Major-General Cortlandt Starnes

Major-General Cortlandt Starnes
Estevan Assiniboia RNWMP Post

Mar 18, 1896- Inspector Starnes was transferred to the Estevan RNWMP Post, from the Regina Barracks.

Major- General Cortlandt Starnes
(better known as Colonel Starnes)
(first name seen as Courtland Starnes, which is wrong)
b- Mar 31, 1864 in Montreal, Quebec
d- May 28, 1934 in his Ste. Hilaire Residence, Quebec, age 70
He died after a lengthy illness
Funeral Service in Ste. Hillaire Catholic Church.
buried in Cote des Neiges Cemetery, Montreal, Quebec, plot Section J-1

Cortlandt was the son of George Edmond Starnes
b- 1831 in Quebec
1881 age 50, occupation- Officierde Corp.
and Marie “Malvina” Beaudry
b- 1839, in Quebec
d- July 4, 1930 at the home of her daughter, Elvine Starnes, in Montreal, Quebec, age 91
Malvina lived in New York for about 25 years in her later life.
she was visiting son Cortlandt in Ottawa, then Elvine, when she became ill
George and Malvina were married in Notre-Dame Montreal, Aug 25, 1858

Maternal Grandfather- Hon. John Louis Beaudry
He also became Mayor of Montreal
Maternal Grandmother- Henriette-Therese Vallee
daughter of Joseph Vallee and Therese Rodney

Cortlandt's father George was from United Empire Loyalist Stock.
Paternal Grandfather- Benjamin Starnes,
b- abt 1797
Paternal Grandmother- Elizabeth Minville (Mainville?)
Benjamin came to Canada after the American Revolution, and married a French Canadian Lady.
He was of Scotch descent.

Great Grandfather- Nathaniel Starnes,
b- abt 1768, Fort Edward, New York, USA
Great Grandmother- Margaret Auclair

When Cortlandt died, he had 2 sisters living-
Mrs Armand Larocque of Beauje France.
Miss Elvine Starnes, living in Montreal in 1934,
b- 1874 in Quebec
I show her living in New York at one point. (Her mother I know lived there)
also he had 3 sister in laws, so he had 3 brothers as well,
who all died before him.
Charles Starnes- b- 1870 in Quebec
George Starnes, b- 1872 in Quebec
unknown name- 3rd brother

Cortlandt was married, and stationed in Regina before coming to Estevan.
1901 Cortlandt Starnes, age 38, b- Quebec,
shown as Insp. NWMP at Dawson City, Yukon
married Feb 19, 1891,
his wife Mina “Malvina?” Starnes, nee Sicotte,
was with him, age 33, she was also born in Quebec.
She was alive when Cortlandt died.

Mina was the daughter of Judge Louis-Victor Sicotte of Montreal, Quebec,
b- Nov 6, 1812, in Boucherville,
d- Sept. 5, 1889, St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, age 76
Judge in Superior Court of Quebec. Lawyer and politician.
one of the co-founders of the St. Jean Baptiste Society of Montreal.
He was the son of Touissant Sicotte. (originally spelled Cicot)
Judge Sicotte married Margaret Amelia Starnes, in 1837.
Margaret was the daughter of Benjamin Starnes, the Grandfather of Cortlandt!
Margaret was the sister of Hon. Henry N. Starnes, from Montreal.
Henry had his picture on a $5 Metropolitan Bank Note, which he was manager of.
He was Mayor of Montreal 1856-1857 and again 1866-1867
he was the banker involved in what was called the Pacific Scandal, on the building of the CPR.
Henry N. Starnes,
b- Oct 13, 1816 in Kingston ON.,
d- Mar 3, 1896 in Montreal.
Judge Sicotte had 10 children living in 1889. One died before that.
In all the census records Cortlandt's wife shows as Malvina, which is his mother's name??

So we can see Cortlandt had some pretty important relatives, some who obviously intermarried.

I know there was one child, a Cortlandt Starnes Jr., who became Superintendent of the RCMP on Vancouver Island, and he lived in Victoria BC in 1967.

Cortlandt Starnes (Sr.) was educated at Plateau Academy, in Montreal.
For a year or 2, he was engaged in a Commercial Office in Montreal.
Described as a short, heavily built, Powerful man.
Attended Infantry School in St. Jean, Quebec.
1885 he came west as an Adjutant, with the 65th Mount Royal Rifles Regiment, no 3 Company, (the Regiment had 317 men, 23 Officers.) as a Lieutenant, under General Strange.
Awarded the North-West Rebellion Medal and Bar. He returned East after the Rebellion, but came back West shortly after.
In 1886 he returned West as an Inspector in the NWMP. From 1897 to 1902 he was in the Yukon territory, and the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898 brought him to Dawson City.
He sailed from Vancouver by coastal steamer to Skagway, Alaska, with him, Judge McGuire, Crown Prosecutor, F. O. Wade, Dr. Bonnar, and other men.
In his first year in Dawson City he tried 744 Prisoners.
20 was the total of the first detachment there.
1909 He was promoted to Superintendent.
1910 he sailed to the Hudson Bay, and Churchill.
The Steamer Jeannie took him north, Captain Robert “Bob” Abram Bartlett (1875-1946) at the helm.
The Jeannie, (also seen Jeanie), was a Four Masted Steam Freighter. Bartlett sailed with Robert E. Peary the year before, when Peary finally reached the North Pole.
Captain Bartlett was quite the man in his own right. if you get a chance read his life story also.
They landed in Churchill, unloaded some of their cargo there. They then proceeded to Wager Bay to set up a post there.
17 men, including the Superintendent, then made their way back to Churchill. An arctic storm came up, and the Jeannie was stranded. Only by chance a whaler came along,
and the crew were able to take the men to Churchill. All of this while a terrible winter was getting started. Jan 1910 he left by train to Gimli, then dog sled to Norway House.
From there another dog sled to Fort Churchill.
At Split Lake he met Supt. Moody, and relieved him of his long duty.
He spent 5 years in the Yukon, and was expected to spend 5 years in Churchill.
Mrs. Starnes spent the winter in Montreal, then went by boat to Fort Churchill.
1911 he was the Supt. and he was in Churchill, NWT with his wife.
1914, 1916, He was Commanding Superintendent, “D” Division, RNWMP at Fort McLeod, AB
1918 he served as Assistant Provost Marshal, in Quebec and Montreal.
He was Director of the Force in 1922.

He served in Regina, Estevan, Maple Creek, Battleford, MacLeod, Dawson, Churchill, Winnipeg, Montreal and finally Ottawa.

He was Superintendent of Winnipeg Division of the RCMP, during the Winnipeg General Strike in 1919

He became the 7th Commissioner of the RCMP from Apr 1, 1923 to July 31, 1931, the First French-Canadian to hold this post

While he was RCMP Commissioner, he arranged the takeover in 1928, of the Saskatchewan Provincial Police.
He Retired Aug 1, 1931 serving over 45 years.
He was President of the Ottawa Center of the St. John Ambulance Association, and Ottawa Humane Society

There was a railroad siding on the Hudson Bay Railroad to Churchill, named after him, at mile 408.2, in 1929

One article stated he was an Encyclopedia of Information, But the Encyclopedia was a closed book.
He was a private man, and didn't like interviews, about his many exploits. This guy seen it all, and done it all.
Too bad that not much of what he did was recorded by him.

Royal North West Mounted Police, were nicknamed “Riders of the Plains”

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