Reverend Canon Ernest Phair, 44, was a British subject and faculty member of St. John’s College in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Phair was on board the final voyage of the Lusitania to take a short vacation to England. Phair was lost in the Lusitania disaster.
Life
Canon Ernest Phair was born in 1870 in Fort Alexander, Manitoba, to Archdeacon Robert Phair of Rupert’s Land, Canada. Phair was sent to England for his early education. He returned to Canada in 1881 to enter St. John’s College Boy’s School in Winnipeg. Canon graduated from St. John’s College with a degree in Classical Studies and won a university scholarship and the Governor-General’s medal in 1889.
Phair served as private secretary to Lieutenant-Governor John Schultz for four years. Phair then returned to England in the winter of 1895-6 to study Theology. Phair became an ordained minister and served an English parish until 1902, when St. John’s College appointed him to be one of its faculty.
Lusitania
In May of 1915, Phair was taking a short vacation to England and booked Lusitania. His cabin on board was C-3, shared with Reverend Henry Wood Simpson and Duncan Hanes. The stewardess in charge of their cabin was May Bird.
At the time of the torpedo impact, Phair may have been at lunch or just finished, as his roommates Reverend Simpson was still eating and Duncan Hanes had already finished. Reverend Canon Ernest Phair was lost in the Lusitania sinking. His body was recovered, #79.
Contributors
Jim Kalafus, USA
Michael Poirier, USA
References
“Fonds MG3 B5 – Reverend Canon Ernest E.M. Phair fonds.” University of Manitoba Library. Online. Accessed 9 May 2013. <http://nanna.lib.umanitoba.ca/icaatom/index.php/reverend-canon-ernest-e-m-phair-fonds;rad>.
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