- James Clinkskill was
born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1853. He had established
himself in business in Scotland as a groceryman when he
decided to come to Canada in 1881.He started his life in
Canada in Winnipeg where he joined as partner with
another man in start some sort of merchandising business
in Prince Albert. He moved to Battleford shortly after
that. The Riel Rebellion took place while he was in
Battleford and during the rebellion he lost his building
and all his goods. James Clinkskill was active in his
community right from the start. Besides serving in the
home guard during the rebellion he also helped to set up
a Presbyterian Mission for Battleford. In 1888 he entered
politics for the first time as a member of the
Territorial Assembly representing Battleford and, later,
the area around Saskatoon. Clinkskill came to Saskatoon
in 1889 and purchased James Leslies general store. He was
an astute businessman and expanded his business
involvement. He erected a block on Twenty-first Street in
downtown Saskatoon where the sidewalk still bears the
insert that spells out "Clinkskill" even though the
building is now gone. He also became involved in the
local community after his move to Saskatoon. He was mayor
of Saskatoon when it became a town and again mayor when
Saskatoon grew into a city during which he was actively
involved in guiding the installation of the light, water
and sewer systems of the new city. He also became one of
the governors of the University of Saskatchewan at its
very beginning.
-
- The newspaper
reported in his obituary in August of 1936 that he caught
a chill which led to his final illness at age 83. An
early biography of him in the newspaper has a photograph
of him captioned "Saskatoon's Dad".
-
- A family gravesite,
the headstone marks the graves of Thomas Malaffy, Jean
Andrew Baird, daughter of James and Dora Clinkskill,
Capt. James Clinkskill (killed in action), son of James
and Dora Clinkskill, Dora Babington, wife of James
Clinkskill, and Grace Baird, Wife of T.E. Malaffy, as
well as James Clinkskill.
|
