Memorable Manitobans: John Woodman (1861-1944)

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John Woodman
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Engineer, architect.

Born at Oshawa, Ontario on 5 October 1861, brother of Gordon Ogilvie Woodman, he came to Winnipeg in 1880 with a survey crew of the Canadian Pacific Railway. He remained with the company, in its engineering department, rising to the rank of Chief Engineer for the Western Division, from which post he retired in 1901. At that time he entered private practice as an architect, practicing with Arthur Edward Cubbidge after 1917, and retiring in 1927. He was for some years a partner of Raymond Marwood-Elton Carey.

He and wife Sophia Littlejohn Stevenson (1871-1964) had eight children: Henry John Woodman, Frederick Victor Woodman (1892-1972), Sophia Amy Woodman (1897-1980, wife of Gaston De Jardin, second wife of Gerald Stewart Rutherford), Alan Charles Woodman, Douglas Sidney “Jim” Woodman (1904-?), Edward George Woodman (1906-1944), Ethel Constance Mary Woodman (1908-1983, wife of George Maulson, daughter-in-law of Harold Frederick Maulson), and Margaret Mills Woodman (1910-2006, wife of Jeffery Stirton). He was a member of the Manitoba Club, St. Charles Country Club, and Anglican Church.

He died at his Winnipeg residence, 504 River Avenue, on 17 May 1944 and was buried in the St. John’s Cathedral Cemetery.

Some of his architectural works in Manitoba included:

Building

Location

Year

Status

Eaton’s Department Store

320 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

1904-1906

 

Gunn Block

256-266 Jarvis Avenue, Winnipeg

1905

Demolished (1971)

Thomas Davidson Warehouse

515 Waterfront Drive, Winnipeg

1905

 

Allen Building

288 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg

1905-1906

 

Grace Hospital

200 Arlington Street, Winnipeg

1905-1906

Demolished (1974)

Becher House

67 Kingsway, Winnipeg

1906

 

Somerset Building

294 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

1906

 

St. Alban’s Anglican Church

468 Rathgar Avenue, Winnipeg

1907

Demolished (1950)

Breadalbane Apartments

379 Hargrave Street, Winnipeg

1909

 

Manitoba Cold Storage Warehouse (addition)

151 Higgins Avenue, Winnipeg

1910

Destroyed by fire (2004)

Milton Bakery Building

Bannatyne Avenue at Olivia Street, Winnipeg

1910

Demolished (?)

Hudson’s Bay Company Wholesale Building

77 Main Street, Winnipeg

1911

 

Lindsay Building

228 Notre Dame Avenue, Winnipeg

1911

 

Hudson’s Bay Company Garage

115 Garry Street, Winnipeg

1911

 

Blackwood Soda Factory Building

421 Mulvey Avenue East, Winnipeg

1912

 

Blackwood Pickle Factory Building

415 Mulvey Avenue East, Winnipeg

1912

 

Free Press Building

300 Carlton Street, Winnipeg

1912

 

Clarks Brothers Warehouse

448 Hargrave Street, Winnipeg

1912

 

Union Stockyards Office

780 Marion Street, Winnipeg

1912

 

Claude Heubach Residence

64 Nassau Street, Winnipeg

1914

 

J. R. Watkins Company Building

90 Annabella Street, Winnipeg

1914

 

Paris Building

259 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

1915

 

Stovel Printing Building

365 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg

1916

 

The Public Press Building

290 Vaughan Street, Winnipeg

1917

 

Jewish Orphanage

133 Matheson Avenue East, Winnipeg

1919-1920

Demolished (1962)

General Steele School

757 Lyon Street, Winnipeg

1921

 

Eaton’s Printing Plant and Warehouse

130 Galt Avenue, Winnipeg

1926-1927

 

Graham Block

399 Graham Avenue, Winnipeg

1928

 

Vaughan Apartments

219 Vaughan Street, Winnipeg

1929

 

Sources:

1901 and 1911 Canada censuses, Automated Genealogy.

“Most up-to-date bakery in Canada,” Winnipeg Tribune, 27 July 1910, page 1.

Birth registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“John Woodman dies after long illness,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 May 1944.

“John Woodman dies, aged 84,” Winnipeg Tribune, 18 May 1944. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B9, page 152]

Second World War Service Files [Captain Edward George Woodman, Deceased: 7 December 1944], Library and Archives of Canada.

“10 Manitobans are included in 2 Army casualty releases,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 January 1945, page 2.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 25 March 1964.

Obituary [Major F. Victor Woodman], Winnipeg Free Press, 27 July 1972, page 31.

Obituary [Sophia Amy Rutherford], Winnipeg Free Press, 22 February 1980, page 36.

Obituary [Ethel Constance Mary Maulson], Winnipeg Free Press, 29 September 1983, page 62.

Obituary [Margaret Louise Stirton], Edmonton Journal, 27 April 2006.

Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.

We thank Gail Singleton and Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 23 February 2024

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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