1882 – 1916 A member of the Ottawa Silver Seven, Frank ”One-eyed” McGee scored 14 goals in a Stanley Cup play-off game in 1905 and was considered one of the best hockey players of his generation.
Francis Clarence “Frank” McGee grew up at 185 Daly Ave. as one of nine children. The original property extended to Besserer St. and included stables and a tennis court at the back as well as gardens. It became an apartment building before finding a new vocation as a bed and breakfast in 1984.
McGee came from a well-known family as he was the nephew of Thomas D’Arcy McGee, the assassinated Father of Confederation, and the son of John Joseph McGee, the longest-serving Clerk of the Privy Council (he filled the position for 25 years under six prime ministers between 1882 and 1907).
LAC MIKAN 3653864
McGee seems to have lived at his parents’ home all his civilian life as the 1914 City Directory lists him at this address with his father, two brothers and a sister.
After finishing school, he worked as a clerk for the Dominion Lands Branch in the Department of the Interior but it is as a hockey player that he is remembered today.
Although not a big man – he was only 5’6”, he was an all-round athlete who also played football for the Rough Riders for two years, golfed and rowed. He excelled as a hockey player even though he had become visually impaired in 1900 after having been hit in the eye by a puck. He was a prolific goal scorer and led the Ottawa Silver Seven to three consecutive Stanley Cups between 1903 and 1905. He retired from hockey in 1906 at age 23.
McGee seems to have lived at his parents’ home all his civilian life as the 1914 City Directory lists him at this address with his father, two brothers and a sister.
After finishing school, he worked as a clerk for the Dominion Lands Branch in the Department of the Interior but it is as a hockey player that he is remembered today.
Although not a big man – he was only 5’6”, he was an all-round athlete who also played football for the Rough Riders for two years, golfed and rowed. He excelled as a hockey player even though he had become visually impaired in 1900 after having been hit in the eye by a puck. He was a prolific goal scorer and led the Ottawa Silver Seven to three consecutive Stanley Cups between 1903 and 1905. He retired from hockey in 1906 at age 23.
He joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force when the War started, was injured in 1915 and had to be invalided out to Britain. Back at the front, he was killed by heavy shell fire near Courcelette during the Battle of the Somme on September 16, 1916. By then, two of his brothers had already died, one from a riding accident in 1904, the other at the front in May 1915. His younger brother Walter would be wounded a month later and was awarded the Military Cross.
In 1945, Frank McGee was one of the first players inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
His father John lived at 185 Daly Ave. until 1920 when he moved to 183 Wilbrod St.
Sources
City Directory
Houston, William: McGee, Francis Clarence in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mcgee_francis_clarence_14E.html
Nic Clark, Ottawa Journal, 22 September 1916