Historic Sites of Manitoba: St. Giles Presbyterian Church / St. Giles United Church (294 Burrows Avenue, Winnipeg)

Link to:
Clerics | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

St. Giles Church, the first Presbyterian congregation in Winnipeg’s North End, was formed in 1884 as the North Presbyterian Mission with support from St. Andrew’s Church on Elgin Avenue and students from Manitoba College. Its first church was a small frame structure at Main Street and Aberdeen Avenue, which served from 1885 to 1886. A second brick building on Selkirk Avenue was used from 1888 to 1889. The congregation chose this site, at the southwest corner of Burrows Avenue and Charles Street, in 1906 and commissioned local architect C. S. Bridgman to prepare the plans. It opened in March 1908 with a sanctuary capable of holding up to 1,100 people and a horseshoe-shaped gallery that provided additional seating.

In the 1920s, St. Giles joined the United Church of Canada. Membership dwindled gradually through the years and the congregation eventually disbanded. The building, a municipally-designated historic site, was sold in 1973 to the Elmwood Bethel Mennonite Church. In May 1997, it was acquired by the Bethlehem Aboriginal Fellowship, part of the Baptist Union of Western Canada. In 2015, citing the building’s age and deteriorated condition, the Baptist Union asked the City of Winnipeg to remove its heritage designation so it could be demolished.

A bronze memorial tablet honouring members of the St. Giles Presbyterian Church congregation who were killed in the First World War was unveiled on 23 May 1920 by Lieutenant-Governor James Albert Manning Aikins. Its current location is unknown.

Clerics

Period	Cleric
?-1905	Joseph Hogg (1841-1906)
1905-1928	William Alexander MacLean (1867-1942)

Photos & Coordinates

Postcard view of St. Giles Presbyterian Church (circa 1910) Source: Rob McInnes The former St. Giles Presbyterian Church (May 2011) Source: Gordon Goldsborough The former St. Giles Presbyterian Church (May 2011) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.91553, W97.13452 denoted by symbol on the map above

First World War Casualties

Name	Occupation	Service	Rank	Birth Date	Death Date
John Allan	Laborer	43rd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Corporal	26 September 1893	21 September 1916
Harry Anderson [Next of Kin]	Clerk	1st Canadian Mounted Rifles	Lance Corporal	23 December 1897	7 April 1917
John Anderson	?	?	?	?	?
Tully Wallace Anderson DCM [Vimy Ridge]	Farmer	44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant	6 March 1881	4 June 1917
Thomas Raymond Andrews DCM	Clerk	43rd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	23 November 1896	13 October 1918
John Wesley Bears [Next of Kin]	Bookkeeper	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	30 December 1892	27 October 1916
Thomas Edward Boyle [Next of Kin]	Printer	16th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	11 November 1895	21 December 1916
Reginald Campbell	Porter	29th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	26 March 1896	20 April 1916
Robert John McLean Campbell [Next of Kin]	Steam Fitter	43rd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	21 June 1887	28 October 1917
William Duncan [Eatons, Next of Kin]	T. Eaton Co.	2nd Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers	Private	?	7 November 1914
Robert Roy Edwards DCM [Next of Kin]	Clerk	Canadian Army Service Corps	Private	29 November 1894	12 June 1918
Harry Ferguson	Glazier	1st Canadian Mounted Rifles	Private	25 April 1892	5 June 1916
Neil Ferguson	Clerk	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	18 September 1895	29 September 1918
Robert Alfred Fisher	Auto Mechanic	52nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	10 March 1886	28 August 1918
John Wilfred Gillespie [Next of Kin]	Assistant Chief Clerk	16th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant	21 April 1893	12 September 1917
Edgar Grant	Clerk	1st Canadian Mounted Rifles	Private	22 April 1896	5 June 1916
Murray Jordan [Vimy Ridge]	Tea Packer	44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	15 July 1897	12 April 1917
Thomas Alexander Lamb	Printer	28th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	2 September 1892	31 May 1916
William Gardner Leighton [Next of Kin]	Mechanic	11th Field Company, Canadian Engineers	Sapper	25 August 1897	9 April 1917
Frederick Linklater [St. Matthew's Anglican]	Hardware Clerk	78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	4 December 1894	1 November 1917
Thomas Gordon Lockwood [Next of Kin]	Clerk	78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	23 August 1889	5 January 1917
William Leslie Lyle [Next of Kin]	Painter	4th Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun Corps	Private	26 May 1885	3 September 1918
William MacDonald	?	?	?	?	?
Donald MacDougall	Lethographer	1st Battalion, Canadian Engineers	Sapper	25 January 1897	27 September 1918
Percy Victor MacMartin	Railway Mail Clerk	52nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	11 July 1896	30 August 1918
Andrew Maitland	Tinsmith	27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	3 May 1892	26 September 1916
David Leonard McComb [Next of Kin, Stonewall, Stony Mountain, Stonewall Lodge No. 12]	Carpenter	5th Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery	Corporal	7 July 1889	13 June 1916
Robert McGregor [City of Winnipeg]	Fireman	52nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	22 September 1885	28 August 1918
Alexander McLean [Next of Kin]	Surveyor	78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	9 August 1884	2 September 1918
Frank McLeish	Telephone Operator	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	16 September 1892	27 November 1916
John Alexander McLellan [Next of Kin, Vimy Ridge]	Checker	44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	11 June 1891	3 June 1917
Benjamin Moir [Winnipeg Electric Railway]	Blacksmith	16th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	28 November 1889	23 April 1915
Arthur Rufus Morrison [Next of Kin]	Teamster	4th Battalion, Canadian Machine Gun Corps	Private	5 March 1890	29 September 1918
George Joshua Palmer [Morden]	Teamster	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	9 September 1891	29 April 1917
John Harold Pasmore [Next of Kin]	Printer	12th Field Ambulance, Canadian Army Medical Corps	Private	15 April 1884	24 March 1919
James Garfield Raine [Next of Kin, Swift Canadian]	Clerk	3rd Company, Canadian Machine Gun Corps	Private	20 September 1895	9 November 1917
Ernest Howe Reid [Next of Kin]	Locomotive Fireman	78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	27 January 1889	9 April 1917
George Chase Ricketts [Next of Kin]	Salesman	43rd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	5 January 1893	1 October 1918
Leonard James Ricketts [Next of Kin]	Tailor	10th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	25 January 1894	26 April 1915
John Munro Ross [Next of Kin]	Contractor	16th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	26 November 1888	16 May 1915
George Scott [Next of Kin, Vimy Ridge]	Warehouseman	44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Sergeant	22 March 1896	3 June 1917
Earl Elgin Seaborn [Next of Kin]	Clerk	16th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	2 February 1897	28 April 1917
William Smith	?	?	?	?	?
Harry Cecil Stiver MC	Clerk	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant	20 May 1894	10 November 1917
John Swanney	Clerk	78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	7 December 1894	9 April 1917
Stanley Frederick Thornley	Electrician	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	8 May 1895	9 August 1918
James Douglas Trick [Next of Kin, Vimy Ridge]	Clerk	44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lance Corporal	6 October 1898	23 August 1917
Frederick McMillan Wood	Jeweller’s Apprentice	50th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	8 December 1896	19 November 1916

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: St. Giles Presbyterian Church / Queen’s Theatre (239 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Municipally Designated Historic Sites

Sources:

For the names of First World War casualities from Manitoba who do not appear on any physical monument in the province, see the Manitoba Historical Society War Memorial. If you know of a name that is omitted from this list, please contact the MHS War Memorial Researcher Darryl Toews (darryl@mhs.mb.ca).

Soldiers of the First World War - Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial, Veterans Affairs Canada.

Financial support for research reported on this page was provided by the Manitoba Heritage Grants Program (2015-2016).

“Tablet is unveiled by Lieutenant-Governor Aikins,” Manitoba Free Press, 25 May 1920, page 4.

Former St. Giles United Church (294 Burrows Avenue), Winnipeg Historical Buildings Committee, November 1999.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Darryl Toews.

Page revised: 22 May 2021

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