Named for Great Carlton, Lincolnshire, England from which a couple of local settlers had emigrated, a school building was constructed in March 1899 on the northeast corner of 8-10-11 west of the Principal Meridian, in what is now the Municipality of North Norfolk. The land had been purchased from the Hudson’s Bay Company for $10. The first teacher was Annie Boughton, hired at a salary of $30 per month for five months.
The school closed between 1954 and 1957, with students going to nearby Pratt School. It reopened in 1957, and operated until June 1959 when it closed again. The district was formally dissolved in January 1963 and consolidated with Southfield School No. 1044, Ladysmith School No. 1055, and Pratt School No. 2167 to form Spruce Hills Consolidated School No. 2413, which was later merged into Pine Creek School Division.
The teachers who worked at Great Carlton School included: Annie R. Boughton (1899), Olive M. Jones (1900-1901), Mamie E. Sargent (1905), Cora A. Johnston (1905), Mary A. S. Mackie (1905-1906), Isabella Murray (1906-1907), Hettie E. Warren (1908), Grace A. McLellan (1909), Perle E. Leigh (1909-1910), Jenny S. Crammond (1910), Jewel Beers (1911), Fred A. Edwards (1911), Irene Morris (1912), Irene Aldridge (1912-1913), Nellie Smith (1913), John Dixon (1913-1914), Lillian E. Houston (1914), Hattie Paisley (1915), Marjorie Dagg (1915-1916), Winnifred Grant (1916-1917), Ellen L. King (1917-1918), Daisy Churchill (1918-1919), Frances W. Duncan (1919-1920), Verna Somerville (1920-1921), Clara Beswitherick (1921-1922), N. Somerville (1922), E. M. Struthers (1923-1924), H. D. Burnell (1925), Vera D. Robinson (1925-1926), Mona M. McConeghy (1926-1928), Clara A. Beswitherick (1929-1930), E. Langley (1930-1932), Hedwig C. Alke (1932-1935), Ruth Kenway (1935-1936), Stanley McFarlane (1936-1938), Marguerite Durward (1938-1940), Clara Beswitherick (1940-1942), Edith V. Wilson (1942), Edith V. Peck (1943), Elsie R. Jones (1943-1944), Eleanor B. Jarvis (1944-1945), Anne Klassen (1945-1946), Bessie H. Bailey (1946), Wanda Wiley (1947), Helen Kolesar (1947-1948), Irene R. Nevins (1948-1949), Muriel J. Elliott (1949-1950), Louise V. Lavoie (1950), Barbara Bickford (1951), Mary I. Strath (1951-1952), Caroline Sharpley (1952-1953), Kathryn Wiebe (1953-1954), Clara Beswitherick (1957-1958).
A monument dedicated to pioneers of the area was unveiled at a reunion on 30 June 1996, attended by former students and teachers. A large tree beside the school building was planted in 1913 or 1914 by school teacher John Dixon. On 8 June 2015, the former school building was destroyed by a fire of unknown origin.
Great Carlton School (no date)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Austin Schools 1.
The former Great Carlton School building (circa 1986)
Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1405.
The former Great Carlton School building (September 2010)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
The former Great Carlton School building (September 2014)
Source: Ken Storie
Interior of the former Great Carlton School building (September 2014)
Source: Ken Storie
Remains of the Great Carlton School building (June 2015)
Source: Neil Christoffersen
Great Carlton School commemorative monument (September 2010)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.82748, W98.92785
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Spruce Hills Consolidated School No. 2413 (RM of Victoria)
TimeLinks: Great Carlton School, Austin, 1901
TimeLinks: Interior of Great Carlton School, 1901
A Rear View Mirror: A History of the Austin and Surrounding Districts by Anne M. Collier, Altona: Friesen Printing, 1967.
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.
Through Fields and Dreams: A History of the Rural Municipality of North Norfolk and MacGregor by The History Book Committee of the North Norfolk-MacGregor Archives, 1998, page 921.
We thank Neil Christoffersen and Ken Storie for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 9 April 2021
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