ERNEST EDWARD POOLE.
 



	One of the leading contractors and structural engineers in Regina is
Ernest Edward Poole, founder and head of the Poole Construction Com-
pany, Limited. Born in Prince Edward Island, in October, 1883, he is the
son of the late John T. and Jean (Shaw) Poole, who were natives of the
island and were married in 1880. John Poole, the great-grandfather of
Mr. Poole of this review, settled in Prince Edward Island in 1808. It was
his son Edward Poole, who in 1838 wedded Elizabeth Finley, daughter
of James Finley and granddaughter of Hans and Jane (Cochrane) Fin-
ley.  A sister of Jane Cochrane married Major Wilford of Woolwich,
England, and their summer home was in the Isle of Wight. Their son,
Colonel E. N. Wilford, R. A., was governor of the Royal Military Academy
of Woolwich, England, in or about 1858. Another son, Lieutenant Colonel
Wilford, was major and chief instructor in the school of musketry at
Hythe, England.  James Finley, great~grandfather of Ernest E. Poole,
fought at Corrina and Waterloo and was present at the burial of Sir John
Moore. For many years after he was keeper of Queen Elizabeth's castle
in the Channel Isles as a non-commissioned officer and he was also keeper
of the Fort.
	Ann Gardner, great~grandmother of E. E. Poole, was a daughter of
Captain Andrew and Bessie (Barter) Gardner, the latter a daughter
Sir Joseph Barter, who wedded a sister of General Benedict Arnold.
The family crest of the Barters was a hand and pistol.  The ancestral
record is also traced back to the Rev. William McLaren, who came from
Perth, Scotland, and settled on the banks of Brudenell river, Prince
Edward Island. He built a Presbyterian church on Brudenell Island and
a residence on the north side of the river.  His daughter, Mrs. Jessie
(McLaren) Stewart, settled with her husband on the banks of Brudenell
river. Her son, Charles Stewart, the great-grandfather of E. E. Poole,
married Esther Gay of Maine and settled at Roseneath, Prince Edward
Island. Charles and Esther (Gay) Stewart became the parents of seven
children, as follows:
	(1)	Henry, an engineer by profession, passed away in Pennsylvania.
	(2)	James, a physician of Boston, Massachusetts.
	(3)	Lemuel, who settled in Bristol, Connecticut, where at one time
he held the office of mayor.
	(4)	Mary, who was born June 2, 1827, became the wife of Donald
Shaw in 1844 and reared a family of four children, namely: Jean, whose
birth occurred May 24, 1850, and who in 1880 gave her hand in marriage
to John T. Poole; Daniel, whose natal day was December 26, 1852, and
who wedded Bertha McMillian; Howard, who was born April 14, 1855, and
was married in Oakland, California, where he died a few years later; and Esther, who was born March 19, 1860, and became the wife of Frank
Jenkins.  
	Donald Shaw, husband of Mary (Stewart) Shaw, was a son
of Donald and Christine (Amos) Shaw, whose family numbered six chil-
dren: Stephen, who married Margaret Grant; Kingston; John, who~
a Baptist minister and married Charlotte Dockindorf; Robert, who mar-
ried Jean Williams and lived in New Perth, Prince Edward Island;
Donald, who wedded Mary Stewart in 1844; and Margaret, who became the
wife of James Robertson of Brudenell, Prince Edward Island.
	(5)	Catherine was the fifth child born to Charles and Esther (Gay)Stewart.
	(6)	Jessie became the wife of Edwin Coffin and the mother of
children:  Rev. Frank Coffin, a minister in Newfoundland; Bessie, the
wife of Dr. Toombes of Mount Stewart, Prince Edward Island; Victor, a
writer and a professor in Cornell University; Robert, a minister of Nova
Scotia; Ernest Coffin, Ph. D., who holds a professorship in a Calgary
college; and Louise, who married Dr. Carruthers of Charlottetown, Prince
Edward Island.
	(7)  Elizabeth was the youngest child of Charles and Esther (Gay)
Stewart.
	All of the above mentioned forebears lived and died in Prince Edward
Island, Ernest E. Poole being the first of the family to come to the main-
land of Canada.  His father, John T. Poole, operated a flour mill, two
sawmills and a lumber mill until he retired from business in 1913.  He
and his wife were stanch members of the Presbyterian church and reared
their children in that faith.  Of a family of five, but two children are
living: Mary E., the wife of the Rev. E. S. Weeks, a Methodist minister;
and Ernest Edward. The father passed away in 1922. The mother still
makes her home in Prince Edward Island.
	Ernest E. Poole was educated in the grade and high schools of his
native province and attended the business college at Charlottetown, fol-
lowing which he took up the study of architecture and reinforced con-
crete engineering, which has been an invaluable aid to him in his later
work as a builder. He is now an associate member of the Engineering
Institute of Canada.  Before he came west he was associated with his
father in the milling industry, operating one of his mills for a time. In
1904 he came to Saskatchewan, locating at Stoughton, where he worked
as a construction foreman on the building and construction projects
being carried forward by the Lannon Brothers & Martin Company. He
began doing contracting work on his own account about two. years later
and has made steady advancement in that line of endeavor ever since.
In 1914 he incorporated the Poole Construction Company, Limited, bring-
ing his business to Regina in the same year. This city has offered him a
larger opportunity because of the greater amount of big building being
done here, but he has not confined his work to this immediate vicinity.
On the contrary, he has important buildings to his credit in a number
of different cities of the Canadian west.  He held the contracts for the
sanitarium at Fort Qu'Appelle; the new provincial jail at Prince Albert;
the Mental Hospital at Weyburn, which was erected at a cost of two and a
half millions; the Carnegie Library at Edmonton; and the following
structures in Regina: The provincial office building, the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police barracks, the Saskatchewan Cooperative Creamery build-
ing, the Saskatchewan Cooperative Elevator Company, Limited, building,
and the Wood Vallance Hardware Company building.
	In 1913 Mr. Poole was married to Miss Gertrude Inez Annear and they
have become the parents of four children: John Edward, a boy of seven,
who is now attending school; Ruth Annear, aged five; George Ernest, who
is three years of age; and Inez. Mrs. Poole was born in Prince Edward
Island, where she was educated in the public schools and Prince of Wales
College. She and Mr. Poole are both active members of the Presbyterian
church.
	In addition to his business as a contractor Mr. Poole is interested in
the agricultural development of the province. He has had a little exper-
ience along that line himself, having proved up on a homestead in his
earlier days, and now owns a section and a half of fine farm land, which
he rents. He is a Mason, belonging to the blue lodge, the Royal Arch chap-
ter, the Knights Templar commandery and is a Noble of the Mystic Shrine.
In the Rotary Club of Regina he represents the building profession and
socially is identified with the Assiniboia, Wascana Country and Canadian
Clubs. Golf is his favorite recreation and exercise-a sport that afforords
him much pleasure during the open season. In his leisure time Mr. Poole
has made quite a study of art subjects, especially in the pictorial form,
and is considered an authority on architecture and painting. Needless to
add that aside from the aesthetic satisfaction this study has afforded him,
he has gained from it much that has been of assistance to him in his work
and added to his enjoyment in erecting a beautiful building.




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