The Inkster Children

John and Mary Inkster had eleven children. Nine of them survived to adulthood.
  1. Margaret “Maggie” (24 April 1827 - 14 December 1904)
  2. Charlotte (6 February 1829 - 5 July 1845)
  3. John George (30 December 1830 –14 September 1898)
  4. Mary “Marak” (18 December 1832 12 August 1912)
  5. James (6 March 1834 - September 1834)
  6. William (15 May 1836 -15 May 1869)
  7. Jane (17 November 1838 –1926)
  8. Ellen “Nellie” (20 December 1840 - 24 December 1912)
  9. Colin (8 August 1843 –28 September 1934)
  10. Harriet (18 October 1846 - 12 May 1922)
  11. George Thomas (12 December 1849 - December 1901)
​Many of the Inkster men became noted politicians and businessmen. They were influential, and their exploits were well recorded by contemporary sources. The story of the Inkster women is more difficult to tell. In many cases they have only been recorded as a footnote in the story of their husbands and children. For the lucky few, society pages talked about their looks and clothing. Research into their lives continues.

Today, Inkster descendants live across North America, Scotland, and as far away as New Zealand.
Additional geneaological files are available in the museum's archives. Please contact us if you have any additional family resources or information that you'd like to share.

Margaret Inkster Sutherland
1827 - 1904

Margaret was born on April 24, 1827 and baptized on the 1st of July in the Church of St. John. Margaret married William Richard Sutherland (1833-1906) on 21 October 21, 1859 in St. Mary's Church, Portage la Prairie.

They had eight children: Alfred, George Thomas, Mary, Isabella Ann (Bella), John, Colin, Robert James, and Elizabeth Jane Victoria.
​
Margaret lived much of her adult life in St Andrews. She suffered a stroke in 1903 that left her partly paralyzed on her left side. She died the following year on December 14, 1904 at the age of 77. William died two years later at the age of 72. Both are buried at St. Andrew's Church along with children, Victoria and Robert.​​

Charlotte Inkster
1829 - 1845

Charlotte was born on February 6, 1829 and baptized five days later on February 11 by Rev. William Cockran. Charlotte died in 1845 at the age of 16.

John George Inkster
1830 - 1898

John George was born on December 30, 1830.
At the age of 19, he traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana. John worked for many years as an Engineer on different steamships on the Mississippi River, including the Morgan’s Louisiana and Texas Railway and Steamship Company. 

He married Mary Fogarty, a native of Ireland, on March 7, 1857. They had five children: William Aaron (born 1858); John; Mary (married G. H. Walker of Winnipeg in October 1881); Richard; and a child who died in infancy.

Mary died in New Orleans when the children were young. John sent the children to his parents at Seven Oaks, where the boys attended St John’s School and daughter Mary attended St. Mary’s Academy. John George died in New Orleans on September 14, 1898.

Mary 'Marak' Inkster
1832 - 1912

Mary, called “Marak” by her family, was born on her mother’s birthday: December 15, 1832. Well educated and well read, she was active in the church and a pillar of her community.

She had musical talents, playing the organ at St. John’s Cathedral for many years. She traveled around Great Britain with her mother, but little else is known about her life.
Marak never married and she became the keeper of Seven Oaks as her parents aged.  Of her, her mother wrote in a letter to sister/daughter Harriet McMurray in 1869:
“Your father felt Marak’s illness very deeply – God has delt mercifully with us in restoring our useful member once more, for you can imagine what the Lodge of Seven Oaks would be without her.”
​She remained in Seven Oaks House until her death on August 15, 1912. She willed her property to the City of Winnipeg, ensuring it would be preserved for her community as a park and museum.

Bobs the dog
c.1890 - 1910

This photo of Bobs was taken some time between 1894 and 1912. Based on these dates, we believe he was Marak's dog.

Bobs is posing on a bear skin rug. He appears to be a Rat Terrier -- powerful, fast dogs that were bred for hunting and pest control. They were popular on farms from the 1890s until the 1940s.

His collar is held in the Museum's collection. Its engraved gold nameplate reads: "Bobs - Seven Oaks"

It's obvious that Bobs was a cherished member of the family and his story is probably the oldest pet-history preserved in Manitoba!

James Inkster
1834

James was born on March 6, 1834. He died 6 months later.

William Inkster
1836 - 1869

William was born on May 15, 1836. He was educated at St. John’s Parochial School and St. John’s College. He married Mary Todd (1839-1916), daughter of Isabella Elizabeth Dennet and Chief Factor Dr. William Todd. They had seven children: John Hector (b. 1859), Harriet Louisa (b.1861), Mary Isabella (b.1863), Ellen Arabella (b.1864), Florence (b.1865), Agnes Lee (b.1867), Alfred William (b.1868).

He worked as a teacher, general merchant, census taker and politician. He was a leader in the English Metis (Halfbreed) community, and was appointed to the Council of Assinboia in 1868.

William was briefly appointed as the first land surveyor in Red River. He was replaced after a few short months because he did not speak French and "the Canadians cannot understand him".
He received the degree of Craft of Free Masonry in 1864 and helped found the Northern Lights Lodge (today's Masonic Grand Lodge of Manitoba).
​
In 1857 William built a home and trading post along the river south of St. John's Cathedral, which became known as Redwood, as it was reportedly the only house in the settlement with a red-painted roof. Today's Redwood Avenue and the 1908 Redwood Bridge (now called the Harry Lazarenko Bridge) were named after his home.

He died an untimely death on his 33rd birthday.

His family was wealthy and continued their trading business. Daughter Bella was recorded in the 1881 census as a "fur trader", while her mother is listed as a "private lady". The family later moved to Salmon Arm, British Columbia.

Jane Inkster Tait
1838 - 1926

Jane was born on November  17, 1838.
She studied at St. John’s School where she learned to write with goose quill pens and ink powder. She later attended St. Cross Ladies’ School; a two story building that was heated with Carron stoves and later became St. John’s Boys College.

In the book Women of Red River, author A. J. Healy writes, “Mrs. Tait still has her wedding dress, which is of silk taffeta in shades of mauve in a plaid pattern.” She married Robert Tait (1833-1912) in the Church of St. Andrew on December 16, 1858.

Jane and Robert made their home in a location called Silver Heights, in modern St. James near Deer Lodge Hospital. They kept horses and she was an avid rider. They had six children: Thomas, Timoleon, Colin, Ellen-Harriet, Mary, and Adelaide.  Jane died at 87 on August 7, 1926 and was buried in St. James Cemetery.

Ellen Inkster McDonald
1840 - 1912

Ellen, known as “Nellie”, was born on December  12, 1840. She studied at St. John’s School and the St. Cross Ladies’ School with sister Jane. On September 3, 1863 she married Archibald 'Archie' Grieve McDonald (1836-1915) in the Church of St. John. 

They had six children:
John Archibald McDonald
Donald Hogarth McDonald
Mary Harriet McDonald Williams
Eleanor McDonald Williams
Dr. Edward Ellice McDonald
Harold French McDonald

Archibald was a Scotchman from Inverness and servant of the Hudson’s Bay Company. They resided in various HBC posts in which Archibald was in charge: Manitoba House, Touchstone Hills, Fort Qu’Appelle, and Fort Ellice.
Nellie died on December 24, 1912 in the home of her son at 555 Wellington Crescent, and was buried in St. John’s Cathedral cemetery.

The Honourable Colin Inkster
1843 - 1934

Colin was born on August 8, 1843. He studied at St. John’s Parochial School and later St. John’s College. He married Ann Tait (1852-1925) on March 16, 1874 in St. John’s Cathedral. Ann was the younger sister of Robert Tait, husband to Colin’s elder sister Jane.

They had twelve children, but only five survived to adulthood: Rupert Finleyson Inkster, Colin Robertson Sinclair Inkster (1876-1961), Myra Jane McMurray Inkster (1878-1938), Annie Sibyl McKay Inkster (1880-1974), and James Richard Hardisty Inkster (1886-?).
 ”After I had been through St. John’s College, I was keen on going across the plains, and in 1863 I made my first trip to St. Paul."
...
"I will never forget the extraordinary excitement of my first experience as a buffalo hunter,” he said. “I yelled louder and louder to my horse, I tore off my coat, I was amazed in my own mind at the fury in my voice, I felt so light the wind seemed to be blowing through me. I was beside myself in the frenzy of the chase. Now I only go duck-shooting.”

​From Eighty Years on the Red River
MacLeans, Feb 15, 1926
Colin started working for his father's freighting business, traveling and hunting across the plains. He was asked to represent St. John's on Louis Riel's Provisional Government in 1869-70, but he "declined election". 

Colin was then elected as a member of the First Legislative Council of Manitoba in 1871, becoming Minister of Agriculture in 1875. In 1876 he cast the deciding vote to abolish the Legislative Council, which  had been equivalent to a provincial senate. 

He later served as the Sheriff of Manitoba for 51 years, from 1876-1927. He also held the position of Rector’s Warden for St. John’s Cathedral for over 60 years.

He was a founding member of the Manitoba Historical Society, and in 1891 erected the Monument to the Battle of Seven Oaks (the oldest historical marker in western Canada) on land donated by his sister Marak. 

Colin and Ann built their home in 1874, on Lot 6, west of Seven Oaks House. His sister Jane once said in an interview
​“...that were no trees about it and for that reason suggested it be named Bleak House.” His home still stands near the museum. It is a municipal heritage site and active seniors' centre.​
Picture
The Manitoba Historical Society unveils the Seven Oaks Monument (19 June 1891). Archives of Manitoba
Picture
Colin in front of Bleak House, 1930
Colin died on September 28, 1934 after suffering smoke inhalation during a fire at his hunting lodge on the Delta Marsh. He was 91 years old. ​

Harriet Inkster McMurray
1846 - 1922

Harriet was born on October 8, 1846. On July 13, 1868 Harriet married William McMurray (1824-1877), a widower 22 years her senior. It was William’s 2nd marriage; his first wife Anne Christie Ballenden died in 1862. William was a trader for the Hudson's Bay Company and oversaw a number of trading posts in the North West Territories.

Details about their children are unclear: Their son, John Dougald, was born in 1870. In June of 1872, daughter Mary Louisa was born at Seven Oaks and died the following year. Another child, James Hamilton, arrived in 1875. Other records show that they had four other daughters named Dorothy, Eleanor, Annie and Harriet Jean or 'Jeannie'. 

William died suddenly on March 7 1877, at Seven Oaks House, “by choking, with a portion of the food he was partaking of at supper.” Following his death, Harriet, a widow at 31, built a series of houses on the Inkster homestead. Harriet died on May 12, 1922 at the age of 75. 

George Thomas Inkster
1849 - 1901

George Thomas was born on December 12, 1849.In 1875, George married a French Métis woman named Caroline Turcotte. In 1878 they moved to the Dakota Territory and became the namesake for Inkster township, North Dakota.

George and Caroline had at least ten children, four of whom died in 1892/3. After the loss of all these children, another daughter Isabelle was born in 1896.

Caroline died in 1898, with George following on December 31, 1901. They were buried together in Union Cemetery, Towner, North Dakota.