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Birtle School Principals | Birtle School Vice-Principals | Birtle School Teachers | Birtle Elementary Principals | Birtle Elementary Vice-Principals | Birtle Elementary Teachers | Birtle Collegiate Principals | Birtle Collegiate Vice-Principals | Birtle Collegiate Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources
The Birtle School District was established formally in December 1881 at Birtle and classes held in the Birtle Town Hall for the next two years. A stone two-classroom school was commissioned in August 1882 and its contract awarded to contractors Johnston and McKenzie, though the onset of winter weather puoshed completion thereof was pushed into the following year. Completed during the spring of 1883, it was opened to students and staff in September 1883. This building was later leased to the federal government for use as an Indian School before returning to district usage. On 20 November 1895, the stone school burned, with classes held at the Town Hall and Albert Hall for the years to come.
In 1905, these temporary quarters were replaced by a two-storey structure known locally as the “Blue School.” Two rooms were later added to the Blue School and the four room school utilized until school consolidation movement. In December 1911, the Birtle Consolidated School was established in with the amalgamation of Birtle School No. 132 with Blenheim School No. 173 and Gnanton School No. 715. Further district expansion was had with the amalgamation of the Mount Joy School No. 378 which joined in September 1915.
Starting in 1917, high school classes were held in an old Methodist Church until a four-classroom brick school was built in 1928. The Blue School and district school records were destroyed by fire in September 1943. Elementary classes were moved to the Town Hall, Brick High School, and Courtroom until four rooms and an auditorium could be added to the Brick High School in early 1949. Increases in student enrollment caused overcrowding so, in 1956, a four-classroom North School was built. Later consolidated brought the students of the former Burdette School No. 163 (1959), Oxford School No. 257 (1961), Buckleyville School No. 1435 (1964), and Rothesay School No. 350 (1967).
The Birtle School Board disbanded when, in January 1968, the district became part of the Birdtail River School Division. Under the School Division Board, the buildings of the former Beulah School No. 162 and Isabella School No. 1333 were brought to Birtle for use at the site of the Brick School.
Period
Principal
1883
John H. “James” Innis
1884-1886
None
1886-1887
John H. “James” Innis
1887
William Albert Corbett (1863-1948)
1887-1888
Winifred P. Hayes
1889
H. B. Sharman
1890
?
1890
Felton Strudwicke [Strudwick] Chapman (1864-1936)
1891
Charles Morley Vanstone (1870-1953)
1892
C. S. Lyons
1892
Archibald Reuben Tingley (1871-1938)
1892
W. W. Rose
1893
R. Moir
1894-1898
Marshall Hall-Jones (1865-1927)
1899-1904
Daniel Armenius Wickware (1861-1917)
1905
David Bruce Huggins (1879-1855)
1905-1906
Francis Henry “Frank” Belton (1869-1936)
1906-1907
William Edgar Pye (1858-1946)
1907-1908
William Joseph Cram (1861-1940)
1908-1911
James Humphrey Plewes (1873-1963)
1911
Annie Smith
1912
Clara M. Robinson
1912-1913
Rufus Freeman Meadows (1879-1962)
1913-1915
Charles Arthur Edward Hensley (1892-1984)
1915-1918
Howard Robert Haines (1891-1974)
1918-1920
W. C. Jones
1920-1922
Edward Sandford Lord (1869-1922)
1922-1928
James Ogel Beckstead (1883-1985)
1928-1929
Hazel D. Manwaring
1929-1932
?
1932-1934
Jack McLennan
1933-1939
?
1939-1940
Peter S. Buhr (?-?)
1940-1966
Clarence Eric Tibbatts (1904-1979)
1967-1973
Harvey C. Kingdon
No information.
Period
Principal
1929-1939
Norman Robson (1900-1978)
School Year
Teachers
1882
John H. “James” Innis (all grades, May-December)
1883
John H. “James” Innis (all grades, January-June; senior grades, September-December), Jesse M. May (junior grades, September-December)
1884
John H. “James” Innis (all grades)
1885
John H. “James” Innis (all grades, Fall), John Henry Sparling (all grades, Spring)
1886
John H. “James” Innis (all grades, January-June; senior grades, September-December), William Albert Corbett (junior grades, September-December)
1887
William Albert Corbett (senior grades, pt Fall), Fanny/Fannie Grahame (junior grades, Spring), Winifred P. Hayes (senior grades, pt Fall), John H. “James” Innis (senior grades, Spring & September), Donald McDonald (junior grades, Fall)
1888
Winifred P. Hayes (senior grades), Donald McDonald (junior grades)
1889
O. O. Carpenter (junior grades), H. B. Sharman (senior grades)
1890
Felton Strudwicke [Strudwick] Chapman (senior grades, Fall), ? (senior grades, Spring), ? (junior grades)
1891
Annie Campbell (Fall), O. O. Carpenter, [M. A./A. M.] McFadden, Charles Morley Vanstone (senior grades)
1892
L. M. Grier (junior grades, Fall), C. S. Lyons (senior grades, Spring), H. M. Johnstone (junior grades, Spring), W. W. Rose (senior grades, pt Fall), Archibald Reuben Tingley (senior grades, pt Fall)
1893
L. M. Grier (junior grades), R. Moir (senior grades)
1894
L. M. Grier (junior grades), Marshall Hall-Jones (senior grades)
1895
L. M. Grier (junior grades), Marshall Hall-Jones (senior grades)
1896
Fanny L. Doyle (junior grades, ?-December), L. M. Grier (junior grades, Spring & September-?), Marshall Hall-Jones (senior grades)
1897
Fanny L. Doyle (junior grades), Marshall Hall-Jones (senior grades)
1898
Ida M. Van Blaricom (junior grades), Marshall Hall-Jones (senior grades)
1899
Ida M. Van Blaricom, Della “Del” Wheaton, Daniel Armenius Wickware (senior grades)
1900
Ida M. Van Blaricom (Spring), Georgina G. Gamminow? (Fall), Della “Del” Wheaton (January-?), Mary Bell Telfer (?-June & Fall), Daniel Armenius Wickware (senior grades)
1901
Georgina G. Gamminow?, Mary Bell Telfer (later married John Henry Fraser), Daniel Armenius Wickware (senior grades)
1902
records not available
1903
records not available
1904
records not available
1905
Francis Henry “Frank” Belton (senior grades, Fall), Gertrude Dutton (Fall), David Bruce Huggins (senior grades, Spring), Isobel B. Scott, Mabel Yeandle (Spring)
1906
Francis Henry “Frank” Belton (senior grades, Spring), Gertrude Dutton, Blanche McDonald [Macdonald?] (Fall), Celie? Pelton (Spring), William Edgar Pye (senior grades, Fall), Isobel B. Scott (Spring)
1907
William Joseph Cram (Fall), Gertrude Dutton (Spring), Blanche Macdonald [McDonald?], Herbert Hanford “Harry” McIntosh (Spring), William Edgar Pye (Fall), Winifred “Winnie” Richardson
1908
Annie B. Couch (Fall), William Joseph Cram (senior grades, Spring), Mabel M. Hawken? (Fall), Olive M. Oswald (Spring), James Humphrey Plewes (senior grades, Fall), Winifred “Winnie” Richardson (Spring)
1909
Annie B. Couch, Mabel M. Harken?, James Humphrey Plewes (senior grades)
1910
Annie B. Couch (Spring), S. Gertrude Dowkin? (Fall), Mabel M. Harken? (Spring), James Humphrey Plewes (senior grades), Della A. Robinson (Fall)
1911
S. Gertrude Dowkin?, James Humphrey Plewes (senior grades, Spring), Della A. Robinson (Spring), Annie Smith (senior grades, Fall), Kathleen Wooster (Fall)
1912
(January-June only): S. Gertrude Dowkin?, Clara M. Robsinson (senior grades), Kathleen Wooster
1912-1913
Ellen Graham, Rufus Freeman Meadows (senior grades), Kathleen Wooster
1913-1914
?
1914-1915
?
1915-1916
?
1916-1917
?
1917-1918
?
1918-1919
?
1919-1920
?
1920-1921
Olive Adeline Armstrong (grades 6-7), Amy A. Ditch (grades 4-5, September-November & January-June), Edith M. Dunsmore (grades 1-2), George William Holmes (grades 8-9, January-June), Edward Sandford Lord (grades 10-12, September-December & grades 8-9, December), Elizabeth C. McPherson (grades 8-9, September-December) Nettie L. Stewart (grades 4-5, November-December), Annie W. Walker (grades 2-3)
1921-1922
Amy A. Ditch (grades 6-7, September-February), Edith M. Dunsmore (grades 3-4, September-December; grades 2-3, January-June), George William Holmes (grades 8-9), Edward Sandford Lord (grades 10-11), M. Menzies (grades 4-5), Jessie M. Purdon (grades 6-7, February-June), Lorna E. Thorpe (grades 1-2),
1922-1923
1923-1924
1924-1925
1925-1926
1926-1927
1927-1928
1928-1929
1929-1930
1930-1931
1931-1932
1932-1933
Elementary Department: Mrs. Williamson (primary grades), Miss Thelma Barber, Miss Iola Cartnell, Jack McLennan (Principal). High School Department: Miss McMurchy, Miss Shanks, Major Albert Maurice Pratt, Norman Robson (Principal)
1933-1934
Elementary Department: ?. High School Department: Albert Maurice Pratt, ?
1934-1935
Elementary Department: Alexander Noble, ?. High School Department: Albert Maurice Pratt, ?
1935-1936
Elementary Department: Alexander Noble, ?. High School Department: Albert Maurice Pratt, ?
1936-1937
Elementary Department: ?. High School Department: Albert Maurice Pratt, ?
1937-1938
Elementary Department: ?. High School Department: Albert Maurice Pratt, ?
1938-1939
1939-1940
1940-1941
1941-1942
1942-1943
1943-1944
1944-1945
1945-1946
1946-1947
1947-1948
1948-1949
1949-1950
1950-1951
1951-1952
1952-1953
1953-1954
1954-1955
1955-1956
1956-1957
1957-1958
1958-1959
1959-1960
1960-1961
1961-1962
Mrs. Leone Dale, Mrs. Bernice Hodgson, Mr. Albert Parnetta, Miss Evelyn Preston, Mr. Ray Simms
Among the later teachers at Birtle School include Miss D. Finkbeiner, Miss M. Woods, Mrs. M. S. Williamson, Grace E. Menzies, Catherine Bunten Makepeace, and Laura Elfreda Shanks.
Period
Principal
?-1969
Jack McLennan
1969-c1990s
Robert Henry “Bob” Marshall
c1990s
Roberta Hickman
Period
Vice-Principal
?-1969
Robert Henry “Bob” Marshall
1969-1970
Jack McLennan
No information.
Period
Principal
1983-1988
Albert Parnetta
Period
Vice-Principal
1983-1988
Allan “Al” Bray
2003-2006
Bob Smith
2006-2008
Sandra Loeppky
No information.
The “Blue School” of Birtle Consolidated School (circa 1912)
Source: Consolidation of Rural Schools in Manitoba, Special Report of the Department of Education for the Year 1912, Manitoba Legislative Library.
The old Birtle School building, seen here in the 1920s, was extensively damaged by fire in September 1943, by G. W. Bartlett
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 45.
The old Birtle School building (no date)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2015-0052
Students beside the newly-constructed “Brick School” of Birtle Consolidated School (circa 1929)
Source: Education Department Report, 1929, Manitoba Legislative Library.
The newly-constructed “Brick School” of Birtle Consolidated School (no date) by G. W. Bartlett
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 45.
Birtle School (no date)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, George Harris Fonds, Acc. 1979-141, P7454, Album 21, Page 91.Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.41939, W101.04216
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Birtle Indian Residential School (Birtle, Municipality of Prairie View)
“Local and other news [Mr. Corbett having resigned ...],” Birtle Observer, 13 January 1887, page 4.
“Birtle School report for August,” Birtle Observer, 2 September 1887, page 7.
“Birtle,” Manitoba Daily Free Press, 22 September 1887, page 2.
“Rapid City,” Manitoba Daily Free Press, 27 September 1887, page 3.
Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.
“Birtle, Man,” Western Canada Fire Underwriters’ Association map, September 1911, Archives of Manitoba.
“Birtle School opened yesterday [...],” Birtle Eyewitness, 3 October 1932, page 4.
“Local directory,” Birtle Eyewitness, 17 July 1934, page 5.
“Birtle school fire,” Winnipeg Free Press, 20 September 1943, page 3.
“Council reports,” Birtle Eyewitness, 3 October 1961, page 10.
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.
“School Trustees hol recent general meeting at Crandall,” Birtle Eyewitness, 5 October 1983, page 1.
“Trustees conduct regular meeting,” Hamiota Echo, 13 September 1988, page 7.
“Passing it on”, R. M. and Town of Birtle History, 1884-2009, R. M. and Town of Birtle History Committee, 2009.
Board of Education registers (A 0050), GR7643, Archives of Manitoba.
Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
We thank Drew Makepeace for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 10 November 2024
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