MALTBY, BENJAMIN FREEMAN (1875-1951)

MALTBY, BENJAMIN FREEMAN, tinsmith, household appliance vendor, and plumbing and heating business proprietor; b. Newcastle, 17 Apr 1875, s/o William James Maltby and Sophia Morell; m. 1st, Carrie Matheson, d/o Charles Matheson and Margaret Stephenson, of Newcastle, and 2nd, Susan Irene Holt, RN, d/o of Samuel Holt and Catherine Shields, of Holtville; d. Newcastle, 8 Feb 1951.

Benjamin F. Maltby, who learned the tinsmithing trade from J. Haley Phinney, founded the B. F. Maltby Co., a plumbing and heating firm in Newcastle, in 1904. In 1906 he was advertising stoves of all types for sale and plumbing and heating installations and repairs. For many years his was the principal business of its kind in the town. In 1949, in partnership with his son W. C. Maltby he bought A. C. McLean & Sons, the largest plumbing and heating firm in Chatham. The business was still operating under B. F. Maltby's name thirty years after his death.

Maltby was a member of Newcastle's volunteer fire brigade for many years and was named chief in 1917, as successor to Charles M. Dickison. He was both a member of the Presbyterian-United Church and a supporter of the Salvation Army. He and his first wife, Carrie Matheson, had a son and a daughter. His second wife, Susan I. Holt, was with the Red Cross Service in World War I. She was later a member and an honorary life member of the Miramichi Hospital Board.