Historic Sites of Manitoba: Royal Alexandra Hotel / Canadian Club of Winnipeg War Memorial (Higgins Avenue, Winnipeg)

The Royal Alexandra Hotel was designed for the Canadian Pacific Railway by Montreal architects Edward and William Maxwell and built by contractor Alexander A. Woodward at the north-east corner of Higgins Avenue and Main Street in Winnipeg. Upon opening in 1906, the “Royal Alex” was considered one of the finest hotels in western Canada and, for many years, it served as the social centre of Winnipeg. For example, the hotel hosted meetings of the Canadian Club of Winnipeg and a plaque listing Club members killed during the First World War was displayed there. (It is now stored at the Archives of Manitoba.)

The hotel closed its doors in 1967 and was demolished in 1971. The interior of its dining room was carefully disassembled, then reassembled at the Cranbrook History Centre at Cranbrook, British Columbia. Some Tyndall stone lion heads that originally graced the facade were donated to the City of Winnipeg by Alexander Billinkoff, proprietor of Atlas Wrecking that had done the demolition, and are displayed a few blocks from the former hotel site.

Royal Alexandra Hotel (c1910) Source: Winnipeg Illustrated, Peels Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Royal Alexandra Hotel (no date) Source: Toronto Postcard Club, LGG2016-0078 Postcard view of Royal Alexandra Hotel (early 1960s) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2011-0009 Royal Alexandra Hotel (March 1971) Source: Archives of Manitoba, George Harris Fonds, Acc. 1979-141, P7451, Album 15, Page 64. Cafe Royal in the Royal Alexandra Hotel (no date) Source: Toronto Postcard Club, LGG2016-0080 Royal Alexandra Hotel Plaque at N49.89760, W97.13497 (2009) Source: City of Winnipeg Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.90486, W97.13377 denoted by symbol on the map above

Canadian Club First World War Casualties

Name	Occupation	Service	Rank	Birth Date	Death Date
John Robertson Baird [Augustine, Next of Kin]	Bookkeeper	1st Canadian Mounted Rifles	Private	2 February 1891	5 June 1916
Samuel Percy Benson [Augustine]	Jewelry engraver	78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant	6 November 1887	9 April 1917
Charles Thurston Bowring [Next of Kin]	Grain Merchant	44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant	2 September 1881	29 December 1916
Reginald Edward Burch [Next of Kin]	Insurance Manager	78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	26 February 1873	30 October 1917
William Joseph Chalk [Law Society, Next of Kin]	Barrister	59th Squadron, Royal Flying Corps	Lieutenant	4 June 1890	14 April 1917
Arthur Claydon DFC [First Baptist, Next of Kin]	General Contractor	32nd Squadron, Royal Air Force	Captain	25 September 1885	8 July 1918
William Henry Puddicomb Collum MC [Masonic, Next of Kin, Westminster]	Financial Agent	27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Major	11 October 1884	14 August 1917
Leonard Vivien Drummond-Hay MC [Next of Kin]	Secretary	Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry	Major	21 January 1894	14 August 1918
John Geddes [Next of Kin]	Agent	16th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Captain	6 November 1878	24 April 1915
Arthur Lionel Griffin	Broker	3rd Division Train, Canadian Army Service Corps	Captain	2 October 1879	23 March 1916
William Forbes Guild MiD [Brandon Armoury, Law Society, Manitoba College, Next of Kin, Westminster]	Barrister-at-Law	52nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Captain	2 December 1886	10 April 1917
Harold Balleny Hamber [Next of Kin]	Broker	Canadian Army Pay Corps	Captain	29 December 1884	22 June 1917
Gordon Ruthven Heron [Next of Kin]	Banker	78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Major	13 September 1883	9 April 1917
Ronald Hoskins [Law Society, Manitou]	Barrister-at-law	10th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant	6 December 1887	22 April 1915
George Willis Jameson [Law Society, Next of Kin]	Barrister	16th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Captain	25 February 1882	23 April 1915
Ralph Egerton Norris Jones	Bank Manager	27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant	3 June 1877	6 April 1916
David Bracegirdle Jones DCM [Next of Kin]	Plumber	84th Squadron, Royal Air Force	Second Lieutenant	6 September 1894	3 July 1918
Henry Francis Lewis [Vimy Ridge]	Financial Broker	44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant	10 July 1884	12 April 1917
Louis James Lipsett	Army Officer	Royal Irish Regiment	Major General	15 June 1874	14 October 1918
James Ernest Robertson [Augustine, Law Society]	Barrister	27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant	20 June 1879	9 March 1916
George Huntington Ross [Law Society, Manitoba College, Next of Kin, Rapid City]	Barrister at Law	16th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Captain	10 January 1874	24 April 1915
Charles Russell Stinson MC [Armoury, Next of Kin, St. Margarets, St. Matthew's Anglican, UGG]	Grain Salesman	27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Major	25 August 1886	6 November 1917
H. Taylor	?	?	?	?	?
Robert McDonnell Thomson [Law Society, Manitoba College, Next of Kin]	Barrister	43rd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Lieutenant Colonel	4 July 1869	8 October 1916
Melville Cornelius Wood [Next of Kin]	Contractor	Royal Naval Air Service	Flight Lieutenant	27 June 1890	9 October 1917
Arthur Hamilton Young [Next of Kin]	Banker	7th Canadian Infantry Brigade Headquarters	Captain	11 May 1879	7 September 1918

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: Alexander A. Woodward (?-?)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Royal Alexandra Hotel Shard (Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Canadian Pacific Railway Main Street Subway (Main Street, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Sinclair’s Creek Plaque (John Hirsch Place, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Winnipeg Transfer Railway Spur Line Plaque (John Hirsch Place, Winnipeg)

A Fallen Splendour: The Challener Murals of Winnipeg’s Royal Alexandra Hotel by Susan Moffatt Rozniatowski
Manitoba History, Number 42, Autumn / Winter 2001-2002

Sources:

“Drowned in Red River,” Winnipeg Tribune, 24 July 1905, page 7.

Obituary [Alex Billinkoff], Winnipeg Free Press, 17 December 1990, page 24.

Information for this page was provided by The City of Winnipeg’s Planning, Property and Development Department, which acknowledges the contribution of the Government of Manitoba through its Heritage Grants Program.

We thank Jason Vanderhill (Vancouver Postcard Club) and the Toronto Postcard Club for providing images of the Royal Alexandra Hotel, and Mark Walton for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Darryl Toews.

Page revised: 7 May 2023

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