William Coldwell  1834 - 1907

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Connection to the ross family

William Coldwell was born in England in 1834 to unknown parents. He settled in Canada in 1854 and married Jemima Ross, the youngest daughter of Alexander and Sarah Ross, in 1860.
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The Nor'Wester

In 1859, he founded the Nor’Wester newspaper with James Ross and William Buckingham. The Nor’Wester was the settlement’s first newspaper, and became very important for the community. The newspaper carried stories from different sides of the political spectrum with Coldwell and Buckingham representing the English speaking Canadians in the East, and Ross standing in for the Metis people of the settlement. Coldwell was an educated man who worked on many different writing projects throughout his lifetime, including the Toronto Globe and as the clerk for the Provisional Assembly. In 1865, Coldwell and his family moved to Toronto where he worked as a journalist for the government.

William Coldwell outside Ross house in 1890

William Coldwell in his younger years

Family

Coldwell’s personal life became complicated with age. In 1867, Jemima Ross died at the age of 29. The couple had four children together, only three of whom are known:

• Amy Sarah (November 9, 1861 - January 15, 1866)
• Mary Isabel (December 10, 1863)
• George Alex (June 20, 1865)

In 1869, Coldwell and his children returned to the Red River Settlement where he founded another newspaper, the Red River Pioneer. He began working at the Manitoban, another journal, in 1871; this was eventually merged with the Winnipeg Free Press. He was also a founding member of the Manitoba Historical Society.

Coldwell re-married in 1875 to Jemima McKenzie Ross, the widowed wife of William Ross. By the middle of the 1880’s, Coldwell’s health began to decline and he was confined to a wheechair. He retired from journalism and spent the last years of his life with Jemima in Victoria, British Columbia.

William Coldwell died on February 14th, 1907 in Victoria, British Columbia at the age of 73.