Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Agricultural College / Administration Building (66 Chancellors Circle, Winnipeg)

This three-storey brick and stone building on the Fort Garry Campus of the University of Manitoba was once part of the Manitoba Agricultural College after it moved here from a site in the Tuxedo area of Winnipeg. Designed by local architects Samuel Hooper and Victor Horwood, it was constructed between 1911 and 1913 by the firm of Carter-Halls-Aldinger at a contract price of $229,000. The building originally housed college offices, post office, reading room, classrooms, laboratories, museum, and library. The exterior was finished in Tyndall stone from the Garson quarries, and inside is a large double-intersecting central staircase that connects all the offices.

Two lists painted on the walls of the west foyer in the building include 310 names of staff and students of the Manitoba Agricultural College who served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War, 52 of whom were killed in action or succumbed to wounds.

It is now the main administration building for the University of Manitoba. In February 2019, it became a municipally-designated historic building and, in 2023, it received a conservation award from Heritage Winnipeg.

Manitoba Agricultural College with the Principal’s Residence visible in the background (circa 1919) by Charles Ignatious Meyers Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2013-0176 Southeast view of the University’s Administration Building (no date) Source: Winnipeg Buildings Index Northwest view of the University’s Administration Building (October 2020) Source: Nathan Kramer West side of the University’s Administration Building (January 2021) Source: Rose Kuzina East side of the University’s Administration Building (April 2021) Source: George Penner Manitoba Agricultural College War Memorial (April 2013) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Manitoba Agricultural College War Memorial (April 2013) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.80962, W97.13270 denoted by symbol on the map above

College Staff and Students Killed in Action or Died of Wounds

Name	Occupation	Service	Rank	Birth Date	Death Date
William Ellis Bacon	Farmer (Kinistino, SK)	52nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	1892	29 June 1917
Frederick Gerald Barnes [Next of Kin]	Student	1st Canadian Mounted Rifles	Private	2 December 1892	1 October 1916
Clifford Waterworth Baskerville	Loan Company Inspector	1st Canadian Mounted Rifles	Private	18 April 1890	14 November 1917
Wilbert George Bolton [Manitou]	Farmer (Darlingford)	78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Corporal	8 January 1894	9 April 1917
Harold Wilfred Bousfield	Farmer (MacGregor)	Royal Air Force	Cadet	1896	11 September 1918
William Arthur Bower	Surveyor	1st Army Troops Company, Canadian Engineers	Sapper	1 November 1893	29 June 1916
George Gerald Bowman	Farmer (Arden)	1st Canadian Mounted Rifles	Private	1896	15 September 1916
Frederick William Bradford	Student	44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant	1893	23 August 1917
A. N. Butler	?	?	?	?	?
John Alured Carr [St. Mary, Virden]	Student	16th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	4 April 1896	9 October 1916
Robert George Chapman [Armoury, Brandon College]	Farmer (Brandon)	27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	18 March 1888	21 August 1917
W. W. Coath	?	?	?	?	?
Walter Evan Cox-Smith	Farmer (High Bluff)	27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	1896	19 June 1917
Samuel Osborne Cromie	Broker	2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards	2nd Lieutenant	1891	17 November 1916
Robert Alexander Cunningham [Brandon Armoury, Next of Kin, Westminster]	Professor of Chemistry	46th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant	1888	27 September 1918
Frank Daw	Farmer (Gleichen, AB)	The Fort Garry Horse	Tapper	1893	1 April 1918
Frank Stanley Durrant [Alexander, Armoury, Brandon College]	Student	Canadian Machine Gun Corps	Private	23 July 1892	24 March 1918
Edward Millican Dutton	Student & Farmer (Gilbert Plains)	1st Canadian Mounted Rifles	Private	1895	5 June 1917
Edgar Gould Elliot	Farmer (Edmonton, AB)	31st Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	1895	22 May 1918
George Basil Ewens [Clanwilliam, Minnedosa]	Farmer	5th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	8 September 1888	27 December 1914
Charles Osborne Gamble [Swan Lake]	Farmer (Swan Lake)	184th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	1896	25 July 1917
Evan Alexander Grant	Farmer (Kenville)	Canadian Machine Gun Corps	Corporal	1895	8 August 1918
F. T. Harris	?	?	?	?	?
Ernest Hermon Hawthorne [Deloraine, Deloraine United, Verona School]	Civil Servant	Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry	Private	1 August 1884	2 June 1916
William Albert Howden	?	29 Squadron, Royal Air Force	2nd Lieutenant	1896	9 November 1918
Robert Oliver Hughes	Student	10th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	1892	3 June 1916
Morgan Jones Jenkins	Student	Canadian Infantry	Lance Corporal	1888	28 August 1918
F. Kelly	?	?	?	?	?
Oscar Roland Kerr [Franklin, Neepawa, Wesley College]	Farmer (Franklin)	2nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	1893	11 February 1916
John William Lau	Machinist	1st Canadian Mounted Rifles	Private	1894	7 April 1917
Rowland Lewis	Farm Labourer	14th King’s Hussars, British Army	Private	?	30 August 1917
Walter Lloyd	College Staff	1st Canadian Mounted Rifles	Private	22 April 1894	23 August 1917
James Fulton Lothian [Pipestone]	Farmer (Pipestone)	78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Sergeant	1893	19 June 1920
John Gordon Lovie [Centreville, Holland]	Farmer (Holland)	Canadian Machine Gun Corps	Private	11 January 1896	24 March 1918
John Fullarton MacIntosh	Surveyor	28th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Captain	15 February 1890	1 October 1918
Gudmundur Magnusson	Farmer (Lundar)	27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	1890	20 June 1918
Thomas McLean	College Staff (Janitor)	43rd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	21 October 1883	8 October 1916
Eric William Money	?	Machine Gun Corps (Heavy Branch), British Army	Lieutenant	1892	11 April 1917
John Elliot Muir	Farmer (Roland)	Lord Strathcona’s Horse	Private	1891	30 March 1918
Alfred Sydney Olive	Student	46th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	1895	20 August 1917
Charles Grover Partridge	Farmer, Bachelor of Science in Agriculture	Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry	Private	25 July 1889	15 September 1916
Aurele Prefontaine MM	Farmer (St-Pierre-Jolys)	22nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	1896	27 August 1918
Emerson Coatsworth Ramsay	Farmer (Bladworth, SK)	102nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Sergeant	1893	22 March 1917
George Gilbert Rankin [Deloraine, Deloraine United]	Farmer (Deloraine)	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	11 February 1896	10 November 1917
W. Richards	?	?	?	?	?
Charles Douglas Richardson	Farmer (Grenfell, SK)	Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry	Lance Corporal	1891	9 April 1917
Andrew Heron Robertson	?	46th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	?	29 September 1918
Matthew Robertson	Farmer	47th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lance Corporal	26 May 1892	19 April 1918
Francis McNider Shirriff [Armoury]	Farmer (Brandon)	25th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant	23 February 1894	9 April 1917
Douglas Smith [Knox Presbyterian, Portage]	Student	43rd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant	22 October 1897	28 August 1918
John Cochrane Smith	Live Stock Commissioner	5th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant	1885	10 November 1917
William David Spear MM	Mechanic	1st Division Signal Company, Canadian Engineers	Sapper	1895	27 September 1918
William John Stone	College Staff	43rd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	1888	26 October 1917
Harry Nelson Thompson	Civil Servant	5th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant	1888	9 April 1917
Johannas Stephen Thorlakson	Farmer	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	26 March 1889	2 July 1916
Richard Vidal	Farmer (Woodlands)	Cyclist Battalion, Canadian Corps	Private	1881	2 September 1918
Basil Henry Worsley-Worswick	Farmer	2nd King Edward Horse	Second Lieutenant	1 April 1881	29 April 1916

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: Samuel Hooper (1851-1911)

Memorable Manitobans: Victor William Horwood (1878-1939)

Manitoba Business: Carter-Halls-Aldinger / Commonwealth Construction Company

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Agricultural College / University of Manitoba (Fort Garry Campus, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Agricultural College War Memorial (Chancellor Matheson Road, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Municipally Designated Historic Sites

Sources:

“$15,000 lost on contract for college,” Winnipeg Tribune, 7 September 1916, page 1.

“Dedicate Avenue of Elms at Agricultural College,” Manitoba Free Press, 12 November 1923.

The Manitoba Provincial Architect's Office (1904-1916) by Erin A. M. Booth, MA Thesis, University of Winnipeg, November 1994, footnote #228.

Administration Building – University of Manitoba (Manitoba Agricultural College), 66 Chancellors Circle, City of Winnipeg Historical Buildings & Resources Committee, January 2018.

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).

We thank Nathan Kramer, Rose Kuzina, George Penner, and Terry Warsaw for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Darryl Toews.

Page revised: 4 November 2024

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