James Peterkin Alexander
Scottish-born farmer and political figure in Manitoba (1835-1912)

James Peterkin Alexander (June 27, 1835 – April 16, 1912) was a Scottish-born farmer and political figure in Manitoba. He represented Turtle Mountain from 1881 to 1883 and Souris from 1886 to 1888 in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as a Conservative.
Biography
Alexander was born on June 27, 1835, in Edinburgh, Scotland, to William Alexander, and was educated at the normal school and the University of Edinburgh. In 1872, he married Margaret Crawford. Alexander was a Glasgow merchant until 1878 when he was forced out of business by the failure of the City of Glasgow Bank. In November 1879, he emigrated to the Turtle Mountain area of southern Manitoba. Alexander was defeated when he ran for reelection in 1883. He was a magistrate and coroner for the province and served as registrar of deeds for Souris County from 1883 to 1886. He later was editor of the Deloraine Advertiser and registrar for the Boissevain land title office.
Alexander died April 16, 1912, aged 76, in a barber's chair of a heart attack after hearing of his friend John Hugo Ross's death on the Titanic.
The public source identifies “James Peterkin Alexander” as scottish-born farmer and political figure in Manitoba (1835-1912). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around James, Peterkin and Alexander.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “James Peterkin Alexander”, the useful work is to connect “scottish-born farmer and political figure in Manitoba (1835-1912)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 14, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q6141192. VIAF identifies the subject as 92999537. The Library of Congress control number is no2012048145. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1835, 1912, 1881 and 1883.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “James Peterkin Alexander”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow James Peterkin Alexander primary sources, James Peterkin Alexander archive and James research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “James Peterkin Alexander”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “James Peterkin Alexander” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.