Historic Sites of Manitoba: Lake Francis School No. 222 (RM of Woodlands)

Formally established as a school district in June 1883, a log schoolhouse was built in 1888 on the southeast corner of 24-15-4 west of the Principal Meridian in the Rural Municipality of Woodlands. In 1898, that school was replaced by a frame structure on this site. For 30 years, it was the centre for church, entertainment, and education in the area. The school closed in 1967 and its catchment area became part of the White Horse Plains School Division. The building was sold for use as a private summer dwelling and it remained in use as of 2019. A plaque at the school site was erected in 2006 to commemorate local pioneers.

Among the teachers of Lake Francis School were Frederick B. Calvert (1883-1884), Miss Shafer (1884-1886), Miss Ida Niblock (1884-1886), Arnold W. Bowen (1888-1889), Robert Williams (1889-1891), Edith Roberts (1892), W. G. Bend (1893-1894), W. G. Speke (1895), William J. Small (1895), R. D. Bruce (1895-1896), Emily Thornton (1896-1897), Martha J. McGaw (1898), Minnie M. Thompson (1898-1899), Hannah I. Clark (1899-1890), John M. McMillan (1900-1901), Harriet E. M. Henderson (1901-1903), Mary Layton (1903-1904), Harriet Henderson (1904), Hattie Brownlee (1905-1906), Bertha Lillies (1906), Maurice C. T. Percival (1907-1908), Vivian H. Durden (1909-1910), Annie Armstrong (1910), S. A. Kitchen (1910), Sarah Connelly (1911-1912), Grace Patterson (1912-1913), Sarah Connelly (1913-1915), Cora Manley (1915), Ellen Lee (1916-1917), E. C. Keating (1918), Margaret Mansfield (1919), Pearl Stewart (1919-1920), Adelaide Thomas (1920-1921), Lily Corbin (1921-1922), Isabella Robertson (1922-1925), Jessie McNeil (1925-1926), Miss Dudley (1926), Beth Cruikshank (1926), Muriel Gibson (1926-1927), Emma Moore (1927-1929), Audrey Groves (1929-1930), J. W. A. Muirhead (1930), Isabel G. Hoyes (1930-1931), Verna L. Blackford (1931), Isabel G. Hoyes (1931), Marion Wilkes (1931-1933), George Greenaway (1933-1936), Ina Harris (1936-1938), Myrtle Rusenel (1938-1941), Marion Struthers (1941-1942), Una Robertson (1942-1943), Tom Rothwell (1943-1944), Alice Puddicombe (1944-1945), Bertha Drury (1945-1946), Elizabeth McFee (1946), Jean V. Oades (1946-1947), Cecile Grandmont (1947-1948), Reid Hines (1948), Jeanette Howey (1948), John Adams (1949), Edith Hanover (1949), Treva Cook (1949-1950), Stephanie Medock (1950-1951), Agnes Johnson (1951-1952), Helene Balan (1952-1953), Elmer Beddome (1953-1955), Marie Solvason (1955-1956), Doris Frediuk (1956-1957), Betty Falk (1957-1958), Ruth Gee (1958), Yoshimi Kowata (1958-1959), Gloria A. Ledochowski (1959-1960), J. Sinclair (1960), Jeanette Semenchuk (1961-1962), Lawrence Schreyer (1962-1964), M. Gentes (1964), Irene Eckhardt (1964-1965), Nettie Derksen (1965-1966), and Caroline Foster (1966-1967).

Lake Francis School commemorative plaque (September 2010) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.28543, W97.87586 denoted by symbol on the map above

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.

Along the Mission Trail - Lake Francis, Bonnie Doon, Graysfield, Glennie by Lake Francis History Book Committee, 1988, pages 38-52.

“Former Lake Francis School provides a summer home,” Stonewall Argus, 9 July 2015, page 8.

We thank Frances Holm for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 15 August 2020

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