Munro family

William Hamilton Munro (1882-1976) was born in Peterborough, Ontario, the oldest son of George and Euphemie Hamilton Munro. He attended public school and high school in Peterborough and later entered the School of Practical Science, University of Toronto, from which he graduated in 1904. He joined the engineering staff of his grandfather's firm, the William Hamilton Manufacturing Company, for a short time and later worked for other engineering companies, first with John B. McRae of Ottawa and later with Smith, Kerry & Chase of Toronto. During this period, Munro gained wide experience in dam and power house construction. In 1909, W.H. Munro was transferred to the Electric Power Company of Ontario and in 1910 was appointed manager of the Peterborough Light & Power and Radial Railway Companies, branches of Electric Power. He then joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force and went overseas as a transport officer. On his arrival in England, W.H. Munro was stationed at a reception and training base at Shorncliffe, Kent. Here he remained for eight months before being posted to northern France early in 1916. He was still in northern France on Armistice Day, 1918 and was with the Canadian Forces during their brief occupation of Germany in 1919. On May 29, 1919, Munro married Angele Melina Marie Pouille of Bruay, Pas de Calais, France. He took his military discharge in England and joined Vickers Limited of London and Barrow-in-Furness. This invloved him in water turbine engineering and sales which led to a good deal of travel. Munro left Vickers in 1926 to become manager of the Nova Scotia Tramways and Power Company in Halifax. He remained in this position until 1928 when he was appointed manager of the Bolivian Power Company Limited in La Paz, Bolivia. In 1933, W.H. Munro returned to Canada and joined International Utilities Limited as general manager of one of its divisions, the Ottawa Light, Heat & Power Company. He remained as manager of International Utilities until his retirement in 1951 when he and his wife returned to Peterborough, Ontario. W.H. Munro died in 1976. George Reid Munro (Reid), 1887-1920, was the second son in the Munro family. He graduated from the School of Practical Science in 1905, and in 1907, he joined the survey party of the Hudson Bay Railway Company. During the World War I, he remained in Peterborough, taking care of the William Hamilton Company and looking after the Munro family affairs. He died in 1920, a victim of an influenza epidemic. (Note that some of George Reid Munro's papers relating to his work are located at Library and Archives Canada - MG 30.) Euphemia Margaret Munro (Effie), 1885-1950, was the only daughter in the Munro family. She attended St. Hilda's College and later graduated from from the University of Toronto in modern languages in 1906. In 1918, she graduated from the Training School for Librarianship in Toronto and was appointed librarian of the Peterborough Normal School, a position she retained until her retirement. The youngest Munro child, Alan Hugh Munro, 1889-1948, graduated from the Faculty of Applied Science, University of Toronto in 1911. On graduation he worked for a succession of power companies on power development construction including the Dominion Department of Railways and Canals, Rice Lake Division of the Trent Canal at Campbellford, Ontario. During the World War I, he served with the 6th Field Company, Canadian Engineers from 1914-1919 and was wounded in 1917. After the World War I, he again worked for a variety of companies on construction projects but appears not to have established himself firmly with any one of them, a situation which was exacerbated by the coming of the Depression. Many letters between 1918 and 1921 mention the influenza epidemic and the many deaths.