• About Us
  Information

  Office Address and Hours
  Personnel Directory
  Frequently Asked Questions
  What is the MHS?
  MHS Committees
  Affiliated Societies
  History of the MHS
  Annual Reports
  

  Get Involved

  Membership
  Donations
  Volunteering
  

  ---

  Online Shop
  Members Area
  

  
• Programs
  Activities

  Field Trips
  Multicultural Dinners
  Prairie History
  Fundraising Dinners
  Homes of Famous Manitobans
  

  Awards

  Lieutenant Governor's Award
  Centennial Business
  Centennial Farm
  Centennial Organization
  Other Awards
  

  ---

  Application Forms
  

  
• Prairie History
  Information

  How to Buy
  Current Issue
  Upcoming Issue
  Advertising
  Contributor Guidelines
  Letters to the Editor
  Manitoba History
  

  Archives

  Issue No. 89 (Spring 2019)
  Issue No. 88 (Winter 2018)
  Issue No. 87 (Summer 2018)
  All Back Issues
  Embargo
  

  ---

  Members Area
  

  
• MHS Resources
  Members Area

  Login
  Request Login Account
  

  Publications

  Prairie History
  Manitoba History
  Manitoba Pageant
  MHS Transactions
  

  ---

  Local History Books
  Other History Books
  

  Features

  Manitoba 150
  Historic Sites of Manitoba
  Memorable Manitobans
  War Memorials in Manitoba
  History in Winnipeg Street Names
  History in Manitoba School Names
  Manitoba Communities
  Manitoba Photographers
  Walking Tours
  Personal Memoirs
  Manitoba Bricks and Blocks
  Events in Manitoba History
  1911 Census Data
  Other Features
  

  Education

  Resources
  

  
• Contact Us

MHS Centennial Business: Great-West Life Assurance Company / Canada Life

A Centennial Business Award was presented to Great-West Life Assurance on 16 September 2016. The company was renamed to Canada Life in April 2019.

Chairmen

Period	Chairman
1943-1944	Melbourne Francis Christie (1864-1944)
1944-1951	?
1951-1959	Henry Eugene “Harry” Sellers (1886-1970)
1959-1969	Joseph Harris (1892-1976)

Presidents

Period	President
1892-1926	Alexander Macdonald (1844-1928)
1926-1940	George William Allan (1860-1940)
1940-1943	Melbourne Francis Christie (1864-1944)
1943-1951	William Pitt Riley (1870-1954)
1952-1959	Joseph Harris (1892-1976)
1959-1971	David Eckford Kilgour (1912-1973)
1971-1979	James William “Jim” Burns (1929-2019)
1979-1990	Kevin Patrick Kavanagh (1932-2020)

Vice-Presidents

Period	Vice-President
1892-1896	F. G. Vernon
1892-1894	James Henry Ashdown (1844-1924)
1893-1893	William Bain Scarth (1837-1902)
1894-1910	J. H. Mason
1896-1910	Hugh John Macdonald (1850-1929)
1896-1928	George Frederick Galt (1855-1928)
1910-1943	Robert Thomas Riley (1851-1944)
1910-1925	Augustus Meredith Nanton (1860-1925)
1928-1933	Daniel Hunter McMillan (1846-1933)
1933-1940	Melbourne Francis Christie (1864-1944)
1940-1951	William Pitt Riley (1870-1954)
1943-1965	Henry W. Manning (c1890-1980) - Managing Director
1943-1951	Henry Eugene “Harry” Sellers (1886-1970)
?-?	George Aitken (1906-1983)

General Managers

Period	General Manager
1938-1955	H. W. Manning

Assistant General Managers

Period	Assistant General Manager
1912-1927	Arbuckle Jardine (1856-1932)
1927-1931	?
1931-1938	H. W. Manning

Secretaries

Period	Secretary
1892-1927	Arbuckle Jardine (1856-1932)

Directors

Officer	Period
G. H. Aikins	1940-1954
George William Allan (1860-1940)	1904-1926
James Henry Ashdown (1844-1924)	1892-1900
Simon Amable Damien Bertrand (1849-1943)	1892-1901
Nixon John Breen (1872-1954)	1929-1954
Jeffry Hall Brock (1850-1915)	1892-1915
Manlius Bull (1849-1929)	1921-1929
I. Campbell	1900-1900
Melbourne Francis Christie (1864-1944)	1920-1944
Samuel Lawrence Cork (1877-1971)	1943-1964
Thomas Alexander Crerar (1876-1975)	1928-1964
William Henry Cross (1852-1928)	1916-1928
George Reading Crowe (1852-1924)	1896-1924
E. Crowe-Baker	1896-1902
A. C. Flumerfelt	1910-1921
John Charles Gage (1876-1930)	1929-1930
George Frederick Galt (1855-1928)	1892-1928
William Garland	1897-1902
Frank Ernest Halls (1872-1950)	1930-1950
Joseph Harris (1892-1976)	1943-1959
Andrew Kelly (1852-1930)	1892-1930
W. Logan	1892-1897
Alexander Macdonald (1844-1928)	1892-1928
Hugh John Macdonald (1850-1929)	1895-1910
H. W. Manning	1942-1967
William Allan Mather (1885-1961)	1945-1955
T. J. McBride	1892-1896
Peter Campbell McIntyre (1854-1920)	1892-1894, 1897-1920
G. McLean	1939-1967
J. McLenaghen	1892-1901
Daniel Hunter McMillan (1846-1933)	1892-1933
William Henry McWilliams (1860-?)	1930-1942
T. B. Millar	1896-1897
Stephen Nairn (1838-1900)	1892-1895
Augustus Meredith Nanton (1860-1925)	1898-1925
Frederick Nation (1861-1955)	1910-1921
Hugh Farquharson Osler (1881-1943)	1925-1943
Francis Lawrence “Frank” Patton (1857-1932)	1924-1932
J. Y. Payzant	1901-1904
J. Redmond	1896-1898
James Armstrong Richardson (1885-1939)	1928-1939
Conrad Stephenson Riley (1875-1960)	1943-1953
Robert Thomas Riley (1851-1944)	1892-1943
William Pitt Riley (1870-1954)	1921-1954
J. Robson	1892-1892
William Bain Scarth (1837-1902)	1892-1896
Henry Eugene “Harry” Sellers (1886-1970)	1933-1967
F. G. Vernon	1892-1896

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Great West Life Building / Chamber of Commerce Building (177 Lombard Avenue, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Milner House (51 Balmoral Street, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Great West Life War Memorial (60 Osborne Street, Winnipeg)

Sources:

Obituary [Henry W. Manning], Winnipeg Free Press, 10 March 1980, page 44.

“A House of Quality It Has Ever Been”: History of The Great-West Life Assurance Company by Richard E. Bennett, Winnipeg: The Great-West Life Assurance Company (1992).

“Well insured,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 April 2019, page B5.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 15 June 2020