MCFARLANE, PETER GEORGE (1861-1932)

MCFARLANE, PETER GEORGE, school inspector; b. Nashwaaksis, 21 Oct 1861, s/o George McFarlane and Sarah Jane McKee; m. 1886, Mary Emma Thompson, of St Stephen; d. there, 7 Oct 1932.

The son of a wagon manufacturer, P. George McFarlane was educated at the University of New Brunswick (BA 1882, MA 1886) and launched his teaching career in the superior school at Douglastown in 1882. The next year, he succeeded Crawford M. Hutchison as principal of St Stephen High School, and he occupied this position for thirty-three years. In 1916 he became acting inspector of schools for district No. 1, which included most of the Northumberland County schools, in place of George W. Mersereau, who had been granted leave to serve in the armed forces. He based himself at Chatham, but his family did not join him until 1919, after Mersereau resigned and the position became his officially. He continued as district inspector until his retirement in 1929. He and his family then returned to St Stephen.

McFarlane was highly accomplished in the classics and English literature and was "a wonderful teacher." As a school inspector he was "faithful and painstaking" and "was held in the highest esteem." He was president of the Teachers' Institute in 1921. While residing in Chatham he was active in the Masonic order and the Presbyterian-United Church. He and his wife, Mary E. Thompson, had a son and three daughters. His younger brother Alexander S. McFarlane was chief superintendent of education for New Brunswick for some years.