It was early in the spring of 1912 that the
MAHERS (MEAGHERS) arrived from McCreary to take up residence at the Grand Central
Hotel in Russell. The family consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Jerry M. Maher and their six
children - Clarence, Babe, Jerry, Kathleen, Alvin and Arnold (Snookie) .
Two more members of the family, George (Bing) and Beryle were
subsequently born at Russell. The original family name MEAGHER had some years prior to
their arrival at Russell been changed by Mr. Maher to "MAHER" due to the fact
that the original name was hardly ever pronounced properly and he resented being referred
to as MEAGER" or "MEEHER". Since they have grown up the younger boys,
Jerry, Alvin and Bing have all reverted to the legal spelling of the family name
"Meagher".
The family suffered the loss of two of its members Arnold, aged two
years, was accidentally drowned in 1915, and Mr. Maher died in December, 1917, as the
result of a heart attack. Mrs. Maher carried on in the hotel business after her husband's
death for seven years, then operated a boarding house for several years before leaving
Russell.
The outbreak of the First World War, Clarence enlisted
in the First Contingent, proceeded overseas and was wounded in action in France, losing
one limb. Upon his return home he was projectionist at the Bijou Theatre, clerked in
W.W.W. Wilson's law office for a number of years before his appointment as
Secretary-Treasurer of the Town of Russell, which position he held until his death. He was
married to Mabel Cornwall, and they have one daughter, Alice
Ramsell, wife of William Ramsell, an accountant with the
Canadian Army at Fort Osborne Barracks, Winnipeg, and two grandchildren.
Both Jerry and Alvin joined the Union Bank of Canada, later the Royal
Bank, and served at several small branches, in Manitoba. Jerry was later employed by
Manitoba Fruit Company, and Safeways Limited. He is married has two daughters, Joyce
and Yvonne, and one son John, by a former marriage, and lives in
Winnipeg.
Alvin, while employed by the bank at Lac du Bonnet,
secured his pilot's wings, flew with Wings Ltd., and later as a Ferry Command pilot during
the Second World War. After the war he was a private pilot to Sir James Dunn of Algoma
Steel, and is now with Aviation Sales of Imperial Oil Company at Montreal, Quebec. He is
married and has two sons, Jim and Leslie.
Babe worked for some years with Brathwaites Drugs in
Winnipeg, moved to Vancouver and is now employed in that city with Pacific Wholesale
Drugs.
During the Second World War, both Bing and Beryle
served in the aimed forces, Beryle as a lieutenant in the Canadian Womens' Army Corps at
Winnipeg, Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Ottawa. Bing was with the Winnipeg Grenadiers in
Jamaica, and taken prisoner of war with them at Hong Kong. He married a former Russell
girl, Helen Hill and has three children, Judy, Bill and Jerry.
He is a guard at Headingly Gaol, Headingly, Man.
Beryle was an operator for Manitoba Telephone System
before joining the armed forces. After her discharge, she took a secretarial course and
has worked with C.N. Express at Winnipeg and Vancouver. Mrs. Maher makes her home with
Beryle at Vancouver.
Kathleen completed high school at Russell, one year at
Manitoba University a secretarial course at Success College in Winnipeg, joined the Royal
Bank at Roblin, transferred to Melita where she met and married her husband, Frank
G. Barrett, who died in 1945. They have three daughters, Margaret, Lois
and Joanne, and since the death of her husband, Kathleen has been a legal
secretary at Swan River, Manitoba.
Music was always a part of the background of the Mahers, Babe having
played cornet in the Russell Ladies Band a well-known girls band which made a name for
itself touring the provincial centres in 1913 and 1914. Babe also was pianist for the
silent movies at the Bijou Theatre and was succeeded by Kathleen, who also played
saxophone in the Harmony Four, a girls dance band functioning in and around the district
for several years. This band consisted of Gwen Nelson, and Kathleen on saxophones, Adeline
Store on piano, and Hazel McDonagh on drums, who owned their own Model 'T2' Ford car, and
played for dances in nearly all the adjacent towns for a number of years.
This site made possible by the Town of Russell
Family History Main Page | Town of Russell | Town History Pages
NEW - History being collected. If you live or have ever lived in the Russell area please click here.
The site created and maintained by The Grain Web.