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Photos & Coordinates | Sources
Located on the north side of Logan Avenue in Winnipeg, this two-storey frame dwelling was built in 1905 by Henry Edward Penny (1860-1938) at a cost of $1,600 for his spouse Mary Decima Turner Penny (1857-1926). The building measured 20 feet wide to a depth of 28 feet. In 1907, a concrete basement was added along with other modern improvements at a cost of $400. In 1913, a 13 feet by 20 feet addition of two rooms was made to the rear of the residence at a cost of $200. The couple also owned property at 2299 Logan Avenue around the time of constructing their new residence at 1499 Logan. In 1905 and into 1906, the congregants of what would become the St. Thomas Anglican Church met and worshiped here.
Mary Decima Turner was born at England in November 1857 and Henry Edward “Harry” Penny was also born there on 14 April 1860. They married, lived at Bristol, and had six or seven children: Maud Turner Penny (c1878-?, wife of Jack Kenyon Carnes), William Henry Penny (1885-1949), Edith Frances Penny (1887-1948, wife of David Ewing), Ida Ruth Penny (1889-1976, wife of Henry David Pickering), Eva May Penny (1891-1988, wife of Francis James Jones), Mrs. B. Brain (?-?), and Mrs. W. West (?-?). The family moved to Canada in 1903 and took up residence at 2299 Logan Avenue in Winnipeg before building their own residence at this site. As the children married and moved out, and the family home emptied, they began renting space to others, including three other family units in 1911. Harry was highly involved with public affairs in the Weston district including the Weston Public Hall Committee, Weston Cottage Gardening Association / Weston Agricultural Society (charter member, Treasurer 1908-1912), Weston Public Hall and Swimming Bath Company, and the Weston Ratepayers’ Association (charter member) at their residence, of which many monthly meetings were held at their residence. From the ground level, he operated a family business footwear store, Harry E. Penny & Son. In 1920, Mary and Harry retired to Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, and ownership in their family business and 1499 Logan property passed to their son William. Mary died on 12 October 1926 and Harry died at New Westminster on 30 August 1938. Both were buried at Fraser Cemetery at New Westminster.
William Penny was born at Bristol, England on 20 December 1884 and married North Dakota-born Matilda Elizabeth Bailey (1890-1995, later remarried to William Johnston) at Winnipeg on 25 December 1909. They had five children: Ernest Edward Penny (1910-1977), Doris Margaret Penny (1912-1965), Walter William Penny (1914-1973), Harry Roderick Penny (1922-1922), and Janet Virginia Penny (c1924-?, wife of Walter Roy Lundrie) and lived elsewhere within Winnipeg whilst he worked as a boiler maker. During the First World War, he enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in August 1915 and served overseas until demobilization in April 1919. His own family moved here after his parents departed for the West Coast and they too rented surplus space to others seeking accommodation. The Penny family of William and Matilda resided here until around 1936, then also departing for Port Coquitlam. William died there at the Tranquille Sanatorium on 27 March 1949 and Matilda died at the Hawthorne Care Centre on 26 January 1995.
In 1929, the structure was altered at a cost of $200, resulting in the attic at least initially being closed off, the addition of an interior washroom, and conversion of the since-discontinued storefront into a three-room rental suite, thereby increasing the suite count to four. By this time, the building had been expanded to a width of 38 feet and depth of 55 feet. Around a year later, the suite count was further increased to five, suggesting either the subdivision of an existing unit or that the attic may have been converted into a suite.
By the 1940s, the property was named the Morris Apartments, which was renamed Morris Block by the 1950s. Still standing in the mid-1970s, it was later demolished.
Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.91885, W97.18620
denoted by symbol on the map above
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 25/1905, City of Winnipeg Archives.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 2655/1906, City of Winnipeg Archives.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 1287/1907, City of Winnipeg Archives.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 1044/1913, City of Winnipeg Archives.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 868/1929, City of Winnipeg Archives.
1906 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
1911, 1916, 1921, and 1926 Canada censuses, Library and Archives Canada.
Marriage registrations [Janet Virginia Penny to Walter Roy Lundrie], British Columbia Vital Statistics.
Death registrations [Mary Decima Penny, Henry Edward Penny, William Henry Penny, Edith Frances Ewing, Henry David Pickering, Walter William Penny, Francis James Jones, Ida Pickering, Eva May Jones, Matilda Elizabeth Johnston], British Columbia Vital Statistics.
Birth registrations [Ernest Edward Penny, Doris Margaret Penny, Walter William Penny, Harry Roderick Penny], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Marriage registrations [Maud Turner Penny to Jack Kenyon Carnes, Ida Ruth Penny to David Henry Pickering, William Henry Penny to Matilda Elizabeth Bailey, Eva May Penny to Francis James Jones], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Death registrations [Harry Roderick Penny], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Attestation papers, Canadian Expeditionary Force [William Henry Penny], Library and Archives Canada.
“Cottage gardening],” Winnipeg Tribune, 5 June 1908, page 10.
“Weston,” Winnipeg Tribune, 13 June 1908, page 4.
“Cottage gardening,” Winnipeg Tribune, 17 February 1909, page 5.
“Weston,” Winnipeg Tribune, 26 February 1909, page 3.
“Weston,” Winnipeg Tribune, 22 February 1910, page 3.
“Suburban [Weston],” Winnipeg Tribune, 17 June 1910, page 4.
“Anual meeting of gardening society,” Winnipeg Tribune, 21 February 1911, page 5.
“May name Ivens as candidate for Mayor,” Manitoba Free Press, 6 October 1919, page 2.
“Weston,” Manitoba Free Press, 29 July 1920, page 4.
“Congregation of St. Thomas to celebrate,” Winnipeg Tribune, 24 November 1934, page 6.
“Weston church to celebrate anniversary,” Winnipeg Tribune, 20 November 1937, page 18.
“Deaths and funerals [The death of H. E. Penny ...],” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 September 1938, page 4.
[Photo caption; Agnes Dickson of 1499 Logan Avenue ...], Winnipeg Free Press, 12 March 1973, page 12.
“Autos for sale - 1966 [66 Karmann Ghia ...],” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 September 1974, page 61.
Vancouver Crematorium burial transcriptions, FindAGrave.
Victory Memorial Park burial transcriptions, FindAGrave.
Fraser Cemetery burial transcriptions, FindAGrave.
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.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 5 November 2023
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