Historic Sites of Manitoba: General Byng School (1254 Beaumont Street, Winnipeg)

Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

Built in 1921 by the Fort Garry School District No. 2047 (which also constructed and operated the General Steele School nearby), General Byng School No. 1 opened on 24 October 1921. It became part of the Fort Garry Municipal School District No. 2361 in 1959 then, later that year, part of the Fort Garry School Division. The building hosted the Fort Garry High School until the senior grades were moved to the new Viscount Alexander High School in 1949.

A new four-room school to host grades 4 to 7, General Byng School No. 2, was designed by the architectural firm of Prain and Ward, was erected on the grounds in 1956. An eight-classroom addition made in 1959 was also designed by the firm.

The original building was still standing as of the early 1990s.

Principals

Period	Principal
1921-1923	Gertrude Hill
1923-1944	William John Robinson (1882-1947) District Principal
1944-1946	Alexander McLaren Baxter (1907-1994)
1946-1949	Richard “Dick” Moore (1908-1996)
1949-1965	Katherine Caroline Weber (1912-1986)
1965-1970	?
1970-1971	Mr. Latter
1971-1974	?
1974-1982	Fred Olson
1982-1985	Mr. Teed-Grott
1985-1987	?
1987-1989	Val Burch
1989-1990	Rick Martin
1990-1991	Val Burch
1991-1993	Rick Martin
1993-1995	?
1995-1998	Peter Francis
1998-2004	Alan Geske
2004-2005	Gerard Gill
2005-2011	Darren Juby
2011-?	Judy Pirnie
?-2022	?
2022-present	Tracey Groening

Vice-Principals (Fort Garry High School)

Period	Vice-Principal
1930-1931	Sarah Ann Sproat (1885-1976)
1931-1937	None
1937-1941	Henry Charles “Charlie” Avery (1909-1992)
1941-1944	Alexander McLaren Baxter (1907-1994)
1944-1949	?

Vice-Principals (General Byng School)

1949-1962	?
1962-1965	Alice Helen Leggitt
1965-1970	?
1970-1971	Mr. Hildebrand
1971-1982	?
1982-1985	Val Burch
1985-1987	?
1987-1989	Rick Martin
1989-1990	Mr. R. C. Harvey
1990-1991	Rick Martin
1991-1992	Lorraine Evelyn Henley (1944-2018)
1992-1993	Dave Benson
1993-1995	?
1995-1996	Clair Panchard
1996-1998	Gerard Gill
1998-2002	Lisa Boles
2002-2005	Darren Juby
2005-2008	Lorraine Compayre
2008-2011	Gail Walker
2011-2013	Dawn Thompson
2013-2014	?
2014-2015	Janet Tomy
2015-?	Susan LaSpina

Teachers (Fort Garry High School)

School Year	Teacher
1930-1931	Mary Annette Elizabeth Romaniuk (grade 9), Sarah Ann Sproat (grades 10-11)
1931-1937	High School grades not offered
1937-1938	Henry Charles Avery (grade 9), June Burns Wheelans (grades 10-11)
1938-1939	Henry Charles Avery (grade 9), June Burns Wheelans (grades 10-11)
1939-1940	Henry Charles Avery (grade 9), June Burns Wheelans (grades 10-11, wife of Peter Spowart Bisset)
1940-1941	Henry Charles Avery (grade 9), Roberta Elizabeth McDougall (grades 10-11)
1941-1942	Elsie Claire Dewar (grades 9-10), Alexander McLaren Baxter (grade 11)
1942-1943	Elsie Claire Dewar (grades 9-10), Alexander McLaren Baxter (grade 11)
1943-1944	Elsie Claire Dewar (grades 9-10), Alexander McLaren Baxter (grade 11)
1944-1945	Elsie Claire Dewar (grades 9-10), Alexander McLaren Baxter (grade 11)
1945-1946	Elsie Claire Dewar (grades 9-10), Alexander McLaren Baxter (grade 11)
1946-1947	Elsie Claire Dewar (grades 9-10), Richard Moore (grade 11)
1947-1948	Elsie Claire Dewar (grade 10), Richard Moore (grade 11), Esther Sanders (grade 9)
1948-1949	Elsie Claire Dewar (grade 10), Richard Moore (grade 11), Alfred Leslie Stevens (grade 9)
After 1949	See Viscount Alexander High School

Teachers (General Byng School)

School Year	Teacher
1921-1922	Gertrude Hill (grades 1-3, wife of Mr. E. Hill), Allison Tait Usher (grades 4-6)
1922-1923	Gertrude Hill (grades 1-4), Allison Tait Usher (grades 4-9)
1923-1924	Gertrude Hill (grades 1-2, September-March), Jean McIntyre (grades 3-5), Mrs. Marshall (grades 1-2, May), Iva J.? Stewart (grades 1-2, April & June), Jeannette Turnbull (grades 1-2, March)
1924-1925	Jean McIntyre (grades 3-5), Iva Jettie Stewart (grades 1-3)
1925-1926	Margaret B. Rixon (grades 3-5), Mary Alice Tanney (grades 1-3)
1926-1927	Margaret B. Rixon (grades 3-5), Elsie M. Kirkland (grades 1-2)
1927-1928	Margaret B. Rixon (grades 3-5), Nelanis Boyd Vaux (grades 1-2, September-December; grades 1-3, January-June))
1928-1929	Etelka [Etella?] Beatrice McQuarrie (grades 4-6), Aileen M. Donald (grades 1-3)
1929-1930	Margaret Jean Gammon (grades 1-2), Gertrude Lillian Manchester (grades 3-5)
1930-1931	Margaret Jean Gammon (grades 1-2), Gertrude Lillian Manchester (grades 3-5)
1931-1932	Margaret Jean Gammon (grades 1-2), Gertrude Lillian Manchester (grades 2-4)
1932-1933	Margaret Jean Gammon (grades 1-2), Gertrude Lillian Manchester (grades 2-4)
1933-1934	Margaret Jean Gammon (grades 1-2), Gertrude Lillian Manchester (grades 2-4)
1934-1935	Margaret Jean Gammon (grades 1-2), Gertrude Lillian Manchester (grades 3-4)
1935-1936	Margaret Jean Gammon (grades 1-2), Gertrude Lillian Manchester (grades 3-4)
1936-1937	Margaret Jean Gammon (grades 1-2), Gertrude Lillian Manchester (grades 3-4)
1937-1938	Gertrude Lillian Manchester (grades 1-2)
1938-1939	Gertrude Lillian Manchester (grades 1-2)
1939-1940	Gertrude Lillian Manchester (grades 1-2)
1940-1941	Gertrude Lillian Manchester (grades 1-2)
1941-1942	Gertrude Lillian Manchester (grades 1-2)
1942-1943	Gertrude Lillian Manchester (grades 1-2)
1943-1944	Gertrude Lillian Manchester (grades 1-2)
1944-1945	Gertrude Lillian Manchester (grades 1-2)
1945-1946	Gertrude Lillian Manchester (grades 1-2)
1946-1947	Gertrude Lillian Manchester (grades 1-2)
1947-1948	Jeanne Marie D’Heilly (grade 1)
1948-1949	?
1949-1950	Eva Marie Gould (grade 4), Mabel Grace Ryall (grade 3), Christine Sveinson (grade 1), Katherine Caroline Weber (grade 6), Maureen Westgate (grade 2)
1950-1951	Eva Marie Gould (grade 4), Mabel Grace Ryall (grade 3), Christine Sveinson (grade 1), Cornelius Van Thiessen (grades 5-6), Margaret Dorothy Tully (grades 2-3), Katherine Caroline Weber (grade 7), Maureen Westgate (grade 2)
1951-1952	Eva Marie Gould (grade 4), Jessie Innes (grade 5), Mabel Grace Ryall Pounder (grade 3), Christine Sveinson (grade 1), Cornelius Van Thiessen (grades 6-7), Katherine Caroline Weber (grade 8), Maureen Westgate (grade 2)
1952-1953	Eva Marie Gould (grade 4), Jessie Innes (grade 5), Christine Sveinson (grade 3), Cornelius Van Thiessen (grade 6), Wyona Bernice Tolton (grade 1), Katherine Caroline Weber (grades 7-8), Maureen Westgate (grade 2)
1953-1954	Eva Marie Gould (grade 4), Anne Marline Haskins (grade 1), Jessie Innes (grade 5), Hazel Joyce Saunders (grade 1), Christine Sveinson (grade 3), Cornelius Van Thiessen (grade 6), Katherine Caroline Weber (grade 7), Maureen Westgate (grade 2)
1954-1955	Rose Berezowecki (grade 1), Eva Marie Gould (grade 4), Jessie Innes (grade 5), Olive Elizabeth Morris (grade 2, November-June), Hazel Joyce Saunders (grade 1), Christine Sveinson (grade 3), Cornelius Van Thiessen (grade 6), Katherine Caroline Weber (grade 2), Maureen Westgate (grade 2, September-October)
1955-1956	Letitia Milburn Armitage (grade 2), Lillian Anna Catharina Ellgring (grade 2), Eva Marie Gould (grade 4), Jessie Innes (grade 5), Hazel Joyce Saunders (grade 1), Christine Sveinson (grade 3), Katherine Caroline Weber (grade 3)
1956-1957	Letitia Milburn Armitage (grade 2), Elizabeth Gertrude Brown (grade 5), Eva Marie Gould (grade 4), Alice Helen Leggitt (grade 4), Carol Lorraine Longley (grade 2), Jane Agnes Nisbet (grade 6), Hazel Joyce Saunders (grade 1), Olive Lorraine Schroeder (grade 1, September-December), Ruth Elizabeth Schwartz (grade 1, January-June), Christine Sveinson (grade 3), Katherine Caroline Weber (grade 3)
1957-1958	Letitia Milburn Armitage (grade 2), Elizabeth Gertrude Brown (grade 5), Eva Marie Gould (grade 4), Alice Helen Leggitt (grade 4), Carol Lorraine Longley (grade 2), Jane Agnes Nisbet (grade 6), Olive Lorraine Schroeder (grade 5), Ruth Elizabeth Schwartz (grade 1, January-June), Christine Sveinson (grade 3), Katherine Caroline Weber (grade 3)
1958-1959	Elizabeth D. Alexander (grade 6, April-June), Letitia Milburn Armitage (grade 2), Elizabeth Gertrude Brown (grade 5), Ruth Elizabeth Schwartz Canning (grade 1), Eva Marie Gould (grade 4), Alvina Kroeker (grade 1), Alice Helen Leggitt (grade 6), Carol Lorraine Longley (grade 2), Jane Agnes Nisbet (grade 6, September-March), Abe Penner (grade 7), Olive Lorraine Schroeder (grade 5), Christine Sveinson (grade 3), Katherine Caroline Weber (grade 4)
1959-1960	Letitia Milburn Armitage (grade 2), Elizabeth D. Bevis (grade 6), Elizabeth Gertrude Brown (grade 5), Anita R. Campeau (grade 7), Ruth Elizabeth Schwartz Canning (grade 1), Eva Marie Gould (grade 3), Alice Helen Leggitt (grade 6), Mary C. Maycock (grade 1), Abe Penner (grade 8), Edith E. Ross (grade 1), Olive Lorraine Schroeder (grade 5), Ernest Halhad Shelvey (grade 7), Christine Sveinson (grade 3), Katherine Caroline Weber (grade 4), Carol Lorraine Longley Whitworth (grade 2)
1960-1961	Letitia Milburn Armitage (grade 2), Jean Barker (grade 4), Elizabeth Gertrude Brown (grade 5), Ruth Elizabeth Schwartz Canning (grade 1), Eva Marie Gould (grade 3), Alice Helen Leggitt (grade 6), Mary C. Maycock (grade 1), Joseph John Rebizant (grade 6), Olive Lorraine Schroeder (grade 5), Christine Sveinson (grade 3), Katherine Caroline Weber (grade 4), Carol Lorraine Longley Whitworth (grade 2)
1961-1962	Letitia Milburn Armitage (grade 2), Jean Barker (grade 4), Brenda Ann Davies (grade 1), Eva Marie Gould (grade 3), Alice Helen Leggitt (grade 6), Marian Ruth Nelson (grade 1), Shirley Anne Schellenberg (grade 5), Olive Lorraine Schroeder (grade 5), Christine Sveinson (grade 3), Katherine Caroline Weber (grade 4), Carol Lorraine Longley Whitworth (grade 2), Ruth Hildegarde Wiens (grade 1)
1962-1963	Letitia Milburn Armitage (grade 2), Jean Barker (grade 4), Lynne Kathleen Bay (grade 5), George Capar (grade 6), Gisele Emma Houde Daudet (grade 2), Brenda Ann Davies (grade 1), Eva Marie Gould (grade 3), Marjorie Hope Laak (grade 2), Alice Helen Leggitt (grade 6), Mildred Grace Loewen (grade 6), Ada Beatrice Long (grade 4), Marian Ruth Nelson (grade 1), Lilly Isobel Remple (grade 1), Shirley Anne Schellenberg (grade 5), Christine Sveinson (grade 3)
1963-1964	Letitia Milburn Armitage (grade 2), Jean Barker (grade 4), Lynne Kathleen Bay (grade 5), George Capar (grade 6, at old school building), Gisele Emma Houde Daudet (grade 1), Brenda Ann Davies (grade 1), Eva Marie Gould (grade 3), Katherine Elizabeth “Kayrdquo; Kirk (grades 4-5), Marjorie Hope Laak (grade 2), Alice Helen Leggitt (grade 6), Mildred Grace Loewen (grade 6), Ada Beatrice Long (grade 4, September-December), Lillian Mary Paul (grade 3), Shirley Anne Schellenberg Rempel (grade 5), Lilly Isobel Remple (grade 1), Christine Sveinson (grade 3), Joan Eleanor Tostowaryk (grade 4, January-June)
1964-1965	Letitia Milburn Armitage (grade 2), Jean Barker (grade 4), George Capar (grade 7, September-October), Diane Lois Chiurka (grade 5), Gisele Emma Houde Daudet (grade 1), Brenda Ann Davies (grade 1), Elsie Enns (grade 6), Hilda Justina Friesen (grade 4), Margaret Froese (grade 7, January-June), Eva Marie Gould (grade 3), Ethel Wilhelmina Houston (grade 7), Katherine Elizabeth “Kayrdquo; Kirk (grade 5), Alice Helen Leggitt (grade 7), John David McNabb (grade 6), Lillian Mary Paul (grade 2), Shirley Anne Schellenberg Rempel (grades 5-6), Lilly Isobel Remple (grade 1), Christine Sveinson (grade 3), Shevaun Sayer Washington (grade 2), Katherine Caroline Weber (grade 7, November-December), Linda Eileen Weitzel (grade 4)
1965-1966	Noel David Ackland (grade 8), Letitia Milburn Armitage (grade 2), Jean Barker (grade 4), Stanis Ann Bridges (no grade, January-June), Mary Barbara Dahl (grade 1), Brenda Ann Davies (grade 1), Hildegard Helen Doerksen (grade 3), Elsie Enns (grade 5), Margaret Froese (grade 5), Eva Marie Gould (grade 3), Gerald William Hildebrand (grade 6), Ethel Wilhelmina Houston (grade 8), Wallace John Jaspar (grade 9), Henry Klassen (grade 9), Shirley Betty Lawrence (no grade, January-June at old school building), Lenore Lydia Marvin (grade 1), John David McNabb (no grade, January-June), Elaine Olchowecki (grade 7), Lillian Mary Paul (grade 2), Shirley Anne Schellenberg Rempel (grade 4, February-June), Lilly Isobel Remple (grade 1), Mary Josephine Sanders (grade 5), Lillian Jane Strand (grade 6), Christine Sveinson (grade 3), Shevaun Sayer Washington (grade 2), Katherine Caroline Weber (grade 8), Linda Eileen Weitzel (grade 4, September-January), Marlene Joan Weselak (grade 7)
1966-1967	Noel David Ackland (grade 8), Letitia Milburn Armitage (grade 2), Shirley Ann Aylan-Parker (grade 6), Jean Barker (grade 4), Leo Carriere (grade 9), Mary Barbara Dahl (grade 1), Hildegard Helen Doerksen (grade 3), Lorna Margaret Drawson (grade 4, January-June), Elsie Enns (grade 5), Margaret Froese (grade 5), Eva Marie Gould (grade 3), George Holowka (grade 9), Lillian Mary Paul Hampton (grade 2; September-December), Gerald William Hildebrand (no grade), Ethel Wilhelmina Houston (grade 8), Joyce Kroeker (grade 2, January-June), Lenore Lydia Marvin (grade 1), Sheila Louise Melanchuk (grade 2), Judith Frances Oborne (grade 4, September-December), Marion Anne-Marie Pengilley (kindergarten), Robert William Piper (grade 8), Lilly Isobel Remple (grade 1), Lotte Zena Rosenstock (grade 6), Lillian Jane Strand (grade 6), Christine Sveinson (grade 3), Josephine Anne Vaselenak (grade 7), Bertha Mae Walsh (kindergarten, at old school building), Shevaun Sayer Washington (grade 2), Katherine Caroline Weber (grade 4), Marlene Joan Weselak (grade 7), Violet Marie Woods (grade 9)
1967-1968	?
1968-1969	?
1969-1970	?
1970-1971	Mrs. Boyko (grade 2), Mrs. Carr (French), Mrs. Fast (grade 6), Mrs. Godard (grade 7), Mr. Hildebrand (math, science), George Holowka (grades 8-9), Ms. Klapprat (grade 3), Mr. Menzies (grades 7-8), Mrs. Peterson (grade 4), Mrs. Pratt (library), Sister Rita (grade 1), Miss Rogers (grade 2), Miss Turek (kindergarten), Mrs. Wiens (grade 5), Mr. Wyatt (grade 6)

Photos & Coordinates

General Byng School No. 1 (circa 1922) Source: Winnipeg Tribune, 9 September 1922, page 5. Portion of a Winnipeg fire insurance map showing the positions of General Byng School No. 1 and General Byng School No. 2 (1960) Source: ManitobaMaps Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.84342, W97.15967 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Manitoba Business: Prain and Ward / Ward and Macdonald / Macdonald, Cockburn, McLeod, and McFeetors / MCM Architects

Historic Sites of Manitoba: General Steele School (757 Lyon Street, Winnipeg)

Sources:

[General Byng school opening], Winnipeg Tribune, 18 October 1921, page 6.

“Fort Garry’s school system shows great development,” Winnipeg Tribune, 9 September 1922, page 5.

“Fort Garry,” Winnipeg Tribune, 28 July 1923, page 16.

“Fort Garry,” Winnipeg Tribune, 13 October 1923, page 19.

“News from suburbs,” Winnipeg Tribune, 2 September 1925, page 6.

“Fort Garry,” Winnipeg Tribune, 29 June 1929, page 27.

“News of the suburbs,” Winnipeg Tribune, 31 August 1929, page 6.

Marriage registrations [Alison Tait Usher, Jean McIntyre], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“United Church at Fort Garry marks birthday,” Winnipeg Tribune, 12 November 1932, page 6.

“News of the suburbs,” Winnipeg Tribune, 1 September 1934, page 23.

“News of the suburbs,” Winnipeg Tribune, 29 August 1936, page 34.

“Plan higher grades in General Byng School, Fort Garry,” Winnipeg Free Press, 21 July 1937, page 4.

“News of the suburbs [Fort Garry],” Winnipeg Tribune, 28 August 1937, page 30.

“Fort Garry notes,” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 September 1939, page 4.

“Fort Garry schools name teaching staffs,” Winnipeg Tribune, 4 September 1939, page 23.

[Photo caption; Mr. and Mrs. Peter Spowart Bisset], Winnipeg Tribune, 8 July 1940, page 9.

“Open house set at Fort Garry’s new high school,” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 August 1949, page 3.

“20,420 pupils for suburbs,” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 August 1956, page 3.

Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.

“Tenders for General Byng School addition,” Winnipeg Free Press, 21 March 1959, page 43.

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.

A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.

“South Winnipeg schools are switching principals,” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 July 2004, page S3.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Fort Garry School District No. 2047 (General Byng School) Daily Registers, GR10356, Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Fort Garry School Division No. 5 (General Byng School) Daily Registers, GR10356, Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Fort Garry School District No. 2047 (General Byng School) Daily Registers, GR10469, Archives of Manitoba.

School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.

MCM Architects Inc. fonds, 1912-1994, Archives of Manitoba.

We thank Gus Watanabe for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough, Nathan Kramer, and Susan LaSpina.

Page revised: 26 September 2023

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