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In 1881, the Brandon Protestant School Board constructed a two-storey brick school along the 100 block of Tenth Street. It opened for classes in February 1882. (Meanwhile, Catholic students attended a school at the St. Joseph’s Convent, adjacent to St. Augustine’s Cathedral.) It was quickly overcrowded, so a two-storey brick addition was made two years later. By the early 1890s, the school was again found to be inadequate so the New Central School was constructed nearby.
The building continued to be used by the Brandon School Board until 1903 when the property was sold to the firm of Hughes & Company. The original part of the building was demolished to make way for construction of the Strathcona Block along Tenth Street, but the 1883 addition remained, as an attachment to the block. It is visible today from Eleventh Street.
Period
Principal
1882-1888
Thomas Jasper Lamont (1858-1920)
1888-1901
?
1901-1905
School Year
Teachers
1882-1883
?
1883-1884
1884-1885
1885-1886
1886-1887
?
1887-1888
?
1888-1889
?
1889-1890
?
1890-1891
?
1891-1892
?
1892-1893
?
1893-1894
?
1894-1895
?
1895-1896
?
1896-1897
?
1897-1898
?
1898-1899
?
1899-1900
?
1900-1901
?
1901-1902
Miss Ferrier (grade 2), Miss Grant (grade 1), Miss Jickling (grade 4), Miss Moore (grade 3)
1902-1903
Miss Davidson (grade 3 & 4), Miss Ferrier (grade 2), Miss Grant (grade 1), Miss Greenway (grade 3), Miss N. Moore (grade 4 Sr)
1903-1904
?
1904-1905
Miss Ferguson (grade 2), Miss Grant (grade 1), Miss Greenway (grade 5), Miss McLeod (grade 1), Miss N. Moore (grade 6), Miss J. Murray (grade 4)
In new Hughes Block, opposite Old Central School: Miss Cuthbert (grade 6 Sr. and grade 7 Jr), Miss Milne (grade 3 Jr), Bertha Agnes Pilling (grade 2), Miss Speers (grade 3 Sr)
Brandon’s first school. The portion at right was built in 1881. The part at left was added in 1883.
Source: Martin Kavanagh (reprinted in Mitchell 1986)
Old Central School (no date)
Source: Lawrence Stuckey Collection, Item No. 1-2002.3.1DA1, Accession No. 1-2002,
S. J. McKee Archives, Brandon University
Only the 1883 addition to the original school remains, visible from Eleventh Street (June 2013)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.84759, W99.95201
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: New Central School (Lorne Avenue, Brandon)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Strathcona Block / Ruthenian Training School (144 Tenth Street, Brandon)
In the Image of Ontario: Public Schools in Brandon 1881-1890 by Tom Mitchell
Manitoba History, Number 12, Autumnn 1986Historic Sites of Manitoba: Central School No. 944 (RM of Dufferin)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Central Normal School (442 William Avenue, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Victoria School (32 Fifth Street SE, Portage la Prairie)
“1,000 children now on the rolls,” Brandon Daily Sun, 6 September 1901, page 1.
“School notes,” Brandon Daily Sun, 30 August 1902, page 1.
“New school to be built,” Brandon Daily Sun, 14 October 1903, page 1.
“The city schools reopen Thursday,” Brandon Daily Sun, 31 August 1904, page 4.
“Teaching staff of schools,” Brandon Daily Sun, 7 September 1905, page 6.
“Public schools were re-opened this morning,” Brandon Daily Sun, 1 September 1909, page 1.
“Many changes on the teaching staff,” Brandon Daily Sun, 11 August 1910, page 1.
“Left for East [Miss Mildred McKee],” Brandon Daily Sun, 31 August 1910, page .
“The city schools will re-open Friday,” Brandon Daily Sun, 31 August 1911, page 1.
“Public schools opened today,” Brandon Daily Sun, 3 September 1912, page 1.
Old Central School, Brandon School Division.
Obituary [Bertha Agnes Pilling], Winnipeg Free Press, 23 January 1965.
We thank Dale Dutton and Christy Henry (S. J. McKee Archives) for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Tom Mitchell.
Page revised: 15 August 2023
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