In August 1889, the Mossgiel School District was established and a school building was erected at this site, on the southeast quarter of 4-12-29 west of the Principal Meridian, in what is now the Rural Municipality of Wallace-Woodworth. It had originally been named McGregor School, named for farmer Duncan McGregor who donated the land on which the school was situated. He insisted that it be renamed Mossgiel for the Scottish farm on which poet Robbie Burns had lived.
On 13 November 1916, the original 25 foot by 18 foot cream-coloured brick structure was destroyed by fire. It was replaced by a 30 foot by 22 foot red brick building with an attached woodshed, at a cost of $1,880. In addition to serving the education needs of the community, Mossgiel School also was the site for meetings, social gatherings, dances, election polls, and church services. It was home to the Mossgiel Rifle Club and the Mossgiel Shamrock Baseball Club. In June 1965, residents voted to consolidate the school with Elkhorn Consolidated School No. 366 and the building was moved to a farm east of Elkhorn. In 2008, a monument was erected at the former school site.
Teachers at Mossgiel School through the years included the following: Miss McKenzie (1889-1890), Elizabeth Rutherford (1891), Albinus Clarke (1892), Mr. Taylor (1893), Miss Hall (1893), Mr. Beattie (1894), William James Shepherd (1894-1896), Miss Elizabeth Montgomery (1896-1897), Miss Caroline Bishop (1898), Miss Belle Perrin (1899), Miss Mary Groutage (1899), Miss Ada Elford (1900), Mr. Marlett (1903), J. E. Irwin (1904), Mary Creighton (1905-1906), Ethel McKim (1907-1908), Ruby Turnbull (1909), M. Stark (1910), Marion C. Evans (1911), Olive Fraser (1912), Edna M. Smithson (1912), W. W. Crosby (1912-1913, 1920), B. G. Owens (1913-1914), Margaret Halliday (1914-1915), Miss McLeod (1915-1916), Sybil Moss (1916-1918), O. Maude Oswald (1918), Rose Roberts (1918-1919), F. H. Lye (1919), Leah McLeod (1920-1921), Margaret McLaren (1921-1922), Maud Mountain (1923-1924, 1926-1929), Edythe McLean (1925-1926), May Mawhinney (1926), Annie Noble (1929), Anne Rattray (1929-1930), T. D. Anderson (1930-1932), Letitia Richardson (1932), Lorna Duxbury (1932-1936), Iris Swanson (1936-1938), Winnifred Coates (1938-1940), Mrs. D. Barr (1940), Lewis Watt (1940), Ida McBain (1940), Jean Watson (1941), Olive Sturgess (1941-1942), Tom Jaffray (1942), Gertie Simpson (1942), Rhoda Barry (1942-1943), Gladys Anderson (1943-1944), Aulda Gardiner (1944-1945), George Hennan (1945), Alex Robson (1945-1946), Margaret Frame (1946-1947), Mamie E. Hill (1947-1949), Velma Scott (1949-1950), Jean Watson (1950), Howard J. Loewen (1950-1951), Irene Ringland (1951-1952), Irene Cousins (1952-1953), Mrs. Norma Bruce (1954), Mrs. Dorothy Tasker (1954-1955), Mrs. Norma Bruce (1955), Moira Carmichael (1955-1957), Doreen Smith (1957-1958), Otto Perlett (1958-1959), Gayle Clarke (1959-1961), M. Thelma Hunkin (1961-1963), and Jean Fordyce (1963-1965).
Mossgiel School (circa 1917)
Source: Education Department Report, 1917, Manitoba Legislative Library.
Mossgiel School (no date) by W. R. Beveridge
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 95.
Roof of the former Mossgiel School building (circa 1986)
Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1421.
Mossgiel School commemorative monument (September 2011)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.97566, W101.37888
denoted by symbol on the map above
“W. J. Shepherd, Manitoba pioneer,” Winnipeg Tribune, 2 December 1960.
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.
Steel and Grass Roots, 1882-1981: History of Elkhorn by Elkhorn and District Historical Society, pages 86-87.
Mossgiel Memories by Mossgiel Guild History Book Committee, 1981.
A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 12 May 2023
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