The MacDonald Brothers

Adapted from Bristol Aerospace histories:

     50 Years of Technology 1930-1980, vol. 1, The First Quarter Century

     50 Years of Technology 1930-1980, vol. 2, The Second Quarter Century

GRANT MacDONALD

Grant MacDonald

President, 1930–1949
   

There could surely be no better way to open the story of MacDonald Brothers Aircraft, which has become Bristol Aerospace, than to say something about Grant MacDonald, who started it all.

The three MacDonald Brothers, Jim, Grant and Edwin, were born in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. Jim and Grant came West about 1904 on a harvesters' excursion train, with Edwin following later, engaging in farming and other similar work until about 1910, when they got into the sheet metal business, and in 1914 formed MacDonald Brothers Sheet Metal and Roofing Limited.

The years between 1925 and 1930 saw the growth of aircraft operations into the North, with Winnipeg one of the important starting points for Northern flights.

Grant became very interested in the aircraft and their operations, and spent some time watching the float equipped aircraft flying from the Red River. He made friends with many of the pilots, such as Punch Dickens, Wop May, Roy Brown, Milt Ashton, and others who were among the pioneers in Canada, mostly flying for Western Canadian Airways.

When his friends found that Grant was involved with a Sheet Metal shop, they got him to carry out repairs on the Floats, and other components, thus getting him involved with Aircraft Maintenance procedures.

Most of the floats being used were made by Edo Aircraft Corporation of College Point, on Long Island, New York. Some interest developed in manufacturing them in Canada, and approaches were made to Edo, from several organizations, in Eastern Canada.

Earl D. Osborne, the owner of EDO, decided it would be smart to ask the users of EDO Floats to tell him which organization they would recommend. The replies seem to have been almost unanimous from the large group of Western operators that he should not deal with anybody but Grant MacDonald, in Winnipeg.

This gave rise to an invitation from Earl Osborne, for Grant to go to College Point, and discuss the matter, which led to a lasting friendship between the two men, and exchange of letters, which established MacDonald Brothers as the Edo Licencee in Canada. It was not until 1948 that they both realized it might be wise to conclude a more formal agreement.

1938 newspaper ad

EDO floats on a Fairchild 71C at the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada

It was decided that it would be sensible to keep the aircraft operation separate from the sheet metal business, so MacDonald Brothers Aircraft Limited was established on March 17, 1930 on Robinson Street, behind the Sheet Metal Shop.

Grant MacDonald concentrated his attention on the aircraft side of the business and became well known and widely respected among the people involved in the emerging aircraft industry.

Grant’s ability to get along with people enabled him to take an important part in the organizing of the Aircraft Operators and Manufacturers Association formed in the year 1936, to bring operators, suppliers and manufactures into a common organization, for mutual help.

By 1940 the company had established and gained valuable experience in aircraft overhaul and manufacturing techniques and a reputation for quality and resourcefulness. As well, the respect, trust and real affection from Grant MacDonald’s growing circle of friends helped the selection of MacDonald Brothers Aircraft as a key player in the Commonwealth Air Training Programme. The company operated and managed a new government-established Anson aircraft assembly and maintenance plant in Winnipeg throughout the war.

Winnipeg Tribune, March 26, 1943
   

During the war years, the Winnipeg organization gained a well deserved reputation for readiness to cope with unexpected developments. Grant was the leader of a much expanded group of people, many of whom had to adapt to new ideas and methods, different from their previous experience.

As Anson manufacturing came to an end other work on Mosquito, Lancaster and Helldiver components kept work levels up until the end of 1945 when wartime programs came to a close. When the war ended a decision was made to concentrate the aircraft company activity at the airport. Building No. 1 and the taxi strip were leased from War Assets with right of way to the airport area. The downtown building on Robinson Street was turned over to the Sheet Metal company.

By the end of the war the plant employed over 4,500 people. After that, MacDonald Bros. had to face decisions made necessary by the drastic reduction of requirements. It was a difficult period with some successful ventures into non-aircraft work to keep going, but eventually the aircraft overhaul business picked up and work for the Royal Canadian Air Force became re-established in increasing quality.

Pilot Mound farmers must have done a double take when they saw this ad for MacDonald Bros.
tractor cabs in a 1948 issue of their local paper. They had seen Dad's tractor cab two years earlier!
    

Grant MacDonald had managed the beginnings of the post-war recovery when he died, of a heart attack, at his summer home at Falcon Lake on July 16, 1949. He was 62 years old.

He left an organization which could carry on the work to which he had devoted himself, and a memory honoured by all who had known him.

Winnipeg Tribune, July 18, 1949
The two Winnipeg papers listed MacDonald's name differently:
Robert Duncan Grant in the Tribune, but Duncan Robert Grant in the Free Press (below).

Obituary of Grant MacDonald, 1887–1949
Winnipeg Free Press, July 18, 1949
   

It is interesting to note that wartime Winnipeg also had an RCAF Repair Depot (#8), due west of MacDonald Bros. Aircraft.
Its purpose was the same as the #6 Repair Depot in Trenton, where Dad spent most of his air force service.

EDWIN MacDONALD

Edwin MacDonald

Director, 1930–1949
President, 1949–1954

Upon Grant MacDonald's death in 1949, his younger brother Edwin succeeded him as President of both the aircraft company and the sheet metal company. Edwin had been a director since the founding of MacDonald Brothers Aircraft Ltd.  in 1930, but it was Grant who had assumed full responsibility for the aircraft company. Running both companies must have been challenging.

Edwin served with the 44th and 61st Battalions in World War I. On his attestation papers of September 1, 1915 the 21-year-old listed his occupation as "tinsmith." At 170 pounds, the 6'3" soldier was thin, but served with distinction. In France he was wounded in the left cheek and eye by either shrapnel or a gunshot wound (G.S.W.) on March 3, 1917 and was awarded the Military Medal for Bravery in the Field on May 11 that year. His only other war scar came from an appendectomy on February 8, 1918.

Grant and Jim were left to operate the sheet metal and roofing company while Edwin served overseas between 1915 and 1919.

In July, 1954, five years into Edwin MacDonald's presidency, MacDonald Bros. Aircraft was sold to Bristol Aeroplane Co. Ltd. of England for a reported £1,000,000 ($3 million). The British company was looking for a foothold in North America and wanted a manufacturing base in Canada. With a 16-acre Winnipeg facility, and a skilled workforce of about 1200, the successful MacDonald company was an obvious choice. It was a proven operation with extensive aviation marketing and technical experience. After 1954 work continued at the plant as one of three Bristol subsidiaries in Canada.

New managers took the company into the jet age and beyond. In 1966 the Bristol Winnipeg organization became a subsidiary of Rolls-Royce Limited as a result of a change of ownership of the parent Bristol company in England. In 1997 Bristol Aerospace (Winnipeg) was acquired by Magellan Aerospace.
  
Edwin MacDonald died in an unfortunate mishap not uncommon in a prairie winter. A brief mention in the Winnipeg Free Press of February 22, 1969 reported that the 74-year-old "was found dead on a municipal road one half mile from his car which was stuck in a snow bank ... near Domain," a small town 40 minutes southwest of downtown Winnipeg. 

Obituary of Edwin MacDonald, 1894–1969
Winnipeg Free Press, February 24, 1969

The facilities on Berry Street opened in 1941.

JIM MacDONALD

Jim MacDonald
Director, 1930–1954
    

In 1909, at 26 year of age, it was Jim who first started a sheet metal company with a partner in Winnipeg. A year later, Edwin and Grant joined him and in 1914 the three brothers founded MacDonald Bros. Sheet Metal and Roofing Co. Ltd. This company operated successfully for many decades, beyond the lifespans of the MacDonald brothers themselves.

Like Edwin, Jim was a partner and director of the aircraft plant, which was originally located on Robinson Street, beside the downtown sheet metal business. Wartime demands led to a 1941 move of the aircraft work to a new site adjacent to the airport. Grant was in charge as president and general manager of the aircraft company, while Edwin and Jim managed the sheet metal and roofing business, where Jim was president.

Born in 1883, Jim reached the age of 89, passing away on March 17, 1972. Over the years he was able to witness remarkable technological advances in the field of aviation. He and his brothers might never have imagined that their modest sheet metal operation would ultimately go to space.      

Obituary of Jim MacDonald, 1883–1972
Winnipeg Free Press, March 18, 1972

The MacDonald brothers were a formidable team, one that helped put Winnipeg on the map as an important aviation and aerospace centre of excellence. Their example and influence remain today.

It was a long walk from Dad's parking space beyond the distant hangar (at left)
to his desk upstairs under the Bristol Aerospace sign.
[Source: cover of 50 Years of Technology 1930-1980, vol. 1 and 2]

Winnipeg is now a major centre of excellence in the global aviation and aerospace industry.

 

"Reach new heights in Winnipeg, Canada's 3rd largest aerospace sector"

Economic Development Winnipeg Inc., November, 2019

 

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Memories of Learys

by Alice (Hood) Burrows

These early memories of the area were written by Alice (Hood) Burrows, whose family lived across the road from Leary School. This account was written in 1967. At that time, Edith Leary was living in Altamont and Donald Leary had not yet moved back to the farm.

[info in brackets from Ina Bramadat]

Mary, Alice, Pearl, Eveline and Gertie Hood, 1962
Photo courtesy Ina Bramadat, Roseisle

In this beautiful little valley, nestled a chain of the Pembina Hills, just twenty miles west of Carman, lay at one time, what one might possibly describe as a small village, with the Boyne River flowing through it. Although it once had a place on the map, it might now be described as a place where no one lives, but its beauty remains. Now all one can see is the remains of a thriving brick plant, a few small buildings, and one large brick dwelling across the railway track.

Mr. and Mrs. George Leary and family -- George, Charles Evan, William, Loretta and Valentine -- came to this valley in the 1900s from Winnipeg, where Mr. Leary had a government position. Mr. Leary was Irish, and most of the family grew up tall and straight like him, proud of their ancestry. Mrs. Leary came from a farm in the Ager district, south of Rosebank, where the Ager School had been named after his father. Mr. G. Leary had visited his uncle and family on a farm near Nelsonville, or Old Nelson, on occasions, and had met the Ager family and his future wife there. [Correction: As noted above, it was George himself who homesteaded and lived at Nelsonville.]

There was no railway when Mr. Leary came, but mud bricks were manufactured for the housing trade. [Note: The railway was completed west from Roseisle through the valley in 1903.] In 1905 a complete brickyard opened up; and it became a thriving business, as there was plenty of clay at hand.

Three men -- Mr. Roblin Sr. of Winnipeg, Mr. Rodgers, of Winnipeg, ad Mr. Leary might be credited to this, and the bricks were named Dominion Press Bricks. Later, Mr. Leary bought it out, and the name 'Learys' was stamped on each brick made. [Note: The brickyard was initially established as the Boyne Valley Brick Works in 1902, likely with government assistance; then in partnership with Roblin and others and finally, in 1910, the family bought out the partnership. George Sr., Armintha, J.S. George and Charles Evans are named on early letterheads.]

Mr. and Mrs. G. Leary and family lived in a big white house. It had many rooms and Mrs. Leary boarded the men working at the brickyard, and she also kept the post office after the railway came through. She had as her helper, Mrs. Lena Masters, and Mrs. Masters had a daughter, Violet. [Note: The post office opened in 1911. Ev Leary was postmaster from 1911 to 1912; Armintha from 1913 to 1945 when the post office closed.]

George, the eldest son, managed this plant for a number of years, later a second son, Charles Evan, and many years later, William. George, the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Leary married Miss Simpson, and they had three children -- Gordon, Winston and Floyd. Hi wife, Mrs. Leary, was a good organist, and later played for church on Sundays. They lived in a large brick house which they built, just to the west of the boarding house. Their barn and outside buildings were also brick.

Charles Evans, second son of Mr. and Mrs. G. Leary, or 'Ev' to most who knew him, married a tiny doll-like girl named Mabel. They lived to the east and north across the valley from the brickyard by the river.

Ev had the first car around, and some of us can remember a man getting his foot cut. The neighbours called on Ev to take him to Carman. Later that night Ev heard his car horn blow, and, looking out the window, he saw a bear carrying away the rug that the man's foot had bled on. In those days, the car [horn] was a large rubber ball, and in order to blow the horn, you would squeeze the ball.

Later, Ev built a large brick house with screened-in veranda on two sides, to the west of the old house, and across the valley from the other homes. This was a lovely large home, and the family had one son, Allan.

It was the chore of the Hood boys to take milk down every evening to the Ev Learys, and two of them can remember one evening when they were to take the milk down and wait for their mother. She had gone with the Learys in their car that day. While waiting at the front of the house, they heard the crunching of bones. They kept as quiet as they could until the car arrived, and they found it was a mother bear eating at the bones that had been thrown out. The two boys, who were not very big, were often afraid to go down with the milk at night because of lynx, though they would never say they were afraid.

One year, the Indians came in and killed off the bear and lynx for skins. [Note: When George and Armintha bought the valley land, they decided to spend a night tenting on their new property. In the morning, they found bear hairs on the guy wires of the tent. The land was heavily treed at that time. In later years, an occasional bear or cougar would pass through the area.]

Leary Station

Later, in the 1900s, the C.N. Railway came through, and a little red station was built and named Learys. It had a waiting room with seats all around and an iron stove, and an armchair for Mr. Leary, who carried the mail to and from the post office for many years. It had another room for coal and freight. There was always a good supply of coal to be used for those waiting on the trains, as the trains were often late coming from the west, especially in the winter time. There were two trains a day, one coming from the east and one coming from the west. There was also a loading platform to the west of the station, for loading the cars of cordwood and stock, etc. [Note: In the early years there were many woodlots in the area and cordwood was shipped as far east as Sperling, Manitoba. The platform also was used for loading bricks on railway cars for shipment.]

On one occasion, many years later, we were all waiting for the train (including our teacher) to go to a picnic at Roseisle. It was a very hot day and the train was late. So most of the younger ones had gone up the track for a drink of water (1/4 mile west good clear water flowed through a pipe in the bank). The train came aroud the bend and made its usual whistle. Two of the beginners -- Camille Money and Pearl Hood -- hadn't got back. Some were yelling from the station, "Get off the track!". But there was only one thing on their little minds -- to get to the station -- and so they kept on going. I ran and grabbed Camille, who was a few yards ahead of the train, and next, Pearl, who was a few yards ahead of him, and pulled them off the track. I can still hear my older sister yelling, "Hurry up or you'll miss the train!" I wasn't too concerned about the train, but we caught the back end of it. I remember, too, my feet were killing me as I was wearing a new white canvas pair of shoes with rubber soles and laced up the leg, and had my feet cramped and burning, so I didn't enjoy the day too much.

Just about 1/4 mile up the valley, clay was taken out of the hills for Carman Tile and Sewer Pipes. About 1-1/2 miles west from Learys a cement plant opened up. Mr. Babcock of Winnipeg owned the property, so the station there was called Babcock. There were several buildings there besides the cement plan. ... Children living in the valley would often walk up to Babcock and go through the mines when the men were not working. The mines were very dark and damp. We all liked to visit Mrs. Gordon, who would play the latest music on the piano for us, and soon have us singing with her. It was sad for us all, when she took pneumonia, and in spite of having Dr. McGavin from Carman, she died.

In 1911, a small school was built, just up at the top of the hill, west of the valley, and it was named Learys. The school was a very nice building, with plastered walls and many large windows, with one small window of many colours above each large window. And by each window was a lamp in a bracket on the wall. It also had a library, porch and woodshed. It always looked so nice, especially at night, when the lamps were all lit, and shined up for an occasion such as the Christmas concert. Folks always turned out well. Lunch was served and there was no fee charged.

Some of the pupils who went to Leary School were -- Bill, Val, and Etta Leary, Violet Maters, Catherine and John Taylor, Lena Vandall, Flossie, Zelma, Orval, Gertrude, Mary and Edmud Hood, Margaret and Willie Fleming (Babcock), Doreen and Muriel Leary, Nellie, Albert and Lillian Clarke, who lived 1-1/2 miles east of Learys on the Tremblay place [south of Tremblay's on the "Clarke Place"], the Labossiere family, who lived at the foot of the hill from the school, Encontre family, who lived at the top of the hill, south from Learys. Bryson, Donald, Ina, Alvin and Carl Leary, [and] Tremblays.

The first teacher at Learys was Miss Elizabeth Hardy from Babcock, daughter of Mrs. Gordon from a previous marriage. Miss Hardy also gave music lessons to Flossie and Zelma Hood, who later played for church and Sunday School, held in Learys School. A minister drove up Sundays from Roseisle with horse and buggy to conduct services.

Some of the teachers who taught at Leary School were Miss E. Hardy (Babcock), Miss C. Cook and Miss Humphrey (Roseisle), Miss Graham (Winnipeg), Miss H. Miner (Altamont), Miss Georgina Fleming (Babcock), Mr. Mills (Winnipeg), Miss E. Saunders (Roseisle), Miss E. Lowry (Roseisle), Miss E. Fraser (Altamont), Miss A. Medlicott (Altamont), Miss M. Armitage (Altamont), Miss E. Massey (Selkirk), Miss J. Keith (Roseisle), Mr. R. Moffat (Portage la Prairie), Miss Davidson (Winnipeg), Miss A. McGillvary (Gilbert Plains), Miss A. Simon (Rathwell), Mrs. [Helen] Tranq, before her marriage [to local farmer Dan Tranq]. [Note: Augustine Simon married Arthur Chateau, and they lived in the old Hood house; she taught at Leary School for 12 years in the 1930s and '40s. Other teachers included Constance Pelly (Notre Dame de Lourdes), Hugette Vigier (Notre Dame de Lourdes), Beulah McNevin (Winnipeg); also Edith Leary, after Bill Leary died.]

Learys was quite a lively place to live when the brick plant was running, and the cement works were in operation [at Babcock]. The shift whistle, for the men, could be heard from both places, across the valley and hills.

In 1912, the Leary family went to Chilliwack, B.C. and returned in 1914. War came in 1914 and William, or Bill to most who knew him, was the first to enlist [first student from Brandon College]. Bill became a Captain, and received medals. We can recall hearing how his gas mask slipped off one day while leading his men in battle, and the effects were to prove damaging to his health in later years. [1] When Bill came back from the war he started farming. His farm was situated just up the top of the hill, to the south of the valley. Valentine, the youngest of the Leary family, or Val as most knew him, enlisted shortly after Bill, and he also started farming on a farm adjoining Bill's farm, to the east, after the war. ... 

By now, Mr. and Mrs. G. Leary had moved over to the Ev Leary home. Ev moved away, had lost his wife, and had Allan to raise. G. Leary and family had also moved away. There didn't seem to be sale for bricks. [Note: WWI saw decreased construction on the home front; also manpower was not available with all eligible men in armed forces.] Loretta Leary, or Etta, as most knew her, married Rod Ager and they farmed two miles west and north across the tracks from Roseisle. They had one son, John, who taught school for awhile, went into the army, married, and is now (1967) a guard at Stony Mountain Penitentiary. Mr. and Mrs. Rod Ager retired in the F. Ager home in Roseisle.

Valentine Leary, or Val, to most who knew him, married Gertrude Hood, a few years after the war, and lived for a short time in the valley. They later moved to Belmont, and Baldur where Val worked in a garage. Later they moved to their homestead, approximately 1-1/2 miles west of the valley, until they retired two years ago [1965] and moved to Treherne. They have two daughters, Doreen and Muriel who attended Leary School and later went through for nurses at Selkirk and married there.

Ev Leary married again many years later, a lovely person and a teacher, They came back to the valley, and lived for a few years with their children, John and Pearl. Ev was a very good violin player, his wife was also good at the violin and piano. Etta was well schooled in music and Bill and Val played the violin also. They were a musical family and many pleasant evenings were spent there. 

Bill Leary married E. Fraser of Altamont, years after the war, and they lived in the G. Leary home for awhile [brick house near brickyard] and later moved to the Ev Leary home. Later Bill had a large brick home built there [first house burned]. They had five children -- Bryson, Donald, Ina, Alvin and Carl. They all attended school at Learys and years later moved to Altamont.

When World War II came, Bill Leary joined up immediately and went overseas. [Note: Bill joined up, but because of age and earlier injuries, served on the home front and the Veterans' Guard and headed up a Mobile Recruiting Unit in Northwest Ontario and Manitoba.] A few years later, Bill hired local men and they cleared up the old brick factory and got the machinery running and once again, they made good bricks at Learys.

All went well for a few years. Bill's family had grown up -- Bryson and Carl moved to the North West Territories [North Alberta and Yukon] and were forest rangers there. Donald taught school. Ina went to United College [U of M] and married a classmate. Alvin is in the army, is married and is in Germany at the present time [1967]. By this time, Mr. G. Leary had passed away, and Mrs. Leary lived with her daughter and son-in-law Mr. and Mrs. Rod Ager, in Roseisle. 

The Leary School closed, and was sold and moved to Graysville, where it is used as a shop. [Emil Tranq says the school was torn down and the material used to build a shop; says he saw the demolition.]

As I remember, the Leary district was mostly English, but French lived to the west of Hoods'. Though the French were represented in the school, by their trustees, the majority were English folk, and they had English teachers. Gradually there were fewer English, and more French, and toward the end, the school was run by French folk, who hired French teachers. [Note: By the late 1940s, Catholic Francophone students were in a majority. All teaching was in English but periodically, Father Picot from St. Lupicin, three miles distant, came with his horse and buggy -- or sleigh, depending on the time of year -- for religious teaching. The protestant, English-speaking students (all Learys by that time) were sent home a half hour earlier than usual. We were always pleased to get out early on those days. -- IJB]

In the year of 1967, with spring approaching, I believe there to be only one family living 1/4 - 1/2 mile west of Learys in the hills. They are Mrs. Tranq and her son. Besides his own farm, Mr. Tranq [Emile] farms the land belong to Mrs. Wm. Leary and also the farm belonging to Ed Hood, to the north.


Notes
[1]  Bill Leary's impressive WWI war record can be viewed here:
http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?op=pdf&app=CEF&id=B5490-S048 
[2]  As Ina Bramadat adds: "In the 1960s, there was an influx of artisans into the area. Donald Leary returned with his family to the family farm and Edith Leary moved a cottage back to the site of the brick house where she and Bill Leary had begun their married life, just west of the brickyard. Ina (Leary) and her husband Kelvin Bramadat retired on a parcel of land on the NE 1/4 of the original Leary property. Bryson and his wife Jean retired in nearby Altamont. Several families now live in the valley. Cross-country ski trails were cut and groomed throughout much of the valley."

Sources
(1)  Text courtesy Brian Burrows, Miami, MB
(2)  Photos: Ina Bramadat, Roseisle, Manitoba, used in 2018 report by David Butterfield

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