Fonds F2059 - William Bertal Heeney fonds

Willam Bertal Heeney, writer and Anglican clergyman, was born 18 February 1873 in Danford Lake, Quebec, and died in 1955. He was the son of Henry Heeney and Eleanor Jane Walsh. He was educated at Lachute Academy and then attended McGill University, where he received a BA in 1899. In 1900 he graduated from the Montreal Diocesan Theological College. He obtained a BD in 1915 from the University of Manitoba and a DD in 1929. He married Eva Marjorie Holland, daughter of R.H. Holland of Montreal, with whom he had a
son, Arnold, and a daughter.

In 1900 Heeney was ordained deacon. He was ordained priest in the following year and was rector of Christ Church, Belleville, from 1901 to 1905. Heeney moved to St George’s, Newport, Rhode Island, and lived there until 1908. He subsequently spent a short time in Barrie, Ontario, before becoming the chaplain of the 100th Winnipeg Grenadiers.

Heeney was the president of the Manitoba Children’s Aid Society, a member of the Executive Council General Synod, a member of the council of St. John’s College, and was made honorary canon of St. John’s Cathedral, Winnipeg. In addition, Heeney also served as the president of the Winnipeg Art Association, governor of the University of Manitoba, and held various administrative positions related to the Province of Rupert’s Land (notably, archivist and commissioner of the Diocese of Rupert’s Land). He was chairman of the Archive’s Committee of the General Synod, authored histories and fiction, and edited several church publications. He served as rector of St Luke’s Church, Winnipeg, from 1909 until his retirement in 1942, when he moved to Montreal. Heeney died in Ottawa on 12 April 1955.