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Volume 1 Number 1 of the Manitoba Free Press was launched on 30 November 1872. A few copies distributed free appeared on 9 November. It was started by two young men, one with newspaper know-how, William Fisher Luxton, and the other with money and muscle, John A. Kenny. Luxton bought a press in New York and they rented a shack at 555 Main Street, near the present Main and James Street corner. It was hot in summer and cold in winter. The Luxton family and the widower Kenny lived upstairs. John Cameron, reporter and humourist, and Justus Griffin, printer, had a bunk downstairs in a cubbyhole next to the front office.
The type and press arrived by Red River steamboat on 25 October. It was the first cylinder press north of St. Paul, Minnesota, and was run by human muscle power supplied mainly by the huge and powerful Kenny who, among others, turned the handle.
Liberal in philosophy, the Free Press was a leader among newspapers in Canada. It became a leading daily and its sister weekly, the Prairie Farmer, became the most widely circulated farm weekly in Canada. Of 20 newspapers that started in Manitoba between 1859 and 1890, only the Free Press survived.
The eight-page first edition contained a variety of material including a story, a poem, men’s news, telegraphic dispatches, editorials, local news, and classified ads. The first main story was the re-election of General Ulysses S. Grant as President of the United States of America. It was the only daily west of Toronto on 6 July 1874. It cost 25 cents per week on subscription and there were 900 subscribers. In those early years, putting together a newspaper was a formidable task. All copy was written by hand and type was set by hand, one letter at a time. In very cold weather, even the red-hot box stove in the press room could not keep the ink and rollers warm and a row of 32 coal oil lamps was placed around the press.
Many other problems surfaced in those early years—failure of telegraphic services via Montreal and the USA due to adverse weather—storms, frost and prairie fires, unreliable paper supply that had to come by rail, steamboat or ox cart. For example, a paper shortage coincided with the hot story of the downfall of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald’s government. There was just enough paper for the Free Press to produce a handbill-sized sheet carrying the news from Ottawa and apologies to readers.
In 1874 the enterprise moved to a new building on Main opposite St. Mary Avenue. As it grew in popularity it continued to live up to its motto of fostering “Freedom of Trade, Liberty of Religion, and Equality of Civil Rights.” In 1882 it moved to a building on McDermot east of Main Street, stayed there until 1900, and then moved to a new address on McDermot and Albert Street. By then it had added a women’s section, crop reports, and a book and magazine page. Because of its growth it moved in 1905 to a four-storey building at Portage and Garry. As circulation grew and new presses were added, another move became necessary, and in 1913 the paper occupied the building at 300 Carlton and remained there for 78 years, becoming known as “the old lady of Carlton Street.” In 1991 the Free Press moved to its present location at 1355 Mountain Avenue.
From the beginning, Luxton’s outspoken editorials shaped the future of the new City of Winnipeg. About 1892, control of the Free Press passed to Clifford Sifton. From 1901 to 1944, John Wesley Dafoe served as editorial writer, editor-in-chief and president. He, too, was a man of strong opinions. He fought for Western issues such as breaking the CPR’s monopoly in the prairies, and lower freight rates. He actively promoted Dominion status and autonomy for Canada. On 2 December 1931, the Manitoba Free Press became the Winnipeg Free Press.
James Gray related an interesting story dating to when he worked for the newspaper. A character named Davy Rait established squatter’s rights in the newsroom in 1924. His consuming passion was to avoid work at all costs and he managed to spend his life in idleness. He cadged quarters from the newsroom staff, and for ten years slept erect in a chair by the door of the newspaper library. At the time the business manager for the paper was Edward Hamilton Macklin, known for his sulphuric vocabulary. A new employee, Scott Young, asked about the old man sleeping by the library door. Clem Shields, a senior employee, thought he would play a joke on the newcomer. He said: “That’s Mr. Macklin, so for God’s sake don’t slam the door when you go in or out. If you do and he wakes up, run and don’t look back.” Thereafter, Young tiptoed past the sleeping Rait, until one night disaster struck. Out of the library a few paces behind Young came the editor-in-chief John Wesley Dafoe. Young held the door open for Mr. Dafoe who, preoccupied with weighty matters, paid no attention to the door. It closed with a loud bang. Davy Rait awoke and screamed and shouted abuse at Dafoe’s back while the awestruck Young hid behind a counter. So convinced was Young by this exhibition of what he thought was “Macklin terror,” that for weeks afterwards he removed his shoes before tiptoeing past the sleeping Rait.
In January 2001, an MHS Centennial Business Award was presented to the Winnipeg Free Press by Sam Loschiavo.
Period
President
1872-1893
William Fisher Luxton (1844-1907)
1893-1906
John Mather (1828-1907)
1906-1912
John Wright Sifton (1833-1912)
1912-1935
Edward Hamilton Macklin (1863-1946)
1936-1944
John Wesley Dafoe (1866-1944)
1944-1961
Wilfred Victor Sifton (1897-1961)
1961-1969
John Wright Sifton (1925-1969)
1969-1974
Richard Sankey Malone (1909-1985)
1974-1980
?
1980-?
R. H. Shelford
Period
Vice-President
1951-1961
Richard Sankey Malone (1909-1985)
Period
Publisher
1944-1961
Victor Sifton (1897-1961)
1961-1969
John Wright Sifton (1925-1969)
1969-1974
Richard Sankey Malone (1909-1985)
1974-1979
Richard C. Malone
1979-1987
Donald Nicol
1987-1989
Arthur Wood (c1926-2004)
1990-1992
Bruce LeRiche Rudd (1936-2000)
1992-1994
Maurice Switzer
1994-2003
Rudy Redekop
2003-2005
Murdoch Davis
2006-2007
Andrew S. Ritchie
2007-2022
Bob Cox
Period
Editor-in-Chief / Executive Editor / Editor
1872-1893
William Fisher Luxton (1844-1907)
1893-1898
Frederick Edward Molyneux St. John (1838-1904)
1898-1901
Arnott James Magurn (1861-1923)
1901-1944
John Wesley Dafoe (1866-1944)
1944-1946
George Victor Ferguson (1897-1977)
1946-1954
Alexander Grant Dexter (1896-1961)
1954-1959
Thomas Worrall “Tom” Kent (1922-2011)
1959-1967
Shane MacKay (1926-2001)
1967-1979
Peter McLintock
1979-1993
See Managing Editors
1993-1996
Duncan McMonagle
1996-2005
Nicholas Hirst
2005-2007
Bob Cox
2007-2012
Margo Goodhand
2012-present
Paul Samyn
Period
Associate Editor
1899-1918
William James Healy (1867-1950)
1918-1929
?
1929-1931
Thomas Beattie Roberton (1879-1936)
1931-?
?
?-1946
Alexander Grant Dexter (1896-1961)
c1967
Maurice Western
Peter McLintock
Period
Managing Editor
?-1889
Archibald McNee (1845-1925)
1889-1944
?
1944-1950
Albert Ernest Horsemah “Abbie” Coo (1885-1967)
1944-1952
Edwin Elcome “Ted” Dafoe (1894-1981)
1952-1959
William Henry “Bill” Metcalfe (1906-1990)
1960-1975
Albert Boothe (1913-1985)
1975-1979
?
1979-1990
Christopher Murray Burt (1933-2024)
1990-1993
David Clayton William “Dave” Lee (1946-2017)
Period
City Editor
?-1914
Charles Victor Combe (1888-1953)
1914-1944
?
1944-1950
Edward Arthur Nicholson “Eddie/Ed” Armstrong (1904-1950)
1950-1960
?
1960-1965
Gordon Henderson Sinclair (1921-1976)
1965-?
?
?-?
Patrick Thomas “Pat” Flynn (1948-2012)
?-?
Maurice Gilbert “Buzz” Currie (1947-2022)
?-1952
Walter Hand (1888-1963)
Period
Editorial Page Editor
1980-1995
John Dafoe
1995-?
Brian Cole
?-?
Terence “Terry” Moore
Period
Sports Editor
1939-1944
Edward Arthur Nicholson “Eddie/Ed” Armstrong (1904-1950)
Period
News Editor
c1904
Walter Frederick Payne (1863-1930)
Reporter/Journalist
Period
Title(s)
William G. Allen
c1904
Sporting Editor
Jeffrey William Anderson (c1929-2014)
Late 1950s
Music Critic
John Appleton (1867-1939)
c1904
Reporter
Carol Noreen Little Partridge Armit (1943-2024)
1975-1979
Edward Arthur Nicholson “Eddie/Ed” Armstrong (1904-1950)
?-1939
Sports Reporter
Welford Beaton (1874-?)
1895-?
Dallis “Knobby” Beck (1927-1990)
?-1990
Sports Reporter
Madeleine Bernier (1920-2017)
?-?
Women's Page Editor
Mary Jane Bletcher (1913-1982)
?-?
Ernest A. Blow (1862-1936)
1879-1919
Reporter
David Reginald “Dave” Bonner (1928-2006)
1946-1978
News Photographer
Albert Boothe (1913-1985)
1975-1978
Consulting Editor
Jean Brown (1928-2022)
1952-1982
Society Page Editor, Women's Page Editor, Television Editor
Gerald Stuart “Gerry” Cairns (1933-2023)
40 years
Photographer, Photo Editor
James Gordon “Jim” Carr (1951-2022)
1992-1997
Editorial Writer
Fredrick Joseph “Fred” Cleverley (c1927-2010)
?-?
Lillian “Jimmy” Coo (1914-2005)
1937-1942, 1946-1947
Women's Sports
John Andrew Milton “Jam” Cook (1902-1963)
1940s
War Correspondent
Melvin Roy “Mel” Dagg (1931-2012)
1960s-1990s
Outdoor Writer, Columnist
Archibald “Arch” “Archie” Dale (1882-1962)
1905-1921, 1927-1954
Editorial cartoonist
Reynolds Leonard “Reyn” Davis (1943-2006)
?
Sportswriter
Alexander Grant Dexter (1896-1961)
1912-1915, 1923-1944
Parliamentary Reporter
Olive Patricia Dickason (1920-2011)
?
Arthur Coates “Ace” Emmett (1872-1959)
?-?
Automotive Editor
Patrick Thomas “Pat” Flynn (1948-2012)
1981-2010
Night City Editor, Night News Editor, Deputy Editor, Travel Editor
Max Freedman (1914-1980)
1946-1953
Guy Auldjo Gamsby (1893-1974)
?-?
Market Editor
Larry Joseph Geller (1937-2005)
1970-1977
Columnist
Kathleen Margaret “Kay” Gillespie (1912-2010)
1957-1967
Chief Librarian
Marjorie McGillivray “Marj” Gillies (1923-2020)
?
John Milloy Gordon (1910-1992)
?-?
Editorial Writer
Herbert Walter Graham (1878-1938)
c1904
Reporter
James Henry Gray (1906-1998)
1935-1947
Samuel Earl Greenway (1875-1944)
c1904
Reporter
Albert Burton Gresham (1905-1941)
?-?
George Henry Ham (1847-1926)
1875-1879
Charles Wesley Handscomb (1867-1906)
1904
Dramatic Editor
Michael Harris
?-1960
Labour Reporter
Katherine Simpson “Kate” Hayes (1855-1945)
1899-?
Society Editor
Shaun Herron (1912-1989)
1965-1976
Editorial Writer
Ella Cora Hind (1861-1942)
1901-?
Agricultural Reporter
William Ernest “Bill” Ingersoll (1880-1968)
1935-1960
Church Editor
Nancy Bisset Kennedy (1912-2005)
1930s
Columnist
Peter Kuch (1917-1980)
1947-?
Editorial cartoonist, Art Director
Vincent “Vince” Leah (1913-1993)
1980-1993
Columnist
Florence Hamilton Randal Livesay (1875-1953)
1906-?
Women's and Children's Departments
Elizabeth Dundas Long (1891-1978)
1922-1926
Social and Women's Reporter
Frederick McGregor “Fred” Marter (1886-1954)
1916-1920
Telegraph Editor
Harold Ralph Maybank (1890-1965)
1919-?
Peter McClintock
1967-1980
Consulting Editor
John E. McEvenue
c1904
Telegraph Editor (day)
William Henry “Bill” Metcalfe (1906-1990)
1931-1940
Thomas Edgar Morden (1844-1914)
1881-1910
Reporter, Chief Reporter
Harold Henry Moore (1877-1971)
1920-1946
Frank Morriss (c1907-1972)
1928-1959
News Copy Editor
William Franklin Wymark “Bill” Neville (1940-2024)
1989-?
Columnist
Roger Newman (1935-2021)
1960-1965
Legislative Reporter and Financial Editor
Robert William “Bob” Noble (1901-1994)
1950-?
Culture Reporter
Martha Ostenso (1900-1963)
?-?
Elizabeth Fulton “The Bookman” Parker (1856-1944)
1904-1940
Edith V. Paterson (1905-1995)
1958-1976
Reporter, Columnist
Philip Purcell (1865-1939)
1912-1917
Telegraph Editor
Katherine Gloria Queen-Hughes (1909-1978)
1927-1928
Sports Reporter
?
Lindor Marion Rose Heuvel Reynolds (c1958-2014)
1994-2014
Columnist
Heather Margaret Robertson (1942-2014)
?
John Robertson (1934-2014)
1956-?, 1986-1987
John Palmerston Robertson (1841-1919)
1881-1884
Hope Fleming McKenzie Ross (1866-1942)
1903-1942
Railway reporter, financial editor, church editor
Kathleen Joan Moreland “Kay” Rowe (1910-1995)
1939-?
Society columnist
Frances Russell (1941-2022)
1981-1999
Political columnist
Télesphore Saint Pierre (1869-1912)
?
Harold Bjorn “Hal” Sigurdson (1932-2012)
1951-1963, 1976-1996
Copy boy, Reporter, Sports Editor, Columnist
Alan “Al” Small (c1968-2024)
2013-2024
Arts and Life Editor
John Morgan Sweeney (1908-1966)
1929-1942
Garth Ross Taylor (1922-2002)
?
News Editor
William Aguttar Taylor (1847-1914)
c1904
Court Reporter
Eugene Louis “Gene” Telpner (1920-2005)
14 years
Claire Isabel Tisdale Street (1917-1990)
?-?, ?-1981
Valentine “Val” Werier (1917-2014)
1980-?
Executive
Period
Position
A. George Cowan (1876-1970)
1891-1964
Circulation Manager
William Lord (1892-1960)
?-1946
Business Manager
1946-1957
General Manager
John Beaufort Somerset (1843-1901)
1893-1901
Secretary-Treasurer
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Free Press Building (300 Carlton Street, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Lyon Block / Aikins Block / Bate Block (221 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: John Wesley Dafoe Plaque (1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg)
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
“Davis named Free Press publisher,” Winnipeg Free Press, 19 July 2003, page 1.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 28 September 2024
