Historic Sites of Manitoba: St. James School No. 7 / Linwood School (266 Linwood Street, Winnipeg)

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

The St. James School District No. 7 was established in July 1871. It operated schools in what would later become the Winnipeg suburb of St. James until it became part of the St. James-Assiniboia School Division No. 2 in 1969.

Linwood School was known as St. James School when it opened in late 1914. Designed by Winnipeg architect Alexander Melville and built at a cost of $175,000, its distinctive red brick and limestone exterior featured entrances on its west side labeled “Boys” and “Girls.” Opened at a ceremony on 25 November 1914 attended by Education Minister G. R. Coldwell and Deputy Minister Robert Fletcher, elementary classes were initially held on the main floor and high school classes were on the second floor. When St. James Collegiate opened in the early 1950s, the higher grades moved there.

The school’s alumni includes the city’s first female mayor Susan Thompson, bandleader Jimmy King, Liberal Cabinet Minister Mitchell Sharp, speed skater Gordon Audley, provincial premier Greg Selinger, and National Defense Headquarters Chief of Air Staff Ken Pennie.

Principals

Period	Principal
c1907	Joseph Cooper Iliffe (1866-1937)
1908-1910	?
1910-1911	Thomas Walter Halligan (1875-1934)
1911-1936	Theophilus [Theopheus] John “Theodore” Watts (1864-1939)
1936-1965	William John Wallace (1900-1988)
1965-1967	Raymond Cleave “Ray” Davis (1920-2017)
1967-1970	Ronald Edward “Ron” Littlejohn (1935-2017)
1970-1972	Lincoln L. Lautermilch
1972-1979	Frank H. Voth
1979-1981	Peter D. Carney
1981-1986	Donald Taylor McKinnon (1926-2012)
1986-1990	Merrill D. Groff
1990-1994	Arlene E. Billeck
1994-1997	Gregory J. Mutter
1997-1999	James E. Tomes
1999-2011	Dianne Snider
2011-2016	Kelsey McDonald

Vice-Principals

Period	Vice-Principal
1951-1960	Mabel Morrow (1894-1999)
1960-1969	?
1969-1971	Miss M. Davies
1971-1973	William Betz
1989-1990	Lawson Tarbuth

Teachers

School Year	Teachers
1955-1956	Mr. J. Brock, Mrs. P. A. Brewer, Mrs. P. Briercliffe, Mrs. B. Burnett, Mrs. A. E. Cairns, Mrs. A. Clayton, Mr. A. H. Cowen, Miss M. Davies, Mrs. M. G. Ferguson, Mrs. B. Frame, Miss M. Glasman, Mrs. G. Holland, Miss M. M. Insley, Mrs. M. J. Johnson, Miss R. A. Keyes, Mr. R. E. Littlejohn, Miss Doreen Matheson, Mrs. C. McLean, Miss M. E. McRae, Miss E. H. D. Miller, Mrs. E. Peters, Miss M. E. Pildrem, Miss V. Posnikoff, Miss N. J. Premachuk, Mrs. L. K. Robson, Mrs. V. Schmidt, Mrs. M. Stephens, Mrs. W. G. Turner, Mr. H. B. Unruh, Miss A. K. Wallace, Miss K. Weldon, Miss A. Wiechman, Miss M. E. Willet, Miss M. Wood, Mrs. J. S. Yarwood
1956-2005	?
2005-2006	Paula Andrew, Katherine Deyman, Eva Dowd, Gail Ficzycz, Tanya Jensen, Leanne Mager, Lezlie Martinson, Kelsey McDonald, Patti-Lynne Pauls, Gina Petty, Colleen Rogala, Gary Shapira, Shannon Siemens, Lynda Tunny, Kimberley Turner, Kyla Vincent, Mark Zebrun

Among the other teachers were Mr. J. H. Arkland (1876), Mr. O. Parr (1892-1893), Miss Ella Williams (1894-1895), Miss Bessie McIntyre (1895-1896), Miss Miller (1897-1898), Miss M. L. Hislop (1898-1899), Mr. Harry Murdoff (1899-1901), Miss Mabel W. Wright (1901-1906), Miss M. L. Perkins (1907-1908), Miss M. McIntyre (1908-1909), Joseph E. Murphy (1937-1946), Petter Martin Juul (1938), Mary Davies (?-?), John Boyd (1922-1945), and John A. L. Holmes (1940s).

Photos & Coordinates

Site of the original St. James School and Linwood School (May 1914) Source: Archives of Manitoba, Western Canada Fire Underwriters Association, Series 2, Assiniboia - St. James suburb - Sheet 1A. Linwood School (2008) Source: Reid Dickie Linwood School (June 2013) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.88101, W97.22782 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: St. James Collegiate (1900 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Linwood School No. 641 (RM of North Cypress)

Sources:

“City and provincial news [J. H. Arkland],” Manitoba Daily Free Press, 4 February 1876, page 5.

“Schools in session,” Manitoba Daily Free Press, 2 September 1892, page 5.

“The School Board,” Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 12 December 1894, page 3.

“Shall fees be charged,” Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 11 September 1895, page 3.

“School changes,” Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 31 August 1897, page 3.

“The public schools,” Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 31 August 1898, page 2.

“Opening of city schools,” Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 2 September 1899, page 4.

“Assignment of teachers,” Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 1 September 1900, page 1.

“School site purchased,” Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 13 March 1901, page 8.

“Holidays end Tuesday next,” Manitoba Morning Free Press, 31 August 1901, page 10.

“The staff of city teachers,” Manitoba Morning Free Press, 1 September 1902, page 3.

“City schools re-open Monday,” Manitoba Free Press, 29 August 1903, page 7.

“City schools open to-morrow,” Manitoba Morning Free Press, 31 August 1904, page 3.

“Assignment of Winnipeg teachers,” Manitoba Free Press, 2 September 1905.

“Changes in city schools,” Manitoba Free Press, 31 August 1907.

“Re-opening of schools,” Winnipeg Tribune, 29 August 1908, page 1.

“Tenders,” Winnipeg Tribune, 11 October 1913, page 6.

“To visit school,” Winnipeg Tribune, 21 November 1914, page 5.

“Open “Palace of Education”,” Winnipeg Tribune, 26 November 1914, page 3.

“Address List, Municipal School District of St. James No. 7,” St. James Assiniboia School Division.

Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.

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.

We thank Mari-Jean Nachtigall, Bruce Waters, and Dorothy Young for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer, Gordon Goldsborough, and Reid Dickie.

Page revised: 18 October 2020

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