John Stewart

John Stewart was born near the City of Ottawa, Ontario, on  August 8th, 1853. We have no record of his early life, but he secured his commissions as a Provincial Land Surveyor for Ontario on November 11th, 1878, as a Dominion Land Surveyor on May 11th, 1880, and as an Alberta Land Surveyor on January 1, 1911.

He was at once sent out by the Dominion Government to survey boundaries and subdivisions of townships in what are now Saskatchewan and Alberta, at which work he was engaged for about three years. Later, he seems to have been employed in the Public Works Department of the Territorial Government, and on March 30th, 1906 was appointed by the Dominion Government, Commissioner and Chief Engineer of Irrigation for the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, under the provisions of the North-West Irrigation Act of 1898, with headquarters at Calgary.

This position he held until his resignation on March31st, 1911, when he was succeeded by Mr. F.H. Peters who became Surveyor General. Mr. Stewart continued to reside in Calgary until his death in his 84th year on October 16th, 1936.

Association of Ontario Land Surveyors Committee on Biography