Henry Norlande Ruttan Explained

Henry Norlande Ruttan
Birth Date:1848 5, mf=y
Birth Place:Cobourg, Canada West
Death Place:Armstrong's Point, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Rank:Brigadier General
Awards:Canada General Service Medal
Relations:

Brigadier General Henry Norlande Ruttan (May 21, 1848  - October 13, 1925) was a Canadian engineer and Canadian Army Officer. In 1885, he became the first city engineer of Winnipeg, remaining in office until his retirement in 1914.

Career

Ruttan served as a survey engineer to Sir Sandford Fleming. He was Winnipeg's city engineer for many years. Of Ruttan's many engineering projects, the James Avenue Pumping Station (1906), was considered the most modern such institution in the world.[1]

A charter member of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, he served as president in 1910. In addition to the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering, he belonged to several other professional organizations, including Institution of Civil Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers, and Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce.

A recipient of the Canada General Service Medal, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1912.

Personal life

Ruttan was born in Cobourg, Ontario, in 1848 to Henry Jones Ruttan and Margaret Pringle. He was a descendant of United Empire Loyalists,[2] as was his wife, Andrina Barberie of Dalhousie, New Brunswick, whom he married in 1882. They had nine children, of whom four sons and two daughters survived infancy[3] including Mary Louise Ruttan (b. 1877), Arthur Charles Ruttan, Col. Charles Millidge Ruttan (d. 1970), Henry Andrew Ruttan (1881–1958 – father of Susan), Francis Norlande Ruttan (born 1885), and J. D. Ruttan (born 1888). Ruttan's paternal grandfather, Henry Ruttan, was Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada.

Ruttan belonged to several social clubs, including Manitoba Club, Carlton Club, St. Charles Country Club, and the Winnipeg Automobile Club. He was a Mason, a member of the AF & AM, and he attended the Anglican church.[4]

He died at his home in Armstrong's Point, Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1925.[5]

Notes and References

  1. News: Pump station was wonder of its time CentreVenture seeking buyer for groundbreaking building. Godbout. Arielle . 2009-09-18. Winnipeg Free Press. 30 April 2011.
  2. Web site: GOVERNOR SIMCOE BRANCH – Charter – 18 May 1937. April 1963 . United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada. 9. 30 April 2011.
  3. Web site: RUTTAN, HENRY NORLANDE. Dyck. David R. . Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. University of Toronto/Université Laval. 30 April 2011.
  4. Web site: Memorable Manitobans: Henry Norlande Ruttan (1848–1925). Goldsborough. Gordon . 12 March 2011. The Manitoba Historical Society. 30 April 2011.
  5. Web site: Jump to the Pump . Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of the Province of Manitoba . 30 April 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110904045954/http://www.apegm.mb.ca/Heritage/JamesAvePumpingStation.html . 4 September 2011 .