Lionel Joseph Pretoria Conacher MP (1900 - 1954)

Born 24 May 1900 in Toronto, York, Ontario, Canada

Ancestors

Husband of Dorothy (Kennedy) Conacher — married 17 Sep 1923 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Died 26 May 1954 at age 54 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

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Biography

Lionel Conacher MP has Irish ancestors.

Lionel Conacher MP has Scottish Ancestors.

Lionel Conacher MP is Notable.

Lionel Conacher was an Ontario-born athlete and politician. He was Canada's greatest all-round athlete.

Born in 1900 in Toronto, Ontario, he was the eldest son of Benjamin Conacher, a teamster, and Eliza Black. ^[1]He was given the middle name "Pretoria" after his father's hometown in Lambton County, Ontario, although in later life Conacher apparently said he was named after the South African city of Pretoria where the Boer War was being fought at the time of his birth.^[2]

He spent his childhood in Toronto. ^[3][4]He and all nine of his siblings were encouraged to take up sports while attending Jesse Ketchum School. Conacher excelled in several sports and became a star football, hockey and lacrosse player. He retired as an athlete in 1937 to enter politics. He won the provincial election in 1937 and entered federal politics in 1949.

He married Dorothy Kennedy on September 17, 1923, in Toronto.^[5]

He died in 1954 in Ottawa, Ontario, after suffering a heart attack while playing in a softball match for charity. He was buried at Saint John's York Mills Anglican Church Cemetery, Toronto.^[6]

Among his many awards and honours, he was named Canada's Athlete of the Half Century in 1950 and was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame (1955), the Canadian Football Hall of Fame (1963), the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame (1966), the Hockey Hall of Fame (1994) and Canada’s Walk of Fame (2022). The award for Canada’s male athlete of the year is named in his honour.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ "Canada, Ontario Births and Baptisms, 1779-1899", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F2YM-MM6 : 13 February 2020), Lionel Joseph Pretoria Conacher, 1900.
2. ↑ Wikipedia: Lionel Conacher
3. ↑ "Canada Census, 1901," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KHPM-RQB : 23 February 2021), Lionel Conacher in household of Benjamin Conacher, York (east/est), Ontario, Canada; citing p. 1, Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa.
4. ↑ "Recensement du Canada de 1911," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:27XM-D4S : 15 August 2022), Lionel Conashi in entry for Ben Conashi, 1911; citing Census, Toronto, York, Ontario, Canada, Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; FHL microfilm .
5. ↑ "Canada, Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:27DZ-4B2 : 8 March 2021), Lionel Pretoria Conacher and Dorothy Kennedy, 17 Sep 1923; citing registration , Toronto, York, Ontario, Canada, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 2,266,885.
6. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10462/lionel-pretoria-conacher: accessed 14 January 2023), memorial page for Lionel Pretoria “Big Train” Conacher (24 May 1900–26 May 1954), Find A Grave: Memorial #10462, citing Saint John's York Mills Anglican Church Cemetery, North York, Toronto Municipality, Ontario, Canada; Maintained by Find a Grave.
7. ↑ The Canadian Encyclopedia: Lionel Conacher