The Manitoba Association of Architects was established at a meeting of some 35 architects on 25 May 1906 in the Manitoba Hall at 291-295 Portage Avenue (now since demolished). A constitution was adopted, by-laws began to be written, and a founding slate of officers was elected: Samuel Frank Peters (President), John Hamilton Gordon Russell (First Vice-President), Charles Henry Wheeler (Second Vice-President), L. T. Bristow (Treasurer), and Walter Percy Over (Secretary), with John Danley Atchison, James Chisholm, William Alexander Elliott, Joseph Greenfield, and Samuel Hooper as Directors. The new organization’s first annual meeting was held on 16 November 1906.
Year
President
1906-1907
Samuel Frank Peters (1847-1926)
1908-1909
Samuel Hooper (1851-1911)
1909-1910
Joseph Greenfield (1845-1910)
1910-1911
John Hamilton Gordon Russell (1863-1946)
1911-1912
John Danley Atchison (1870-1959)
1912-1913
William Fingland (1862-1946)
1913-1914
?
1914-1915
Herbert Edward Matthews (1867-1941)
1915-1916
Walter Percy Over (1874-1944)
1916-1917
?
1917-1919
Ralph Benjamin Pratt (1872-1950)
1919-1920
?
1920-1921
?
1921-1922
John Nelson Semmens (1879-1960)
1922-1923
John Walker Smart (1872-1941)
1923-1924
George William Northwood (1877-1959)
1924-1925
?
1925-1926
?
1926-1927
John Manuel (1879-1933)
1927-1928
Gilbert C. Parfitt (1887-1966)
1928-1929
Cyril William Upton Chivers (1879-1969)
1929-1930
Edward Parkinson (1878-1953)
1930-1931
James William Hawker (?-?)
1931-1932
?
1932-1933
Arthur Edward Cubbidge (1881-1952)
1933-1934
?
1934-1937
Lawrence John Green (1899-1969)
1937-1938
Herbert Henry Gatenby Moody (1903-1991)
1938-1939
?
1939-1940
Edgar Prain (1881-1958)
1940-1941
?
1941-1942
?
1942-1943
Gilbert C. Parfitt (1887-1966)
1943-1944
Robert Elbert “Bob” Moore (1909-1995)
1944-1945
Ewart Fitz Munn (1885-1968)
1945-1946
Lawrence John Green (1899-1969)
1946-1947
George Garpar Teeter (1874-1949)
1947-1949
Herbert Henry Gatenby Moody (1903-1991)
1949-1950
Eric William Thrift (1912-1995)
1950-1951
Gordon Leslie Russell (1901-1977)
1951-1954
?
1954-1955
Ernest John Smith (1919-2004)
1955-1956
Cecil Nathan Blankstein (1908-1989)
1956-1959
Ernest John Smith (1919-2004)
1959-1961
James Elmhurst “Jim” Searle (1929-2020)
1961-1962
?
1962-1963
Stewart Eric Lindgren (1920-1994)
1963-1964
?
1964-1966
James Ewart “Jim” Whenham (1922-2006)
1966-1967
Dennis H. Carter (1920-2012)
1967-1971
?
1971-1972
Michael David “Mike” Rattray (1931-2022)
1972-1974
Marshall Ernest Haid (1937-2012)
1974-1975
?
1975-1976
William Donald “Don” Baldwin (1925-2006)
1976-1977
?
1977-1978
Gordon William McGarva (c1936-2019)
1978-1981
?
1981-1982
John Robert Davenall Turner (1937-1990)
1982-1998
?
1998-1999
Stephen Carl “Steve” Cohlmeyer (1946-2021)
?
George Andrew Stewart (1922-1994)
?
Melville James “Jim” McFeetors (1933-2014)
?
Michael J. Cox
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Swiss Building (137 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Architectural Survey of Rural Manitoba (1964-1968)
Memorable Manitobans: Architects of Manitoba
“Architects form an association,” Manitoba Free Press, 26 May 1906, page 8.
“Manitoba Association of Architects”, The Canadian Architect and Builder, Volume 19, Issue 12, Page 190, December 1906.
“Architects attend annual banquet,” Manitoba Free Press, 1 December 1909, page 20.
“Architects hold annual meeting,” Manitoba Free Press, 25 November 1910, page 24.
“Architects meet,” Manitoba Free Press, 30 September 1912, page 24.
“Semmens hears architects,” Manitoba Free Press, 26 January 1921, page 5.
“Architects elect,” Manitoba Free Press, 21 January 1922, page 15.
“Manitoba architects elect new officers,” Manitoba Free Press, 20 January 1922, page 3.
“Manitoba architects elect new officers,” Manitoba Free Press, 27 January 1926, page 5.
Editorial note, Manitoba Free Press, 19 January 1928, page 9.
“Egyptian glory is featured at Beaux Arts ball,” The Manitoban, 15 February 1935, page 4.
“Architects elect Prain as President,” Winnipeg Tribune, 19 January 1939, page 16.
“G. Parfitt to head architects' society,” Winnipeg Free Press, 22 January 1942, page 3.
“Building backlog,” Winnipeg Tribune, 23 January 1946, page 4.
“Moody elected S.A.S. President,” The Manitoban, 6 February 1948, page 8.
“Two faculties bid farewell to 1949 graduating class,” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 March 1949, page 13.
“Architects elect G. L. Russell,” Winnipeg Tribune, 23 January 1950, page 13.
“Heads architects,” Winnipeg Tribune, 1 March 1954, page 13.
“President returned,” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 February 1965, page 22.
“Architect hopes built on projects in the wind,” Winnipeg Free Press, 30 January 1981, page 13.
Obituary [Gordon William McGarva], Winnipeg Free Press, 9 February 2019.
We thank Robert Hill for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 11 November 2023