Louis James Whitaker

The Adventurer

/ Matthew K Barrett / Leave a comment

Lieutenant Colonel Jim Cornwall
218th (Irish Guards) Battalion
Cornwall

He certainly knows his constituency better than most representatives do. There is scarcely a mile of these unmapped ways that he has not tramped alone; not an Indian guide in the North can last with Jim for a week, in summer or on snowshoes.

(A.D. Cameron, The New North, 1910,)

On 3 March 1916, James Kennedy Cornwall enlisted as a private in Lieutenant Colonel L. J. Whittaker’s 218th Battalion. Within two months, Cornwall, a former Liberal Alberta MPP (1909—1913), was commanding the unit. Nicknamed “Peace River Jim,” he was a pioneer, prospector, trapper, adventurer and entrepreneur. Born on 29 October 1869 in Brantford, Ontario, he became a world traveler before settling in Peace River, Alberta in 1902.

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The Home Wrecker

/ Matthew K Barrett / Leave a comment

Lieutenant Colonel L.J. Whitaker
3rd Canadian Mounted Rifles
Whittaker

The plaintiff [Mr. Hill] charges that the defendant [Col. Whitaker] alienated his wife’s affections and has broken up his home.

(Lethbridge Herald, 10 May 1917, 4)

Born in Staffordshire, England on 19 January 1869, Louis James Whitaker was a Fort Saskatchewan dry goods merchant and commanding officer of the 19th Alberta Dragoons. He had belonged to the Manchester Volunteers before immigrating to Canada. In December 1914, he was appointed to command the 3rd Canadian Mounted Rifles from Alberta. He served for four months in the trenches before the 3rd CMR was disbanded on the reorganization of the Mounted Rifles Brigades in January 1916.

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