Link to:
Presidents | Sources
In October 1907, the British Poet Laureate Rudyard Kipling addressed a packed meeting of the Canadian Club of Winnipeg in the Manitoba Hall. Club rules prevented women from attending and the wives were relegated to entertain Mrs. Kipling during the meeting. An enterprising member of the host group suggested that they slip into the gallery above the dining hall. Mrs. Kipling was delighted as she had never heard her husband speak in public. The other women were also impressed and, on 27 November 1907, the Women’s Canadian Club of Winipeg (WCCW) was formed. By 1927 membership had grown to 2,544.
This turned into a national movement and Women’s Canadian Clubs began springing up across Canada and were united under the name Association of Women’s Canadian Clubs of Canada in 1909. The national organization provided speakers, direction, and unity to the groups. In 2007, the national convention was held in Winnipeg at The Inn of the Forks. Sadly, it was decided at that time to dissolve the national movement but clubs continued as standalone groups.
The object of the WCCW is to encourage an active interest in the history, arts, literature, institutions, and resources of Canada, thereby endeavouring to unite Canadians in promoting the welfare and progress of the nation. Action on religious or political issues are not taken by the club. In order to fulfill these objectives, lunches are held monthly from September until May with guest speakers who promote member’s interests. A book is maintained that contains speakers’ signatures from 1928 until the present day. Many well-known names are included.
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the club in 2007, a bursary fund called the Centennial Educational Fund was established. It is endowed with The Winnipeg Foundation and provides bursaries to students in the Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth and Resources at the University of Manitoba. The bursary will be available in perpetuity through the Foundation. Fundraising is ongoing so the fund is increasing.
In 1910, a memorial plaque, donated by WCCW, was unveiled by Sir Ernest Shackleton at St. Andrew’s-on-the-Red Anglican Church in memory of Arctic explorer Captain William Kennedy.
During the First World War, the club supported many causes to assist active members of the armed forces and returning veterans. Some of these included a temporary Cenotaph at the corner of Portage and Main in front of the former Bank of Montreal (1920), and establishment for soldiers of two reading rooms (1915) supplied with magazines and books for their use. One was in the Canada Building on Donald Street, the other at King Edward School. Both were provided with billiard tables and other amenities such as showers and towels.
In 1923, a book entitled “Women of the Red River” was printed by the WCCW as a tribute to the women of an earlier day. Initially 1,000 copies of the 260-page book were printed which was extended to 2,500 copies and the following year an additional 1,500 were printed. It contains many drawings depicting early life on the Red River.
In 1925, a lightpost with a plaque was erected by the WCCW as part of the renaming of Pine Street to Valour Road to recognize three soldiers from the First World War who lived on the street and were awarded the Victoria Cross. The lamp and plaque are still in place today.
In December 1929, English poet Rose Amy Fyleman (1877-1957) was the guest speaker at a club lunch held at the Fort Garry Hotel. After lunch, she and a club member took a stroll down Broadway to the Legislative Building. It was a beautiful winter day and when Fyleman returned to the hotel, she was inspired to write the poem “Winnipeg at Christmas”, the first verse of which is below:
In Winnipeg at Christmas
there’s lots and lots of snow,
Very clean, and crisp and hard
And glittering like a Christmas card
Everywhere you go,
Snow upon the housetops,
snow along the street,
And Queen Victoria in her chair
Has snow upon her snowy hair
And snow upon her feet.
For six years ending in 2014, the club collected books, arranged for their transport, and donated them to six schools in the Canadian north. In total, 75,000 books were dispatched for which the schools were appreciative. The club was able to do this by enlisting the help of Bison Transport, Calm Air, and Scott Bathgate.
An MHS Centennial Organization Award was presented to the Club in November 2023.
Period
President
1907-1909
Mary Irene Gurney Evans (1869-1951)
1909-1910
Maud Mary Somerset Osborne (1872-1955)
1910-1911
Eva Lilian Jones (1871-1928)
1911-1912
Maud Mary Somerset Osborne (1872-1955)
1912-1914
Mary French Colby Aikins (1862-1931)
1914-1915
Elizabeth Mary Crowe (1856-1918)
1915-1916
Mildred Louise Beck Dennistoun (1871-1953)
1917
Irene Beatrice Brock McElheran (1879-1955)
1918
Lena Dunham DuVal Saunderson (1878-1918)
1919-1920
Gertrude Casilda Drewry Code (1875-1955)
1921
Mildred Louise Beck Dennistoun (1871-1953)
1922-1923
Margaret Stovel McWilliams (1875-1952)
1924-1925
Aurelia Regina Widmeyer Rogers (1867-1934)
1926-1927
Alice Wylie Bruce Bracken (1883-1971)
1928-1929
Anna Dowler Shepherd (?-1957)
1930-1931
Mary Barrett Speechly (1873-1968)
1932-1933
Annie Josephine Hogg Campbell (1884-1942)
1934-1935
Louie Playfair Gemmill Phillipps (1884-1977)
1936-1937
Margaret Ellen Douglass (1878-1950)
1938-1939
Jorun Hinrikson Lindal (1896-1941)
1940-1941
Paulina Porter Fox DeLury (1878-1966)
1941-1942
Mrs. Fred L. Lloyd
1943-1944
Lila Katherine Erskine Honeyman (1889-1985)
1945-1946
Mildred Helen Kelly Aikenhead (1891-1979)
1947-1948
Lottie Jean Chapman Duncan (1887-1978)
1949-1950
Margaret Adele Bain Fetherstonhaugh (1904-1975)
1951-1952
Jemima Pauline McLean Dowler (1893-1977)
1953
Mrs. H. Lloyd Thompson (Irene)
1954-1955
Petrina Flora Isabel Wilson Campbell (1892-1974)
1956-1957
Margaret Kilvington Trott (1912-2000)
1958-1960
Genevieve Brock Brownell (1901-1999)
1961-1962
Mary Elizabeth Hughes Blick (1919-2022)
1963-1964
Isabel Ann Jamieson Sellers (1895-1986)
1965-1966
Kate Alice Quartermaine “Kitty” Bastin (1894-1976)
1967
Eileen Armstrong Lockhart (?-1986)
1968-1969
Louise Isabel Trimble Willis (1910-2002)
1970-1972
Vivian Aurelia Cannon Clark (?-1979)
1973-1974
1974-1976
Jane Arthurs Frain (1927-2016)
1976-1978
Doris Boyce Saunders (1901-2003)
1978-1980
Isabel George Hutcheson Auld (1917-2016)
1980-1982
Geraldine Johnson “Gerry” Mather (?-2003)
1982-1984
Eleanor Dorothy Elliott Albright Gibson (1918-2017)
1984-1985
Doris Isabelle Neish Cortilet (1921-1990)
1985-1986
Mrs. D. H. Ross (Verna)
1986-1987
Mrs. W. C. Kushneryk (Janet)
1987-1988
Ann Macleod Mounce (1923-2013)
1988-1989
Joyce Katherine Lawrence McCombe-Flemming (1933-2010)
1989-1990
1990-1991
Mrs. D. J. Nieman (Lynn)
1991-1992
Patricia Joyce “Patsy” Jackson (1924-1993)
1992-1993
Mrs. Hans Hasenack (Sandra)
1993-1994
Mrs. G. V. Krepart (Lynn)
1994-1995
Doreen Fels Adamson (?-2025)
1995-1996
Mrs. I. S. Cameron (Eleanor)
1996-1997
Carol May Burns (1925-2010)
1997-1998
Miss Jean Macpherson*
1998-1999
Mrs. Anna Wiens
1999-2000
Alice Sianchuk Antoniuk (1941-2016)
2000-2001
Mrs. J. Popoff (Roberta)
2001-2002
Mrs. J. E. (Ted) Hinchliffe (Margaret)
2002-2003
Mrs. Roy L. Allen (Melba)
2003-2004
Mrs. J. Popoff (Roberta)
2004-2006
Mrs. D. Blanchard (Jacqui)
2006-2008
Margaret Lindsay McKenzie Cordingley (1927-2022)
2008-2010
Mrs. J. Zuk (Eleanor Jean)
2010-2012
Mrs. D. Blanchard (Jacqui)
2012-2015
Mrs. Elaine Saunders
2015-2017
Ms. Helen O'Neill
2017-2018
Mrs. J. Popoff (Roberta)
2018-2023
Catharine Phillipson*
2023-2025
J. Blanchard / E. Saunders
2025-?
Mrs. G. McCreary (Karen)
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Valour Road Light Post and Plaque (Valour Road, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Bank of Montreal War Monument (335 Main Street, Winnipeg)
MHS Centennial Organization: The Canadian Club of Winnipeg
“What constitutes true national spirit,” Winnipeg Tribune, 3 October 1907, page 3.
This page was prepared by Iris Maurstad and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 10 November 2025
