McWilliam, George Freeze, newspaper publisher; b. near Moncton 27 Jul 1874, s/o David McWilliam and Mary Riley; m. 1898, Rose Ellen Millea, d/o Edward Millea and Catherine Morrissy, of Newcastle; d. there 22 Nov 1961.

    The son of an Adventist father and Baptist mother, George F. McWilliam left school at an early age and entered the newspaper field. His career began in 1889 when he was engaged by the Moncton Transcript as a printer's devil. After thirteen years he left that paper to become mechanical foreman of the Post in Sydney, N.S. In 1906, when he was thirty-two, he moved to his wife's hometown of Newcastle to open a job printing plant and commence publication of the weekly North Shore Leader, the first issue of which came off the press on 22 June of that year.

First North Shore Leader Office (Pleasant St.?) - circa 1915- photo says 1906 but that was the year it was launched. Cecil looks to be at least 17.- courtesy of Paul Barry, Sr.

George F. McWilliam (holding Joanne McWilliam?), Cecil McWilliam?

    The Leader declared itself to be politically independent, but its start-up was financed by John Morrissy, McWilliam's wife's uncle, who was a sitting Liberal member of the legislature, and the paper was always unquestioningly supportive of Liberal political interests. It was successfully conducted from a business standpoint and eventually became the most influential paper on the Miramichi. By the 1950s, there was no competing paper in Newcastle, and its circulation, at around 3,000, was larger than that of the two Chatham newspapers combined. For a great many years McWilliam was both editor and publisher of the Leader. He eventually relinquished the editorial role but not that of publisher. When the business was incorporated in 1958 he became president of the company. Twelve years after his death the paper was sold, and its name was later changed to Miramichi Leader.

    McWilliam's wife, Rose Ellen Millea, was active in Catholic church circles in Newcastle and was a leading member of the school board in the 1930s and 40s. The children of the family included Cecil E. McWilliam, a graduate of the University of New Brunswick in engineering who was employed by the Canadian General Electric Co. in Toronto; Charlotte McWilliam, the wife of F. Herbert Barry; G. Roy McWilliam, the MP for Northumberland County for many years; Helen (McWilliam) Hayes; and town librarian and local historian Edith (McWilliam) MacAllister, the last three of whom filled important positions with the Leader at different times in its history.

Photos property of the family