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The Selkirk School District was organized in December 1878. A two-storey brick school building was constructed along Eaton Avenue sometime before 1907. In September 1907, voters of the Selkirk School District decided by a 97 to 7 margin to spend $11,000 upgrading the building based on a design by Winnipeg architect William Fingland. After 1920, senior students were moved to the Devonshire Collegiate building nearby. The site is now the parking lot of a shopping mall.
It eventually became part of the Lord Selkirk School Division.
Period
Principal
1887-1888
Felton Strudwicke [Strudwick] Chapman (1864-1936)
1889-1890
F. G. Brien
1891
Farquhar McRae (1840-1913)
1892-1894
Francis Kethel “Frank” Coleridge (1865-1944)
1894-1900
Archibald Wesley Hooper (1868-1941)
1900-1903
Percy Dewart Harris (1871-1953)
1903-1904
Hugh William Watson (1872-?)
1904-1905
Norman Benson Tufts (1875-1921)
1905-1906
A. A. McNeil
1906-1909
?
1910
Peter Robert Loutit (1878-1961)
1911-1912
?
1913-1914
Miss Hall
1915-1919
?
1920-1921
Miss Hall
Period
Principal
1929-1945
Nellie Blanche Lyons Gobert (1882-1959)
1946-1947
Sarah “Ruth” Swanson (1904-1976)
School Year
Teachers
1879
?
1880
?
1881
?
1882
?
1883
Ernest Wall
1884
Ernest Wall
1885
John Acheson (Spring), Thomas Partington (Fall)
1886
Thomas Partington
1887
Minnie Blyth (Fall, junior grades), Felton Strudwicke [Strudwick] Chapman (Fall, senior grades), Thomas Partington (Spring, all grades)
1888
Minnie Blyth (junior grades), Felton Strudwicke [Strudwick] Chapman (senior grades)
1889
F. G. Brien (senior grades), Jessie Galloway (Spring, ? grades), Belle Scott (Spring, ? grades; Fall, junior grades)
1890
F. G. Brien (senior grades), Mary McInnes (Spring, ? grades), Belle Scott (Spring, ? grades; Fall, junior grades)
1891
Farquhar McRae (senior grades), Nellie Scarry (junior grades)
1892
Francis Kethel “Frank” Coleridge (senior grades), Nellie Scarry (junior grades)
1893
Francis Kethel “Frank” Coleridge (senior grades), Augusta S. Galloway (Spring), Ellie Marshall (Fall), Nellie Scarry
1894
H. Black (Spring), Francis Kethel “Frank” Coleridge (Spring, senior grades), Archibald Wesley Hooper (Fall, senior grades), Ellie Marshall (Fall), Nellie Scarry
1895
Margaret Burnett (Fall), Archibald Wesley Hooper (senior grades), Abby Anna McKibbin (Fall; wife of Ernest James Motley), Matilda McKibbin (Fall), Ellie Marshall (Spring), Nellie Scarry (Spring)
1896
M. Mauce Bruce, Margaret Burnett (Spring), Augusta S. Galloway (Spring), Archibald Wesley Hooper (senior grades), Abby Anna McKibbin (Fall), Matilda McKibbin
1897
M. Mauce Bruce, Archibald Wesley Hooper (senior grades), Abby Anna McKibbin, Matilda McKibbin, Jean M. Wellwood (daughter of James Moncrieff Wellwood)
1898
M. Mauce Bruce (Spring), Eva Cornell (Spring), Augusta S. Galloway, Archibald Wesley Hooper (senior grades), F? M. S. Howard (Spring), Matilda McKibbin (Fall), Mabel M. Talbot (Fall), Jean M. Wellwood (Fall)
1899
Augusta S. Galloway (Spring), Edith C. Gemmel (), Hjortur Jonas Leo (Fall), Archibald Wesley Hooper (senior grades), Matilda McKibbin, Mabel M. Talbot, Grace Winkler (Fall)
1900
Winifred N. Brown (Fall), Edith C. Gemmel (Spring), M. Lillian Gemmell (Fall), Percy Dewart Harris (Fall, senior grades), Hjortur Jonas Leo (Spring), Archibald Wesley Hooper (Spring, senior grades), Matilda McKibbin (Spring), Alex L. McLean (Fall), Thomas Boniface Molloy (Fall), Ethel O’Dounell? (Fall), Alice M. Sherrin? (Fall), Mabel M. Talbot (Spring), Grace Winkler (Spring)
1901
Winifred N. Brown, Edith C. Gemmel, Lilian Gemmell (Fall), Percy Dewart Harris (senior grades), Eleanor Jones (Fall), Archie L. McLean (Spring), Thomas Boniface Molloy (Spring), Hannah W. Sutherland, W. Van Dusen (Fall), Helen S. Young
1902
?
1903
?
1904
?
1905
Mansell Allan Davis (Fall), E. Grace Galloway, Edith C. Gemmel, Winifred Gilmore, ?. H. Harris (Spring), Mollis McGregor (Fall), Helen M. Tracy, Norman Benson Tufts (Spring), Jean Urquhart, Hugh William Watson (Spring), Helen S. Young
1906
Evelyn I. Colborne (high school grades), Edith C. Gemmel, Winifred Gilmore (Spring), E. Grace Greenway, Ray H. Hall, Jean M. Lyon (Fall), Mollie McGregor, A. A. Neil (Fall, high school grades), Josephine M. Seamlow? (Fall), Helen M. Tracy (Fall), Norman Benson Tufts (Spring, high school grades), Gertrude Warner (Spring), Asenart? Way, Helen S. Young
1907
?
1908
?
1909
?
1910
?
1911
?
1912
(Spring only): ?
1912-1913
?
1913-1914
Miss Hountton, Miss Orton
1914-1915
?
1915-1916
?
1916-1917
?
1917-1918
?
1918-1919
?
1919-1920
Annie Calder (grades 5-6), Mrs. G. Radcliffe (grades 5-6)
1920-1921
?
1921-1922
Miss Chambers, Miss Cornish, Miss Alice Daly, Miss Hall, Miss Mann, Miss McIntyre, Miss Newton, Miss D. Teeter
1922-1923
?
1923-1924
?
1924-1925
?
1925-1926
?
1926-1927
?
1927-1928
?
1928-1929
?
1929-1930
?
1930-1931
?
1931-1932
?
1932-1933
Elementary Department: Mrs. J. Finnsson, Miss E. McKay, Maude Nixon, Ruth Swanson. Junior High Department: Mrs. W. M. Angus, Eleanor Flint, Phylis M. Frank
1933-1934
Mrs. W. M. Angus, Eleanor Flint, Phylis M. Frank
1934-1935
?
1935-1936
Mrs. W. M. Angus, Miss J. Finnsson, Eleanor Flint, Phylis M. Frank, Alda Jones, Maude Nixon, Ruth Swanson
1936-1937
Mrs. W. M. Angus, N. B. Barick, Eleanor Flint, Phylis M. Frank, Miss A. Jones, Maude Nixon, Ruth Swanson
1937-1938
Mrs. W. M. Angus, J. B. Barrick BSc, Eleanor Flint, Phylis M. Frank, Alda Jones, Maude Nixon, Ruth Swanson
1938-1939
?
1939-1940
Mrs. W. M. Angus, Phylis M. Frank, Elsie McKay, Maude Nixon, Ruth Swanson, Clifford G. Williamson
1940-1941
Mrs. W. M. Angus, Phylis M. Frank, Alda Jones, Kathleen MacQueen, Elsie McKay, Mrs. J. J. Moody, Ruth Swanson, Clifford G. Williamson
1941-1942
Mrs. W.M. Angus, Verna Gunter, T. Harriott, Alda Jones, Elsie McKay, Mrs. J. J. Moody, Miss J. S. Olafson, Ruth Swanson
1942-1943
Mrs. W. M. Angus, Elsie McKay, Mrs. J. J. Moody, Miss J. S. Olafson, Ruth Swanson, Mrs. C. Wright
1943-1944
Mrs. W. M. Angus, Mrs. J. J. Moody, Miss J. S. Olafson, Mrs. C. P. Reid, Ruth Swanson, Miss R. Thackeray, Mrs. C. Wright
1944-1945
Mrs. W. M. Angus, Mrs. E. I. Dewar, Mrs. J. J. Moody, Miss J. S. Olafson, Mrs. C. P. Reid, Ruth Swanson, Miss R. Thackeray, Mr. C. B. Tyler (manual training)
1945-1946
Mrs. W. M. Angus, Mrs. E. S. Dewar, Mrs. J. J. Moody, Miss J. S. Olafson, Ila Purdy, Ruth Swanson, Mr. C. B. Tyler
1946-1947
Mrs. W. M. Angus (grades 7 & 8), Miss A. Benoit (grades 7 & 8), Miss M. Lebit (grades 7 & 8), Alda Jones (grade 3), Mrs. Louise Jones (grades 7 & 8), Mrs. J. J. Moody (grade 2), Miss I. Purdy (grade 1), Ruth Swanson (grades 4 & 5), Mr. C. B. Tyler (manual workshop)
Among the other teachers of Selkirk School was Garry Henry Doyle (1966-1967).
Period
Principal
1932-1934
Walter Henry Gabriel “Harry” Gibbs (1872-1952)
1934-?
James Osborne McLenaghen (1892-1950)
?-1941
?
1941-1949
Ruth Caroline Hooker (c1901-1957)
1949-?
Charles Harper (c1902-1965)
Postcard view of the Selkirk Central School, with the public library in the right background (circa 1910)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2014-0274
Fire insurance map showing the location of the Selkirk Central School (September 1916)
Source: Library and Archives Canada
Selkirk Central School at left with Devonshire School in the background (August 1937)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, George Harris Fonds, Acc. 1979-141, P7453, Album 20, Page 46.Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.14306, W96.87301
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Devonshire School (Main Street, Selkirk)
“Provincial paragraphs,” Manitoba Daily Free Press, 18 October 1882, page 2.
“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 23 April 1907, page 24.
“Selkirk schools,” Winnipeg Tribune, 10 September 1907, page 12.
“Petition against new fisheries law,” Manitoba Daily Free Press, 24 May 1910, page 11.
“Selkirk news and local events,” Manitoba Free Press, 15 August 1914, page 31.
“Selkirk, Man,” Western Canada Fire Underwriters’ Association map, September 1916, Library and Archives Canada.
“Selkirk,” Manitoba Free Press, 27 December 1919, page 16.
“Selkirk,” Manitoba Free Press, 31 August 1920, page 11.
“Interesting newsy items from Selkirk,” Manitoba Free Press, 6 September 1921, page 4.
“Grade 12 to be tought [sic] at Selkirk Collegiate,” Winnipeg Tribune, 14 September 1932, page 3.
“Four Selkirk schools open for fall season,” Winnipeg Tribune, 20 September 1933, page 11.
“Many present as school goes in at Selkirk,” Winnipeg Tribune, 5 September 1935, page 3.
“Selkirk schools open,” Winnipeg Tribune, 3 September 1936, page 3.
“Teachers are named for Selkirk schools,” Winnipeg Tribune, 11 August 1937, page 2.
“One thousand pupils for Selkirk schools,” Winnipeg Free Press, 30 August 1939, page 2.
“Thousand to enroll in Selkirk schools,” Winnipeg Free Press, 29 August 1940, page 4.
“Schools of Selkirk to reopen Tuesday,” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 September 1941, page 3.
“Selkirk schools open,” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 September 1942, page 2.
“Schools to reopen in Selkirk Sept. 7,” Winnipeg Free Press, 26 August 1943, page 10.
“Personalities,” Manitoba School Journal, Vol. 6, No. 9, May 1944, page 2.
“Selkirk schools to reopen Tuesday,” Winnipeg Tribune, 31 August 1944, page 3.
“Selkirk school staff engage for new term,” Winnipeg Free Press, 28 August 1945, page 19.
“Selkirk school staff named,” Winnipeg Tribune, 31 August 1946, page 20.
“Selkirk schools re-open on Monday,” Winnipeg Tribune, 27 August 1949, page 19.
“School starts Sept. 1 for Selkirk pupils,” Winnipeg Free Press, 26 August 1955, page 12.
Board of Education registers (A 0050), GR7643, Archives of Manitoba.
Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.
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.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 3 January 2024
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