Ernest Thomas Hyde

Ernest was the youngest son of Alfred Hyde and Rhoda Symons and brother to William John, Walter, Winifred and Carl Alfred (killed in action WW2). He was born at home in Georgetown in 1918. Alfred and Rhoda had immigrated to Canada from England in 1905 and Alfred listed his profession on the 1921 Census as farmer. The family lived in a home on the family farm, located between Ewing and Ontario streets in Georgetown. The address of that original farmhouse is now 91 Main St. North, Georgetown. The 1931 Census shows Ernest living at home at age 13 with his older brother Carl and his parents in that same house on Main St.

Ernest served in the military, specifically with the R.C.A.F. as a pilot instructor and attained the rank of Sergeant. Ernest married Helen May Humberstone in 1942 at the United Church in Georgetown and the couple had six children. Ernie bult the home at 24 Ewing St., where he and Helen raised their family. The 1957 to 1974 Canadian Censuses shows Ernie at 24 Ewing St. in Georgetown, employed as an Insurance Adjuster.

Ernie divorced Helen and later married Maureen Mellor.

Following the war Ernie became foreman of the Town’s public works department, later leaving to start his own business. He was Mayor of Georgetown from 1960 to 1961 and again in 1963, he served as a councillor for the Town of Halton Hills and Hyde Park Drive in Georgetown was named for him.

Ernest died on April 5, 1998, at the age of 79 and was buried at Fairview Cemetery in Acton.

Truly a Canadian Hero. His story lives on.

*Information taken from Esquesing Historical Society.com, theifp.ca, Findagrave.com, Ancestry.ca and provided by Monty Hyde.