The Club was founded in the fall of 1905 by a group of scientists at the University of Manitoba who had been hired the previous year. They proposed establishing a small private society to “discuss new and current scientific questions and it is hoped that such discussion would act as a stimulus to original research on the part of the members.” Eight men attended the inaugural meeting on 24 October 1905. The Club met every two weeks, usually at the campus of the University. The program consisted of a scientific presentation by one of the members followed by discussion, then biscuits with coffee.
The Club grew from its initial membership of eight, to 18 later in the first year of operation. Eight members were added in 1906-7, fifteen more in 1907-8, and eight more in 1908-9, at which point a temporary limit of 40 was imposed on the membership. Due to popular demand it increased gradually to 100 in 1926. Despite the name of the Club, its members were not all scientists; in fact, they came from all walks of life. Physicians were prominent among its members although their numbers were restricted to half of total membership. Women were barred from formal membership in the Club until much later in its history, although they occasionally attended meetings as guests of members.
A $300 Club Prize was initiated to support student research and, in April 1920, members wrote to the Hudson’s Bay Company, suggesting that, in commemoration of its 250th anniversary, they donate a sum of money to be used to sponsor fellowships. The company agreed to donate $15,000 for ten fellowships of $1,500 each to be awarded over a period of ten years.
Club meetings continued until 1981 when it was disbanded and records consisting of its constitution, membership, attendance and committee lists, notices of meetings, annual reports, papers, abstracts, questionnaires, correspondence, and minute books were donated to the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections.
Albert Clifford Abbott (1897-1983)
J. D. Adamson
D. C. Aikenhead
T. R. Aitken
Alfred John Wallis Alcock (1920-2009)
Alcock, A. W.
Aldridge, W. A.
Frank Allen (1874-1965)
Allen, J. A.
Allgood, R. W.
Allum, Arthur W.
Andersen, E. T.
Anderson, J. A.
William Abraham Anderson (1890-1947)
Henry Percy Armes (1884-1951)
Ingolfur Gilbert Arnason (1901-1990)
Austmann, K. J.
Barker, W. G.
Bell, F. C.
Gordon Bell (1863-1923)
Berck, B.
Bertalanffy, F. D.
Ralph Durham Bird (1901-1972)
Archibald Blackie (1878-1953)
Robert Johnston Blanchard (1853-1928)
Henry Ernest Bletcher (1869-1949)
Bowie, D. J.
William Boyd (1885-1979)
Bradley, G. A.
Frederick William Brodrick (1879-1958)
Harold Johnston Brodie (1907-1989)
George McLeod Brownell (1899-1979)
Arthur Henry Reginald Buller (1874-1944)
Walter Bushuk (1929-2017)
Frederick Todd Cadham (1880-1961)
Cameron, Alexander T.
Campbell, A. B.
Cartwright, B. W.
Cherewick, W. J.
Henry Bruce Chown (1893-1986)
Coke, L. R.
Robert Dickson “Robin” Connor (1922-2017)
Cooke, I.
Craigie, J. H.
Crowson, C. N.
Dahlstrom, C. E.
Thomas Russ Deacon (1865-1955)
Delory, G. E.
Delury, J. S.
Dempster, C. J.
Devine, James A.
Joseph Doupe (1910-1966)
Dyment, J. T.
Joseph Henry Ellis (1890-1973)
Emlyn-Evans, D. W.
Evatt, Evelyn J.
Gordon Samuel Fahrni (1887-1995)
Featherstonhaugh, Edward P.
John Norison Finlayson (1880-?)
Funt, L.
Hyman D. Gesser (1929-2014)
Alexander Gibson (1883-1956)
Goulden, C. H.
Grant, J. C. B.
Greaney, F. J.
Green, P. T.
John Alexander Gunn (1878-?)
Hagborg, W. F.
Hall, N. M.
Jasper Halpenny (1869-1930)
William Fielding Hanna (1892-1972)
Hannah, C. K.
Hannan, C. K.
Helgason, S. B.
Heron, R. J.
Hildes, J. A.
Hodgson, G. C.
Hollenberg, C.
Hovey, C. M.
Jabez Bowen Hugg (1872-1947)
Humphreys, E.
Hunter, Charles
Hurst, W. D.
Inkster, R. G.
Irvine, G. N.
Isa, J. M.
Philip Kenneth “Phil” Isaac (1928-2021)
Lyonel Garry Israels (1926-2003)
Ives, W. G. H.
James, N.
Jamieson, M. C.
Jenkins, B. C.
Kirk, R. J.
Alan Abraham Klass (1907-2000)
Kondra, P. A.
Laidlaw, G. C.
Lake, Henry B.
Lansdown, L. P.
William Leach (1891-?)
Leeming, John H.
Lehmann, Julius E.
Linford, J. H.
Lougheed, M. S.
Charles William Lowe (c1885-1969)
MacDonald, A. E.
MacDonald, P. A.
Mackay, D. S.
Mackay, Ira
MacLean, Neil B.
Neil John MacLean (1870-1946)
Robert Kenning McClung (c1874-1960)
McGinnis, R. C.
Charles Grange McGreer (1877-1966)
McLeod, J. A.
Meredith, W. O. S.
Mitchell, R. B.
Monie, I. W.
Edward W. Montgomery (1865-1948)
Moore, K. L.
Moorhouse, V. H. K.
Morris, J. E.
Muldrew, J. A.
Ferris Neave (1901-1986)
Nickerson, M.
Ormerod, M. J.
Matthew Archibald Parker (1871-1953)
Peirce, Sidney J.
Peterson, R. F.
Peturson, B.
Phillips, G. D.
Egerton Llewellyn Pope (1874-?)
Samuel W. Prowse (1869-1931)
Rice, H. V.
Ritchie, J. C.
Robinson, Allen Dinwoody (1904-1971)
Roller, K. J.
Hugh Hamilton Saunderson (1904-1984)
Alfred Savage (1889-1970)
Schreiber, K.
Sigurdson, L. A.
Standing, K. G.
Stanger, N. E.
Suderman, H. J.
Thompson, I. M.
Thorsteinson, A. J.
Tkachuk, R.
Torrance, Frederick
Tsen, C. C.
Vincent, Swale
Vrooman, Charles H.
John Braithwaite Wallis (1876-1962)
Charles Hutchinson A’Court Walton (1906-1981)
Walton, R. J.
Warren, L. A. H.
Watson, H. A.
Ernest “Roy” Waygood (1918-2001)
Webster, William
Weir, J. R.
Welsh, J. N.
Wemyss, D. Newton
White, F. D.
Whitmore, B. G.
Wilson, Reginald
Wood, W. J.
Young, Fred A.
Zipursky, A.
See also:
Science Comes to Manitoba by Harry W. Duckworth and Gordon Goldsborough
Manitoba History, Number 47, Spring/Summer 2004Reginald Buller: The Poet-Scientist of Mushroom City by Gordon Goldsborough
Manitoba History, Number 47, Spring/Summer 2004
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 8 November 2024
