Version 6.01

11 February 2025

David March © 2014

WILLIAM ANGUS ALEXANDER McMASTER

William Angus Alexander McMaster was born on 1 February 1880 in Wellington, Ontario to Malcolm McMaster (1831-1917) and Margaret Shaw (b 1843). His siblings were: Archibald (b 1865), Mary (b 1866), James (b 1868), John (b 1870), Thomas Charles (b 1872), Catherine (Kate) (b 1875), Flora (b 1878), Jennie (b 1884) and Annie (b 1886). He was raised in Minto, Ontario.

William was a land surveyor in Western Canada. It was impossible to find him in census records in 1916 and 1921, perhaps because of the nature of his occupation. He was listed in the 1913 Prince Albert Henderson Directory and in the 1917 and 1918 Saskatoon Henderson Directories. In Saskatoon he was a Civil Engineer with Murphy & Underwood and only his business address was listed.

There is a reference to William on page 9 of Bridging the Years: era of Blaine Lake and district, 1790-1980 which was digitized on ourroots.ca. Pages 8-9 of this book give a useful introduction to the surveying work. In December 1916, he was surveying Township 45 Range 4. One can imagine that the weather would have been very different to that pictured here!

In 1921, he was listed in Prince Albert in the Wrigley's Saskatchewan Directory 1921/22. In 1940, he appeared on a Prince Albert voters list and was living alone. There is an article about his achievements as a surveyor here.

William died on 22 November 1957 in Guelph, Ontario.

This family tree can be found on Ancestry under the title 3rd Ave McMaster Tree.

Surveyors at work
Courtesy of American Philosophical Society