Memorable Manitobans: Norman Criddle (1875-1933)

Artist, naturalist.

Born in England, he came to Manitoba with his family and homesteaded at Aweme. He was a talented artist who illustrated a number of agricultural books, collaborating with Dr. James Fletcher on Farm Weeds of Canada and Fodder and Pasture Plants. He developed the “Criddle Mixture” of poisons to counter the grasshopper menace in 1902 and was employed by the government to demonstrate its use to farmers. He became entomological field officer for Manitoba in 1913 and was appointed provincial entomologist in 1919. He was an expert on grasshoppers. He received an honorary diploma from the Manitoba Agricultural College, was Honourary President of the Natural History Society of Manitoba from 1925 to 1933, and is a member of the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame.

Son of Percy Criddle, brother of Stuart Criddle.

Papers are at the Archives of Manitoba.

See also:

Norman Criddle: Pioneer Entomologist of the Prairies by Neil J. Holliday
Manitoba History, Number 51, February 2006.

The Criddle Family by Lillian Gibbons
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 6, Number 2, January 1961.

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Criddle-Vane Homestead (RM of South Cypress)

Criddle-de-Diddle-Ensis: A Biographical History of the Criddles of Aweme, Manitoba Pioneers of the 1880s by Alma Criddle (1973).

Sources:

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by J. M. Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

“Noted western scientist dies at age of 59”, Winnipeg Tribune, 5 May 1933.

This profile was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Profile revised: 25 August 2011

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