Call Number: Mss Sc 145, Pc 127 (A.94-04)

Title: Ewart Family fonds.

Dates: 1871-1940.

Extent: 0.41 m of textual records. -- 11 photographs.

Biographical sketch: John Skirving Ewart was born in Toronto on August 11, 1849 and was educated at Upper Canada College and at Orgoode Hall Law School. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1871 and to the Manitoba Bar in 1884. He practiced law in Toronto from 1871 to 1882, and in Winnipeg from 1882 to 1904. In 1904 he went into partnership in Ottawa (Ewart, Scott, Kelley & Kelley), centering practice as counsel to the Supreme Court and Privy Council. He was a constitutional expert and advocate of Canadian independence. He retired from practice in 1914 in order to write on constitutional law and politics. He died on February 21, 1933. John Skirving's son Thomas Seaton Ewart was a graduate of St. John's College in Winnipeg. He was afterwards a civil servant in the Government of Manitoba under John Bracken who was Premier from 1922 to 1943.

Custodial history: The fonds was donated to University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections by the Legislative Library in 1994. The Legislative Library also donated the Ewart Library at this time, which is catalogued separately within the Elizabeth Dafoe Library.

Scope and content: The fonds consists of John Skirving Ewart's notes and draft of his unfinished manuscript, Political History of Canada. The fonds also contains material collected by Thomas Seaton Ewart while he was a student at St. John's College and while he was a civil servant in the Manitoba provincial government of John Bracken. This material includes the "First and Second Interim Reports of the Royal Commission Constituted to Inquire Into All Matters Pertaining to the Manitoba Agricultural College" submitted by Judge A. O. Galt in May 1917, and extracts from the "Report of the Royal Commission Constituted to Inquire Into an Report on All Expenditures for Road Work During the Year 1914" submitted by Judge G. Paterson. It also contains reviews on his book on waivers: Waiver Distributed (1917); correspondence with Prof. S. Williston, Harvard Law School (1917); newspaper clippings, transcripts of speeches by Premier Bracken, provincial government papers and correspondence of John Bracken. The photograph collections features photographs of John Skirving Ewart and a photograph relating to John Bracken's re-election bid in 1936.

Source of supplied title: Title based on provenance of fonds.

Restrictions: There are no restrictions on this material.

Accruals: No further accruals to this fonds are expected.

Finding aid: Printed finding aid is available in Archives reading room.