The Scarth Family name originates from the Viking Scarth, who, in 966 founded Scarborough. They later became a family of whalers, cotton spinners, and bankers.

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William (Will) Frederick Scarth, was born to Henry Scarth in 1851 on July 1 near Stratford, Ontario. Will, his two brothers, the Blakeman family, and a variety of other Stratford settlers came to Manitoba in the early 1880s. Before coming to Virden, which was then known as Gopher Creek, Will lived in Winnipeg and owned a liquor store on Main Street. Finally moving to Gopher Creek in 1882, Will worked as postmaster at the post office. After the settlement of Gopher Creek moved a mile west of the original location east of the creek, Will moved with it and became the post master at the Virden post office.

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Thomas Blakeman and his wife, Rebecca, were also part of the group of Stratford settlers who moved west. His daughter, Ellen Elizabeth, or Nellie, was born in 1864, and had been “sweethearts” with Will back in Ontario. However, due to her beliefs as a Methodist, she was not fond of Will’s liquor business which led him to open a general store on Nelson Street and Seventh Avenue in the Scarth Block.

After this, the two were married in 1886. Their stone house stood, and still stands beside St. Mary’s Church. The pair had four children including Lillian Erie, Harold St. Clair, Aileen Blanche, and William Blakeman.

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William, and Nellie’s first child, Lillian, was born in 1888. She went on to work for the Winnipeg Free Press as a staff writer and music critic. Harold was born in Virden but later moved to Winnipeg to practise law at Phillips, Rogers & Scarth. Later, he acted as the President of the Law Society of Manitoba and President of the Manitoba Bar Association.

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Aileen married her Icelandic husband, Joseph Thorarinn Thorson in Winnipeg in 1916. He was named as a Rhodes Scholar for Manitoba in 1910 and the couple had three children including Ellen, Donald, and Gail. During their time together, they also moved to Ottawa where Joseph was appointed to the Cabinet of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King.

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William Blakeman received the Military Cross in World War One and was also a lawyer throughout northern Manitoba and Winnipeg. In the 1950s, he moved back to Virden in order to join the oil industry and was then elected into the Manitoba Legislature in 1958. For a time, much like his brother, he also served as President of the Manitoba Bar Association.

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Will and Nellie moved back to Winnipeg in 1913 and although Will passed away in 1927, the Scarth family legacy still lives on in Virden. Scarth block, also known as 7th Avenue and Nelson Street was built in 1898. In that time, it was known as the “busy corner.” The village of Scarth, which dates back to 1907 and sat on Will Scarth’s land, now has no residents, but is still home to a community center and baseball diamond.

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