(1874-14 June 1957), contractor. Born in Tidnish, N.S. In early career, Edgar Irvine worked in various capacities in railway building on roads including the Guysborough Railway (N.S.), and was a contractor on the Transcontinental, the Quebec & Saguenay Railway, and the CPR. He and his business partner Alfred Morrison then changed over to road contracting in Chateauguay County, Que. Edgar Irvine came to Alexandria to live in 1913, and was thereafter a Glengarrian by adoption. About this time, he and Morrison had road contracts in GC. Eight years after coming to Alexandria, Irvine formed his own company, called Edgar Irvine Construction Co. Ltd. Later, when he had contracts in the Napanee area, he added the Lennox Construction Co.

     In 1920, in what must have been for him, at least during his GC years, a rare involvement in the forest industries, Irvine had obtained stumping rights on some 1400 acres near North Bay and was planning to have some 50 men at work taking out pulpwood and telephone poles. (Glengarry News 3 Dec. 1920) More usually, however, during his GC years his work was in road building. In 1930, for example, he had some 200 men working south of Alexandria on the highway connecting Hawkesbury and Lancaster. (GN 28 Nov. 1930) Over the period from 1918 till the late 1930s, he did much work on maintaining and improving the roads connecting Alexandria with Lancaster and McCrimmon. In 1936, the Irvine Co., of Alexandria got the contract to complete the paving of Hwy 34 between Alexandria and Lancaster, and the next year Irvine & Harvey got the contract to pave the nine miles of this highway between Alexandria and McCrimmon. (GN 26 June 1936, 9 April 1937) Elsewhere, in 1939 the Edgar Irvine Co. secured contracts for surface treatment of Highway No. 2 between Gananoque and Morrisburg (“but not continuously”), and on Highway No. 15 between Barriefield and Seeleys Bay. (GN 23 June 1939) But other contracting activties were not neglected, and in April 1941 the Edgar Irvine Co. was constructing a garage and warehouse on Main Street, Alexandria, for Shepherd Brothers on the site of what had formerly been the Munro and McIntosh carriage factory. (GN 11 April 1941)

     Edgar Irvine retired from active business in 1949. He died in a Cornwall hospital. Roman Catholic. He was married to Leah Marie Belliveau (1880-1972), of Nova Scotia. (children surviving him: 1 son) His obituary in the Glengarry News stated that “many of the roads of Glengarry were improved under contract by him,” and that he was “rather retiring by nature.” He was interested in curling, and was a member of the Alexandria Curling Club.

Glengarry News 20 June 1957, Standard Freeholder 20 June 1957 * gravestone, St. Finnan’s cemetery * Irvine Co. fire loss at Alexandria, GN 21 Oct. 1932 * Mr & Mrs Irvine to spend winter in Florida, GN 13 Jan. 1922, to spend winter in Kingston, GN 4 Oct. 1935 * buys player piano, GN 26 Nov. 1920 * son Bruce S. Irvine: engagement, GN 10 Nov. 1939; Lieut. Bruce S. Irvine has been promoted captain in the field, GN 3 March 1944