Historic Sites of Manitoba: West Treherne School No. 537 (Treherne, Municipality of Norfolk Treherne)

Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

The West Treherne School District was organized formally in March 1888 and a school building was erected in Treherne, in what is now the Municipality of Norfolk Treherne. In 1891, it was replaced by a two-storey wood structure then, in 1906, by a two-storey, brick building designed by Winnipeg architect Samuel Hooper, near the site of the Treherne Cenotaph. This building was destroyed by fire on 17 June 1958.

The school fire led to renewed consideration of school consolidation, and local electors subsequently approved amalgamation of their district with several from the surrounding countryside: Louise School No. 116, East Treherne School No. 298, Cassandra School No. 445, Centreville School No. 606, Boyne Creek School No. 620, Wilson Glen School No. 713, Arbroath School No. 796, McCreery School No. 797, Pinkerton School No. 1074, and Matchettville School No. 1342. While a new school building was constructed, classes were held at various places around Treherne, including the Masonic Hall, Legion Hall, Fumerton’s Hall, old post office building, and the old movie hall. Later, the building of Cassandra School was moved into town and used as a classroom. The new school opened in September 1962.

Principals

Period	Principal
1898-1899	Ezra Hamilton (1864-?)
1899-1903	J. W. McNabb
1903-1907	A. L. McLean
1907-1908	John Willson Morrison (1883-1948)
1908-1909	Frederick James Ney (1884-1973)
1909-1910	Robert McKay Stevenson (1882-1970)
1910-1912	?
1912-1913	Fred W. Harrison
1913-1914	Merodach Green
1914-1916	Jesse C. French
1916-1920	Annie M. McIntosh
1920-1921	Alfred James Struthers (1889-1979)
1921-1923	Annie M. McIntosh
1923-1924	John Alexius Peterson (c1885-1959)
1924-1925	Jesse C. French
1925-1926	Maurice Sanger
1926-1927	Harvey Richard Brown (1895-1962)
1927-1929	Martin Kavanagh (1895-1987)
1929-1935	George Archibald Coulthard (1890-1964)
1935-1943	Victor Harvey Hugo (1888-1972)
1944-1946	John Gilbank Anderson (1912-2003)
1946-1947	John Clayton Stewart (1906-1990)
1947-1948	John Osborn Wilson (1900-1972)
1948-1955	Maxwell Addison Parker (1912-2004)
1955-1956	James F. Hunter
1956-1965	M. A. Parker
1965-1967	R. V. Johnson
1967-1972	David Wallace Shaw (1932-2008)
1972-1973	R. Vandenberghe

Teachers

Some of the teachers who taught at West Treherne School were George B. Wilson, Dorothy Irene Madill Hudson, Maurice Alfred Decosse, and Olive Lillian Mills.

Photos & Coordinates

West Treherne School (circa 1908) Source: Education Department Report, 1908, Manitoba Legislative Library. Postcard view of West Treherne School (1908) by Winnipeg Photo Company Source: Andrew Cunningham Postcard view of the second West Treherne School, used from 1906 to 1958 (no date) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2013-0075 Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.62685, W98.69737 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.

Tiger Hills to the Assiniboine: A History of Treherne and Surrounding District by Treherne Area History Committee, 1976, pages 38-40.

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.

We thank Andrew Cunningham and the office staff of the RM of South Norfolk for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 10 December 2021

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