Link to:
Photos & Coordinates | Sources
Located on the south side of Weatherdon Avenue (now Brandon Avenue) in Winnipeg, this 1½-storey wood building was designed by architect Herbert Edward Matthews and built by day labourers in 1912, at a cost of about $5,000. Its original owner Elizabeth “Jessie” Pollitt (1868-1947) was born at Blackburn, England on 11 March 1868 and she married Thomas Lloyd Hayward (c1869-1925). They moved to Canada in 1897 and had four children: Arthur Hayward (1895-?), Gilbert Hayward (1896-?), Walter Hayward (1899-?), and Edith Victoria Hayward (1901-?, wife of M. S. Hutchison).
Both Haywards were involved in real estate, with Elizabeth working in the field for 52 years, and initially Thomas as well until he became employed with the Winnipeg Electric Company. The family lived at 362 William Avenue (1911) and, although having commissioned this Brandon Avenue location as a single-family dwelling, the Haywards did not move here, instead opting to convert it into a five-suite rental property known as the Hayward Block under Elizabeth's ownership. She also owned other local properties, including the Birchmont Apartments, as well as out-of-province investments including a hotel at Watson, Saskatchewan. She died at Winnipeg on 5 February 1947 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.
Mrs. Hayward owned the property for several years before selling it to a neighbour (1911) two doors down at 358 William Avenue, Elizabeth A. Phillipson [Philipson] (1878-?). Mrs. Phillipson was born at England in February 1878, lived near Newcastle-on-Tyne, had a son, and is presumed to have been widowed before she immigrated to Canada in 1904. She re-settled from William Avenue to the Hayward Block by early 1915, at which time her son Robert William Phillipson [Philipson] (1899-1949) enlisted for military service in the First World War. The Hayward Block was renamed as Phillipson Block around 1920. She resided in one of its five suites until approximately 1930 before departing from Winnipeg, with her later whereabouts not yet determined.
The Phillipson Block retained its name and the five-suite configuration into the 1960s although that count has been reduced to three suites some time before 2022.
Aerial view of Phillipson Block (1923) by Royal Canadian Air Force
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Surveys Branch Aerial Photos (A0262), GR11610, FA 23-57
Phillipson Block (October 2022)
Source: Nathan Kramer
Phillipson Block (October 2022)
Source: Nathan Kramer
Phillipson Block (October 2022)
Source: Nathan KramerSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.86745, W97.13712
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Herbert Edward Matthews (1868-1941)
1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
1921 Canada census, Library and Archives Canada.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 2717/1911, City of Winnipeg Archives.
Winnipeg Assessment and Taxation Department.
Birth [Walter Hayward & Edith Victoria Hayward] & death [Thomas Lloyd Hayward & Elizabeth Hayward] registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Attestation papers [Robert William Philipson], Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.
“Furnished suites [Three room, furnished suite ...],” Winnipeg Tribune, 30 November 1916, page 37.
Death notice [Thomas Lloyd Hayward], Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 4 July 1925, page 16.
Obituary [Mrs. Elizabeth Hayward], Winnipeg Tribune, 7 February 1947, page 15.
Elmwood Cemetery burial transcriptions, FindAGrave.
Find a Postal Code, Canada Post.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
Preparation of this page was supported, in part, by the Gail Parvin Hammerquist Fund of the City of Winnipeg.
We thank Gordon Goldsborough for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 10 September 2023
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