MHS Centennial Organization: Winnipeg Automobile Club / Manitoba Motor League / CAA Manitoba

Link to:
Office Locations | Founding Members | Executives | Sources

In 1899, the first automobile arrived in Winnipeg. The gasoline-powered, three-wheeled vehicle, steered with a primitive tiller, was owned by Dr. Edgar Kenrick of St. John’s College. The number of motorists increased quickly to the point where, in March 1904, a dozen enthusiasts met at Kenrick’s home to discuss the formation of a club, to be known as the Winnipeg Automobile Club. Its patron was to be Lieutenant-Governor Daniel H. McMillan.

Its mission made it the first of its kind in Canada: to protect the rights of those who drove an automobile. It grew rapidly, as the auto became the vehicle of choice for a growing number of Manitobans, to the point where it is considered by many to be a basic necessity of life. Decades later, the Club evolved into the Manitoba Motor League, and is now known as CAA Manitoba to reflect its federation in the Canadian Automobile Association.

An MHS Centennial Organization Award was presented to Jerry Kruk of CAA Manitoba by Gordon Goldsborough on 16 May 2004.

Office Locations

Period

Location (Winnipeg)

1956-?

175 Carlton Street

Founding Members (1904)

Member

Address

John Arbuthnot (1861-1931)

Armstrongs Point

Donald Henderson “Dan” Bain (1874-1962)

168 Fort Street

James “Jimmy” Boswell (1874-1944)

McCulloch & Boswell

M. Berry Bond

Berry, Pull & Bond

Victor Bouche

28 Merchant Block Building

John Rickard Clements (1838-1926)

494½ Main Street

George Carruthers

Roslyn Road

N. A. Davidson

Maw & Company

James Arthur Devine (1869-?)

268 Donald Street

Edward Lancaster Drewry (1851-1940)

Redwood

Charles Henry Enderton (1861-1920)

393 Main Street

George Erzinger

214 Donald Street

Alan Campbell Ewart (1875-?)

Fisher, Wilson & Ewart

John Crichton “Jack” Green-Armytage (1872-1943)

Bell & Armytage

Henry Sandham Griffith (1865-1943)

26 Osborne Place

C. F. Grundy

Grundy Music Store

Ogden Hinch

Clarendon Hotel

Sidney Hoover

Commonwealth

E. H. Heath

Canadian Thresherman Merchants Bank Building

R. Emmet Kelly

430½ Main Street, Box 457

Edgar Boteler Kenrick (1863-1905)

282 Assiniboine Avenue

August Leon

278 Garry Street

Bruce McBean (1873-?)

Grain Exchange

Henry McBean

Grain Exchange

A. C. McKenzie

Fort Rouge

James McIntyre

318 Kennedy Street

Russell Mackenzie MacLeod (1879-1946)

404 Edmonton Street

John K. “Jack” McCulloch (1872-1918)

McCulloch & Boswell

Joseph Maw (1854-1916)

278 Donald Street

Robert Muir (1850-1908)

376 Edmonton Street

Dr. Montgomery

313 Kennedy Street

G. M. Miller

“Rialto” 480 Main Street

W. C. Power

Canadian Cycle & Motor Company

Maurice Putnam (c1860-1907)

488 Main Street

Henry Norlande Ruttan (1848-1925)

Armstrongs Point

Arthur Stewart

Box 1461

J. E. Wadleigh

Miller, Morse & Company

William Webster (1866-1934)

151 Kennedy Street

Clayton Whipple

414 Main Street

Executives

Year

Honorary President

President

Vice-President

Secretary

1904

Edward Lancaster Drewry (1851-1940)

William Webster (1866-1934)

Maurice Putnam (c1860-1907)

Edgar Boteler Kenrick (1863-1905)

1905

Robert Rogers (1864-1936)

Donald Henderson “Dan” Bain (1874-1962)

John Crichton “Jack” Green-Armytage (1872-1943)

Arthur Coates “Ace” Emmett (1872-1959)

1906

Donald Henderson “Dan” Bain (1874-1962)

John Crichton “Jack” Green-Armytage (1872-1943)

Frank Hedley Phippen (1863-1932)

Arthur Coates “Ace” Emmett (1872-1959)

1907

John Crichton “Jack” Green-Armytage (1872-1943)

Frank Hedley Phippen (1863-1932)

Russell Mackenzie MacLeod (1879-1946)

W. C. Power &
Arthur Coates “Ace” Emmett (1872-1959)

1908

John Crichton “Jack” Green-Armytage (1872-1943)

Russell Mackenzie MacLeod (1879-1946)

Daniel Boyce Sprague (1876-1928)

William Ernest Wright (1874-?)

1909

John Crichton “Jack” Green-Armytage (1872-1943)

Russell Mackenzie MacLeod (1879-1946)

William Richard Bawlf (1881-1972)

William Ernest Wright (1874-?)

1910

Russell Mackenzie MacLeod (1879-1946)

Charles Henry Newton (1851-1919)

Daniel Boyce Sprague (1876-1928)

William Ernest Wright (1874-?)

1911

Russell Mackenzie MacLeod (1879-1946)

Henry Martyn Belcher (1856-1923)

William Richard Bawlf (1881-1972)

William Ernest Wright (1874-?)

1912

Charles Henry Newton (1851-1919)

William Richard Bawlf (1881-1972)

Daniel Boyce Sprague (1876-1928)

William Ernest Wright (1874-?)

1913

Charles Henry Newton (1851-1919)

William Ernest Wright (1874-?)

Daniel Boyce Sprague (1876-1928)

Arthur Coates “Ace” Emmett (1872-1959)

1914

Charles Henry Newton (1851-1919)

Frederick John Charles Cox (1860-1939)

Fred Eugene H. Luke (1876-?)

Arthur Coates “Ace” Emmett (1872-1959)

1915

Charles Henry Newton (1851-1919)

Frederick John Charles Cox (1860-1939)

Fred Eugene H. Luke (1876-?)

Arthur Coates “Ace” Emmett (1872-1959)

1916

Charles Henry Newton (1851-1919) &
Henry Martyn Belcher (1856-1923)

Fred Eugene H. Luke (1876-?)

Jose Alexander Banfield (1868-1937)

Arthur Coates “Ace” Emmett (1872-1959)

1917

Charles Henry Newton (1851-1919) &
Henry Martyn Belcher (1856-1923)

Fred Eugene H. Luke (1876-?)

Jose Alexander Banfield (1868-1937)

Arthur Coates “Ace” Emmett (1872-1959)

1918

Charles Henry Newton (1851-1919) &
Henry Martyn Belcher (1856-1923)

Fred Eugene H. Luke (1876-?)

Jose Alexander Banfield (1868-1937)

Arthur Coates “Ace” Emmett (1872-1959)

1919

Henry Martyn Belcher (1856-1923) &
Edward Lancaster Drewry (1851-1940)

Fred Eugene H. Luke (1876-?)

Jose Alexander Banfield (1868-1937)

Arthur Coates “Ace” Emmett (1872-1959)

1920

Henry Martyn Belcher (1856-1923) &
Edward Lancaster Drewry (1851-1940)

Fred Eugene H. Luke (1876-?)

Jose Alexander Banfield (1868-1937)

Arthur Coates “Ace” Emmett (1872-1959)

1921

Henry Martyn Belcher (1856-1923) &
Edward Lancaster Drewry (1851-1940)

S. M. Campbell

C. L. McLaughlin

Arthur Coates “Ace” Emmett (1872-1959)

1922

Edward Lancaster Drewry (1851-1940),
Henry Martyn Belcher (1856-1923) &
Fred Eugene H. Luke (1876-?)

S. M. Campbell

B. W. Thompson,
F. H. Mitchell

Arthur Coates “Ace” Emmett (1872-1959)

1923-1940

?

?

?

?

1941-1944

?

Austin Lloyd Clark (1896-1945)

?

?

1944-1948

?

?

?

?

1948-1963

?

Charles Gregory “Charlie” Carter (1884-1968)

?

?

1963-1964

?

David Klippenstein “D.K.” Friesen (1910-1991)

?

?

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: A. C. Emmett and the Development of Manitoba’s Highways (Kirkella, RM of Wallace-Woodworth)

Manitoba Organization: Motor Country Club

Sources:

Winnipeg Automobile Club files, CAA Manitoba.

“New location [Manitoba Motor League Building],” Winnipeg Free Press, 23 June 1956, page 7.

Page revised: 10 September 2024