Elliott, Robert Wilson (1830-1912)

Robert Wilson Elliott was born in Ireland in 1830, and emigrated to Canada West in 1850, where he was a shoemaker in Waterloo and Haldimand counties. During the Fenian raids he served in the local Militia. After a short stay in Huron County, where he had moved to care for his orphaned nephews, he and his enlarged family joined the western migration about 1882, sojourning for a while at Brandon. In 1883 he took up a homestead southwest of Balgonie in the District of Assiniboia. For the first year he lived in a “soddy” before building a frame house.

He was active in the Methodist Church, the Orange Lodge, and local politics. As president of the local Conservative riding association, Elliott supported Nicholas Flood Davin, the MP and editor/publisher of the Regina Leader, and successfully campaigned to have the community named in honour of Davin. R.W. Elliott was appointed Justice of the Peace by the Territorial Government and also held the position of postmaster at Davin from 1890 to 1900. He gave up the postmaster's title following the death of his wife Isabella, who had actually run the post office from their home at 16-16-16 W2.

In 1901 Robert Wilson Elliott resigned as Justice of the Peace and moved to Maple Creek where his daughter Emily and her husband Moses lived. There he resumed his trade as a shoe and boot maker, catering to the needs of the local ranchers, residents, and Mounties. He died in Maple Creek in 1912.

David R. Elliott