Memorable Manitobans: Philip Burnett (1848-1936)

Building contractor.

Born at Bampton, Devonshire, England on 30 September 1848, he was living in Wales before moving to New Brunswick where he married his wife Mary Elizabeth Halliday (1859-?). The family moved to Winnipeg in 1879 where he worked as a bricklayer and building contractor. He had eight children: Thomas H. Burnett (1877-?), William John Burnett (1878-1950), Philip J. Burnett (1880-?), David W. Burnett (1883-?), Charles Edward Burnett (1886-?), Herbert Wilford Burnett (1889-1963), Mabel B. Burnett (1895-?), and Hugh Alexander Burnett (1898-1970). He and his family moved to Victoria, British Columbia about 1911 and he died there on 6 December 1936.

Some of the Manitoba buildings that his firm constructed:

Building	Location	Year	Status
McDougall Memorial Methodist Church	939 Main Street, Winnipeg	1891
Black House [William A. Black]	22 Edmonton Street, Winnipeg	1893
Ogilvie Flour Mill (expansion)	Higgins Avenue, Winnipeg	1895	Demolished (?)
McIntyre Block	416 Main Street, Winnipeg	1898	Demolished (1979)
Wood Building	250 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg	1898
Paulin-Chambers Building (with John Alexander Girvin)	311 Ross Avenue, Winnipeg	1899
YMCA Building (with John Alexander Girvin)	276 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1900
Bank of Hamilton Building (with John Alexander Girvin)	395 Main Street, Winnipeg	1901	Demolished (?)
Vulcan Iron Works (addition)	105 Maple Street North, Winnipeg	1901
Fairchild Warehouse	255 Sutherland Avenue, Winnipeg	1902
McLaughlin Carriage Building	208 Princess Street, Winnipeg	1902
Strathcona Block (with George Andrews Mitchell)	181 Broadway / 160 Main Street, Winnipeg	1902	Destroyed by fire (1 February 1976)
Stobart Building	281 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg	1903
Bright and Johnston Building (with Sinclair Balsor Ritchie)	141 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg	1903
Kemp Block (with Sinclair Balsor Ritchie)	111 Lombard Avenue, Winnipeg	1903
Scott Block (with Sinclair Balsor Ritchie)	272 Main Street, Winnipeg	1904
Miller-Morse Building (with John Alexander Girvin)	317 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg	1904
Paulin-Chambers Building (expansion; with John Alexander Girvin)	311 Ross Avenue, Winnipeg	1904
Time Building	333 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1904	Destroyed by fire (1954)
Trees-Spriggs Building	312 Ross Avenue, Winnipeg	1905
Boyce Building	316 Ross Avenue, Winnipeg	1905-1906
Albany Apartments	91 Edmonton Street, Winnipeg	1906	Demolished (?)
Frost and Wood Warehouse	230 Princess Street, Winnipeg	1906
Henderson Building	332 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg	1910
Paulin-Chambers Building (expansion; with John Alexander Girvin)	311 Ross Avenue, Winnipeg	1910
Ashdown Warehouse (additions)	167 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg	1910, 1911

Sources:

1881 Canada census, Ancestry.

1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

Death registrations, British Columbia Vital Statistics.

“Ex-Winnipegger dies,” Winnipeg Tribune, 8 December 1936, page 21.

Miller, Morse & Company Building, 317 McDermot Avenue by Murray Peterson, Winnipeg Historical Buildings & Resources Committee, April 2016.

Paulin-Chambers Building, 311 Ross Avenue by Murray Peterson, Winnipeg Historical Buildings & Resources Committee, July 2018.

We thank Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 6 March 2024

Memorable Manitobans This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations. Search the collection by word or phrase, name, place, occupation or other text: Custom Search Browse surnames beginning with: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z Browse deaths occurring in: 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 Send corrections and additions to this page to the Memorable Manitobans Administrator at biographies@mhs.mb.ca Criteria for Memorable Manitobans | Suggest a Memorable Manitoban | Firsts | Acknowledgements Help us keep history alive!