her step children. Certainly, Mel's aunt, Elizabeth Leece Moffatt Moore named a daughter after Melvina Culham. |
| Last Edited | 12 May 2019 |