Historic Sites of Manitoba: Wigton School No. 381 (RM of Argyle)

The Wigton School District was formally established in March 1885 and a school building was erected on the southwest corner of 6-4-13 west of the Principal Meridian, in the Rural Municipality of Argyle. The school closed in January 1960 and merged with Glenora School No. 736 and Excelsior School No. 449 to form Glenora Consolidated School No. 736. The building was moved to the Glenora School site and attached to it, but a monument commemorates its former site, along with pioneers of the Wigton district.

Among the teachers who worked at Wigton School were Mr. Babington, Mr. Chris Lawrence, Mrs. Richardson, Fred Stevens (c1888), D. A. Ross, Jack Tisdale, Albert E. Buttress (1893), Miss Lina Publow, Miss Grace Van Alstyne, Bert McGregor, Miss Maude Playfair, Miss Emma Stewart, Annie B. Fraser (1911-1912), Ada Bolton (1913), Ada Kelso (1914), Lillabelle McEwan (1915), Belle Smith (1916), Albert E. Buttress (1917-1918), Laura Blanks (1919), Edna Bowman (1919), Frank Private (1920), S. Oliver (1920), Carrie Lyall (1921), Elda Burr (1922), Bessie Haliday (1923), Nellie Hamblin (1924), Annie Easterby (1925), Edith Thompson (1926), Florence Hicks (1928), Clara Bell (1929), Hannah Balfour (1930-1932), Nelson Hawn (1933-1936), K. C. Mayhew (1938-1939), Inga Bjornson (1940), Lionel Clinch (1940), Ellen Beatty (1941), Ruth Lowe (1942), Norah Boyle (1944-1945), Carl Wanless (1946), Phyllis Lundgren (1948), Katherine E. Klassen (1949), Raymond Boyd (1950), Mildred Van Damme (1951-1954), Ruth McKay (1955), Miss Pawlik (1956), and Ella Cooney (1957).

Wigton School (no date) by G. H. Robertson Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 36. Wigton School commemorative monument (October 2011) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.27389, W99.22374 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Baldur District Schools (RM of Argyle)

Sources:

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.

Come Into Our Heritage: RM of Argyle, 1882-1982 by the Rural Municipality of Argyle, 1981, page 262.

We thank Brian Frederickson for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 22 January 2021

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