James Howden MacBrien

Major General Sir James Howden MacBrien (30 June 1878 – 5 March 1938) was a Canadian soldier and Chief of the General Staff, the head of the Canadian Militia (renamed the Canadian Army in 1940) from 1920 until 1927.

Military career Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Currie with H. R. H. Prince Arthur of Connaught and other senior officers. Brigadier General J. H. MacBrien is stood in the second row, fifth from the left, directly behind Currie.

Educated in Port Perry (Port Perry High School), MacBrien initially joined the Canadian Militia with the 34th Ontario Regiment but then transferred to the North-West Mounted Police and, during the Second Boer War, to the South African Constabulary. Returning to Canada he was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Dragoons.

After the war he was appointed Chief of the General Staff.

He also served as the eighth Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, from August 1, 1931, to March 5, 1938. MacBrien died in Toronto.

Family In 1907 he married Nellie Louise Ross and in 1928 he married Emily Emely Hartridge.