Historic Sites of Manitoba: Bede School No. 1683 (Municipality of Two Borders)

The Bede School District was established in May 1913, in what is now the Municipality of Two Borders, and a brick, one-room schoolhouse in the southeast quarter of 19-5-26 west of the Principal Meridian was built between 1913 and 1914 by contractor Robert Nicholas Wyatt. It operated until June 1966. At that time, its remaining students went to Melita Consolidated School No. 440. The building stood vacant at the original site for some time, but at the time of a 2011 site visit, it had been repaired and was being used by a business selling local crafts.

The teachers of Bede School were Jean Dunbar (1914-1916), Rhea Forder (1916-1917), John Gilmore (1917-1918), Meda Wright (1918-1919), Thora Sigurdson (1919-1920), Emma Bambridge (1920-1921), Jack Ashley (1921), Katherine Fraser (1921), Muriel Bulloch (1922), Gladys Staples (1923-1924), Eva Wright (1924-1926), Irene Baskier (1926-1931), Mable Clement (1931-1932), Ada McMunn (1932-1934), Margaret Anderson (1934-1938), Helen Shier (1938-1939), Mrs. Little (1939-1940), Jean Gunn (1940), Mrs. Gerda Petersen (1940-1941), Ruby Cook (1941-1942), Francis Johnson (1942-1943), Gertrude Mason (1943-1944, 1945-1946), Wilma Kemp (1944), Freda Vigar (1944-1945), Norman Taylor (1946-1947), Lorraine Dagg (1947-1948), Joyce Mason (1948-1949), Ruth Talman (1949-1951), Adarene Berns (1951), Joe Shygol (1951), Leila Roby (1952), Donelda Cook (1952, 1954-1955), Allyne Adie (1952-1953), Allen Burton (1953), Sarah Reimer (1954), Darl Carr (1954), Don Merritt (1954), Glen Cullbertson (1955), Mrs. Jane Carr (1955), Don Breault (1955-1956), Evelyn Robinson (1956-1957), Verna Halls (1957-1962), Mrs. E. Maxwell (1962-1963), and Mrs. H. Lamport (1964-1966).

Bede School (no date) Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 16. The former Bede School building (circa 1986) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 21. The former Bede School before renovation (2004) Source: Lynn Jones The former Bede School after renovation (October 2011) Source: Gordon Goldsborough The former Bede School building (September 2021) Source: Rose Kuzina Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.39975, W100.96578 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: Robert Nicholas Wyatt (1877-1954)

Sources:

One Hundred Years in the History of the Rural Schools of Manitoba: Their Formation, Reorganization and Dissolution (1871-1971) by Mary B. Perfect, MEd thesis, University of Manitoba, April 1978.

Reflections of Time: A History of the RM of Albert by RM of Albert History Book, 1984, page 228. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5648.A43 Ref]

A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.

We thank Lynn Jones, Nathan Kramer, and Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 25 June 2023

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