Edmund S. Ironside (1879 – 1918)
Edmund Ironside was born on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. In his teens he worked on the Crowsnest Pass railway route and came north in 1898. He worked as a Canadian customs officer in Skagway and then tried mining. He worked for a time on the White Pass & Yukon Route railway construction and eventually joined the Canadian Customs Service in the Yukon. He became the Collector of Customs in Dawson, a qualified and respected government official.1)
The Yukon Patriotic Fund was established during the First World War to support dependants of Canadian soldiers, British reservists, and those serving in other allied armies.2) Commissioner Black and Member of Parliament Alfred Thompson were honorary presidents of the Dawson Branch. Joe Boyle was the president and members included Bishop Isaac O. Stringer, Frederick Congdon, Frank Lowe, Dr. A. J. Gillis, George Williams, and William Radford volunteering for other positions. In December 1914, the Canadian Yukon Patriotic Fund was named as the central body for collecting funds and promoting volunteer efforts in the community. Members of the community stepped forward including Reverend Stringer and RNWMP Major J. D. Moodie. Edmund Ironside chaired the solicitations committee. The committee oversaw a number of funds for specific purposes and groups.3) He organized the fund and helped to persuade Yukon government employees to donate one day's pay per month.4)
Ironside’s job with the government was secure after most of the federal civil service were laid off. He took passage on the Princess Sophia from Skagway on his way south for a vacation and was drowned when the Sophia sunk in the Lynn Canol.5) Edmund’s mother, Mrs. Mary Ironside had moved from Ireland to Dawson about 1913 to be with her son. She was a member of the Yukon Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. She drowned with her son and the rest of the passengers and crew on the Sophia.6)