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Stephenfield School District No. 518 was established formally in March 1887, in the northwest quarter of 18-6-6 west of the Principal Meridian, in the Rural Municipality of Dufferin. It was named for local settler John Stevenson, on whose land the school was situated.
The first school building opened in 1889, being replaced in 1906 by a structure designed by Carman architect Edmund Watson, and located at NW19-6-6W. The school operated until November 1920 when it joined with Lusk School No. 2048 to become Stephenfield Consolidated School No. 2048 at NW20-6-6W. During the 1920s and 1930s, the district operated four van routes to help bring students to and from the school. In 1948, high student enrollment necessitated the construction of a second room and the hiring of a second teacher. Grades 1 to 4 were held in one room, and grades 5 to 10 in the other. A closeable partition between the rooms could be opened to provide a larger space for community events.
For the 1960-1961 school year, the district pooled its combined classroom space with the Graysville School District and prior to that school year completion, both districts were consolidated in April 1961 as the Graysville Consolidated School District No. 1493. This building was utilized by that district for local education at this site until the summer of 1966. The schoolhouse was then sold to local farmer Jacob Bergen, who moved the building to his farmyard (about N49.49445, W98.25508).
As of 2013, the building was standing abandoned. A monument was dedicated at its former site during a reunion held on 4-5 August 1990.
Period
Principal
1948-1949
Margaret Jane Viola Ross
1949-1950
Myrtle Munday
1950-1953
Lillian Irene Shackleton
1953-1954
Alexander “Alex” Klimchak
1954-1956
Wilhelmine Isabelle Kearns McGregor Cochran (1899-1981)
1956-1957
Edith Fern Bottrell
1957-1959
Robert James Hobbs
1959-1960
James Refvik
1960-1961
None
1961-1966
The early teachers of Stephenfield School were Evelena Bell (1889), Archibald Alexander McPhail (1890-1892), Susie Carrigan (1893), G. W. Staples (1894), John Ephram Tisdale (1894), R. W. Cumming (1895), Jenny M. Waldie (1896), R. McNevin (1897), E. M. McFarlane (1898), Maude H. Grant (1899-1900), Robert C. Warden (1901), records not avaliable (Spring 1902 - Fall 1904), Edith A. Young (1905), Dougald McIntyre (1906), Beatrice Campbell (1906-1907), Donald McLeod (January-April 1908), Roland H. B. North (May-June 1908), Grace Dunlop (August-December 1908), Ethel Johnston (January-February 1909), Mabel I. Leslie (March-June & August-December 1909), Jean E. Coutts (January-June & August-December 1910), Margaret Bruce Stark (January-June & August-December 1911), Elizabeth Cross (January-June 1912), Miss E. York (August-December 1912), Lilian Bready (January-June 1913), A. T. “Archie” Purcell (Fall 1913 - Spring 1914, Fall 1921 - Spring 1924), Isabella May (Fall 1914 - Spring 1915, August 1915 - April 1916), Miriam Helman (May-June 1916), Cliff Gunn (August 1916 - June 1917, August 1917, October 1917 - June 1918), Marian Meadows (September-October 1917), Eleanor French (August-October 1918, December 1918 - June 1919), school closed due to influenza (October-December 1918), Gertrude M. Hamblin (Fall 1919 - Spring 1921), Julia Louise Baldwin (Fall 1924 - Spring 1925, wife of Mr. A. E. Baldwin), Mrs. A. Brockman (Fall 1925 - Spring 1926), Albert E. Eamer (Fall 1926 - Spring 1927), Ethel Nellie May Hamblin (Fall 1927 - Spring 1930, married Mr. Stevenson), Olive Grace Findlay (Fall 1930 - Spring 1931), Nellie Bligh Arnason (Fall 1931 - Spring 1935), Rita Mary Lynch (Fall 1935 - Fall 1937, January-June 1938), R. Gibson (June 1938), Thelma Cecile Ellerington (Fall 1938 - Spring 1940), Hazel Lindsay Poyser (Fall 1940 - Spring 1941), Bernice Gertrude Oxley (August-November 1941), Mary Bulstein (November 1941 - June 1942), Annette Irene Marchand (Fall 1942 - Spring 1943), Anne Evalin Black (Fall 1943 - Spring 1944), Catherine Mary Amanda Byrne (Fall 1944 - Spring 1945), Cecil Mary Burton (August-December 1945), and Anne Banman Wiens (Spring 1946 - Spring 1948).
Period
Teachers
1948-1949
Margaret Jane Viola Ross (grades 5-10), Anna Banman Wiens (grades 1-4)
1949-1950
Myrtle Munday (grades 5-10), Anne Neufeld (grades 1-4)
1950-1951
Anne Neufeld (grades 1-4), Lillian Irene Shackleton (grades 5-10)
1951-1952
Lillian Irene Shackleton (grades 5-10), Anne Neufeld (grades 1-4, married John A. Unrau)
1952-1953
Lillian Irene Shackleton (grades 5-10), Anne Neufeld Unrau (grades 1-4)
1953-1954
Alexander “Alex” Klimchak (grades 5-10), Rosalie Emma Orchard (grades 1-4)
1954-1955
Wilhelmine Isabelle Cochran (grades 6-10), Nellie Hamblin Stevenson (grades 1-5)
1955-1956
Wilhelmine Isabelle Cochran (grades 6-10), Nellie Hamblin Stevenson (grades 1-5)
1956-1957
Edith Fern Bottrell (grades 6-10), Nellie Hamblin Stevenson (grades 1-5)
1957-1958
Robert James Hobbs (grades 7-10), Katherine I. Wuschenny (grades 1-6)
1958-1959
Robert James Hobbs (grades 7-10), Katie Dora Suderman (grades 1-6)
1959-1960
Cynthia Keith (grades 1-6), James Refvik (grades 7-10)
1960-1961
Elizabeth Joan Marie McIntosh (grades 3-5), Graysville School (grades 1-2, 6-12)
1961-1966
Stephenfield School before addition of a second classroom (no date) by A. J. Manning
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 84.
Some former Stephenfield School students and trustees during the unveiling of the school monument (August 1990)
Source: Len Goldsborough
Stephenfield School commemorative monument (August 2010)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Stephenfield School commemorative monument (September 2023)
Source: Rose Kuzina
The former Stephenfield School building (June 2013)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Interior of the former Stephenfield School building (June 2013)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.50081, W98.25037
denoted by symbol on the map above
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.
“Stephenfield School District, No. 518 and No. 2048, 1889-1966,” Reunion and Dedication, August 4 & 5, 1990, unpublished pamphlet held by Gordon Goldsborough.
Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), Archives of Manitoba.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Stephenfield School District No. 518 - Attendance Register, GR7164, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Stephenfield School District No. 518 - Daily Registers, GR1842, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Stephenfield School District No. 518 - Minute Books, GR1842, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Stephenfield School District No. 518 - Cash Books, GR1842, Archives of Manitoba.
Roseisle School: 1892-1992, A Century of Service to the Community, compiled by Ina Leary Bramadat, 2006.
Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.
We thank Joan Hodgson Goldsborough and Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 13 December 2024
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