Reston's Tinker Jones - Reg Coleman

When I read about a tinsmith, the only picture my mind can find is Tinker Jones from Little House on the Prairie. The episode was about the town wanting a bell for the church and the adults fighting over who would donate it. The children, led by Laura and Mary of course, had all the children of Walnut Grove gather up pails, oil cans, tin toys, dippers and everything else metal from their homes and farms. Tinker melted them all down and made a bell that would belong to them all.  

 





Here's what I found about Reston's longest serving tinsmith. Reginald George Coleman was born in England in 1886, the son of a schoolmaster. He and his wife Hilda Stevenson married in 1913 in Staffordshire, England and then immigrated to Canada.  At first he was employed in a hardware as a tinsmith in Strathcona Municipality, near Belmont and then moved onto Reston in 1917. He was the tinsmith for Manitoba Hardware and Lumber on the northwest corner of Main Street and Second Avenue until it was destroyed by fire in 1921.  I wonder if he was one of the men posing in front of the building in this picture below from the Olenick collection.  

 Reg went into business on his own after the fire and the Trails Along the Pipestone history book written in 1981 says his shop was located in the Baldwin Block, south of the bank where the Hometown Lumber warehouse sits today. He also operated in the Mennie Block at the south end of Main Street for a time until moving to a spot to the east of Lockhart's Garage on Railroad Avenue. He was able to custom fabricate pipes for heating and plumbing and make eavestroughs to fit any house. He was the "Tinny" in the area for almost 4 decades!

 

Reg and Hilda had 2 daughters Helena and Ethel and a son George. The son is remembered fondy by area residents by the nickname "Tinny".  The history book author recalls that Reg owned only a motorcycle and he travelled in it with his wife Hilda in a sidecar. I suppose his raw materials would have come in on the train and perhaps the sidecar was used to move them to his shop as well. Reg's granddaughter tells me that George used the motorcycle as well over the years. 

Mr. Coleman was a Past Worshipful Master of the Reston Masonic Lodge. He was also Justice of the Peace in Reston for many years. In this role, he would have handed out fines for minor offences like speeding. 

His wife Hilda died in 1948 and after that, he made a trip back to England to visit his family and rest until spring. In the fall of 1956, he sold his plumbing, heating and tinsmithing business to Elgin Gemmil who ran a Hardware in Pipestone.  Reg Coleman was a faithful advertiser in the Recorder right up until he closed. His retirement in March of 1956 was a front page story.  The building was used for storage for a time and then purchased by Leonard Ludlam who combined tinsmith and electrical work there until 1979 when he built a new shop on Main Street north of the gas station. 

After the sale of his home, he planned a trip to Spokane, Washington where his daughter Ethel Sinclair lived. After that, he was off to Vancouver to live with his other daughter Helen McMurchy and his son George.  Reginald George Coleman died on April 30, 1967 at the age of 84. He was buried beside his wife in Reston Cemetery.   Any further information or pictures are welcomed as always.  

In that headline story in 1956, The Reston Recorder said:

Reg was always ready to lend a helping hand and could be depended on to do a rush job at any hour. He will be greatly missed.  The best wishes of the community go with Mr. Coleman in his retirement. 

He was as famous in his own community as Tinker Jones was in his.