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The Alexander School District was formally established in October 1884 at Alexander in the Rural Municipality of Whitehead. The first schoolhouse was built in 1886 on the south side of the railway. The 18 by 26 foot structure cost $600. A few years later, growing student enrollment necessitated the construction of a second classroom. In 1892, a three-room brick veneer building designed by Brandon architect Frederick John Chubb was built at this site, at a cost of $2,930. Ten years later, a two-storey brick building was erected on a design by Brandon architect Walter Henderson Shillinglaw.
In 1945, Dalton School and Assiniboine School closed and their students came to Alexander School. In 1960, high school students were bused to Brandon, leaving only students in grades 1 to 8 at Alexander. In 1967, the Alexander School District became part of the Brandon School Division. The two-storey school was demolished sometime in the 1980s.
Period
Principal
1892-1894
Herbert Edward Robison (1869-1933)
1895-1896
Charles Andrews Huston (1876-1922)
1896-1898
Daniel Armenius Wickware (1861-1917)
1899
J. A. Creighton
1899-1900
Charles Kenning Newcombe (1877-1944)
1900-1901
John Percy Wadge (1875-1951)
1901-1904
James Boyd Morrison (1872-1941)
1904-1906
Erwin Knapp (1876-1951)
1906-1907
W. W. McDonald
1908-1910
James H. Marsh (?-?)
1910-1911
Thomas Flood Elmes (1848-1912)
1911-1912
Charles Arthur Edward Hensley (1892-1894)
1912-1914
John Stanley Hollies (1889-1916)
1914-1916
Earl Augustus Ross (1890-?)
1916-1918
Angus McNevin (1862-1923)
1918-1919
James Corrigill (1857-1922)
1919-1920
Francis Kethel “Frank” Coleridge (1865-1944)
1920-1923
Agnes Davidson (c1868-?)
1923-1924
Ruth Parker (1894-1953)
1924-1925
Agnes Davidson (c1868-?)
1925-1929
Thomas William Ebbern (1879-1970)
1929-1932
Winnifred Dorcas Boughton (1900-?)
1932-1935
Weston Sweet (1899-1994)
1935-1938
Robert Stanley “Stan” McGill (1909-1994)
1938-1939
Walter George Crane (1906-1979)
1939-1941
Allan Alexander “Andy” Anderson (1892-1981)
1941-1942
William Harrison Lucow (1916-1986)
1942-1950
William George Hume (1902-1967)
1950-1953
Larry B. Clarke
1953-1955
J. W. Scott
1955-1959
John S. Adamack
1959-1960
L. C. Jackson
1960-1969
?
1969-1970
J. Braun
1970-1973
1973-1983
?
1983-1988
Paul Curtis
1988-?
Murray MacMillan
Among the early teachers of Alexander School were Jessie M. May (Spring 1886 - Fall 1887), G. M. Lang (Spring 1888), Hamilton Lang (Fall 1888 - pt Fall 1889), David Mitchell (pt Fall 1889 - pt Spring 1890), and R. G. Klyne (pt Spring 1890 - Fall 1890). Among the later teachers was Dorothy Mae Strath (1940s).
School Year
Teachers
1891
John Gryes? (all grades, Spring - pt Fall), Margaret M. “Maggie” McBride (all grades, pt Fall)
1892
Margaret M. “Maggie” McBride (junior grades, pt Spring - Fall), Herbert Edward Robison (senior grades), Miss Wilson (junior grades, pt Spring)
1893
Margaret M. “Maggie” McBride (junior grades), Herbert Edward Robison (senior grades)
1894
Nellie McBride, Miss G. E. Pollard, Herbert Edward Robison (senior grades)
1895
Wilhelmina J. Gordon, Charles Andrews Huston (senior grades), Nellie McBride
1896
Alma T. Argue (Spring, daughter of Thomas Argue), Charles Andrews Huston (senior grades, Spring), Nellie McBride (Fall), Elizabeth “Lizzie” Symour, Daniel Armenius Wickware (senior grades, Fall)
1897
Nellie McBride, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Symour, Daniel Armenius Wickware (senior grades)
1898
Nellie McBride, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Symour, Daniel Armenius Wickware (senior grades)
1899
J. A. Creighton (senior grades, Spring), Ida F. McBride (Fall), Nellie McBride (Spring), Charles Kenning Newcombe (senior grades, Fall), Elizabeth “Lizzie” Symour
1900
Ida F. McBride, Charles Kenning Newcombe (senior grades, Spring), Elizabeth “Lizzie” Symour, John Percy Wadge (senior grades, Fall)
1901
Bella T. Hong [Haig] (Fall), Ida F. McBride (Spring), V. Mae McBride (Fall), James Boyd Morrison (senior grades, pt Spring - Fall), Elizabeth “Lizzie” Symour (Spring), John Percy Wadge (senior grades, pt Spring)
1902
records not available
1903
records not available
1904
records not available
1905
Jane A. Boyes (Fall), Bella T. Hong [Haig], Erwin Knapp (senior grades), V. Mae McBride (Spring)
1906
Jane A. Boyes, Bella T. Haig, Erwin Knapp (senior grades)
1907
Edna M. Betz (Spring), Jane A. Boyes, Edith H. Dunn (Fall), Bella T. Haig, Erwin Knapp (senior grades, Spring), W. W. McDonald (senior grades, Fall)
1908
Jane A. Boyes, Edith H. Dunn, Isabel Haig (Spring), W. W. McDonald (senior grades, Spring), James H. Marsh (senior grades, Fall), Irma [Arma?] J. Mundell? (Fall)
1909
Jane A. Boyes (Spring), Amy V. Cournell (Fall), Edith H. Dunn, Eva E. McQueen (Fall), James H. Marsh (senior grades), Arma J. Mundell? (Spring)
1910
Eliza J. Aitchison (Fall), Amy V. Cournell (Spring), Edith Dunbar (Fall), Edith H. Dunn (Spring), Thomas Flood Elmes (senior grades, Fall), Eva E. McQueen (Spring), James H. Marsh (senior grades, Spring), Mabel Nichol (Fall)
1911
Eliza J. Aitchison, Thomas Flood Elmes (senior grades, Spring), Charles Arthur Edward Hensley (senior grades, Fall), Alma McLeod, Mabel Nichol
1912
Eliza J. Aitchison (Spring), Charles Arthur Edward Hensley (senior grades, Spring), John Stanley Hollies (senior grades, Fall), Georgie A. Lockhart (Fall), Alma McLeod (Spring), Mabel Nichol, Mabel Estella Prout (Fall)
1913
Kate E. Boyes (Fall), John Stanley Hollies (senior grades), Georgie A. Lockhart (Spring), Mabel Nichol, Mabel Estella Prout
1914
(January-June only): ?
1914-1915
?
1915-1916
?
1916-1917
?
1917-1918
?
1918-1919
?
1919-1920
?
1920-1921
M. M. Blowers, Miss K. E. Boyes, M. Bradley, A. Chambers, M. Demman, B. Norton, D. A. Robinson
1921-1922
?
1922-1923
?
1923-1924
?
1924-1925
?
1925-1926
?
1926-1927
?
1927-1928
?
1928-1929
?
1929-1930
?
1930-1931
?
1931-1932
?
1932-1933
?
1933-1934
?
1934-1935
?
1935-1936
?
1936-1937
?
1937-1938
?
1938-1939
?
1939-1940
Mary Hume (grade 8), ?
The third Alexander School building, constructed in 1912 (no date) by A. J. Hatcher
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 32.
Alexander School (June 1967)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey, Alexander.Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.83019, W100.28871
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Frederick John Chubb (1846-?)
Memorable Manitobans: Walter Henderson Shillinglaw (1864-1957)
Board of Education registers (A 0050), GR7643, Archives of Manitoba.
Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.
[Tenders - Alexander School], Brandon Weekly Sun, 25 August 1892, page 5.
Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.
“Alexander, Man”, Western Canada Fire Underwriters’ Association map, 19 August 1919, Archives of Manitoba.
“Teachers at the convention,” Brandon Sun, 15 October 1920, page 6.
“Brandon school teachers for 1959-60,” Brandon Sun, 29 August 1959, page 2.
“Appointment,” Brandon Sun, 16 December 1970, page 5.
One Hundred Years in the History of the Rural Schools of Manitoba: Their Formation, Reorganization and Dissolution (1871-1971) by Mary B. Perfect, MEd thesis, University of Manitoba, April 1978.
Whitehead Wanderings, 1883-1983 by Whitehead-Alexander Centennial Committee, 1983. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5648.W53 Whi]
“Board approves principals,” Brandon Sun, 30 April 1988, page 3.
“Forty years ago,” Brandon Sun, 16 December 2010, page 13.
Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.
We thank Malcolm Bell, Anna Birtles, and Darryl Toews for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 8 July 2024
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