Historic Sites of Manitoba: Cypress River United Church (Cypress River, RM of Victoria)

Link to:
Clerics | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

This brick church at Cypress River, in the Rural Municipality of Victoria, was designed by Winnipeg architect Charles Saunders Bridgman and built between 1920 and 1921. It housed the first Union church in Manitoba, formed in 1913 by the merger of Methodist and Presbyterian congregations.

An honour roll inside the church lists parishioners who served and were killed during the First World War.

Clerics

Period	Cleric
1921-1925	Rev. Hislop Dickson
1925	George Henry Hambley (1896-1983)
1925-1928	Rev. L. L. Meech
1928-1931	Rev. J. S. Caldwell
1931-1935	Rev. J. T. Wotten
1935-1942	Rev. N. B. McLenaghen
1942-1944	Rev. W. R. Wood
1944-1946	Rev. Frederick J. Roberts
1946-1949	Rev. J. T. Gawthrop
1949-1953	Rev. John Jackson
1953-1954	Robert Harvey (1883-1975)
1954-1955	W. B. Eaton
1955-1956	W. Gordon Shannon
1956-1957	Rev. W. O. Robinson
1957-1958	Rev. H. Gordon Tolton
1958-1962	Rev. Gordon Taylor
1962-1964	Rev. W. B. Ballantyne
1964-1971	Rev. Melvin Wray
1971-1978	Rev. Art Veldhuis
1978-1989	Rev. Robert Campbell

Photos & Coordinates

Postcard view of Cypress River United Church (no date) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2013-0133 Cypress River United Church (June 2010) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Cypress River United Church (May 2018) Source: George Penner Interior of Cypress River United Church (May 2018) Source: George Penner Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.55583, W99.08800 denoted by symbol on the map above

First World War Casualties

Name	Occupation	Service	Rank	Birth Date	Death Date
James Allen [Cypress River]	Farmer	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	1 November 1887	27 July 1917
Richard Stacpool Wynyard Bellhouse [Cypress River, Next of Kin, St. Luke's Anglican Church, UofM Engineering Undergraduates, Winnipeg Collegiate]	Building Superintendent	43rd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	13 October 1891	31 March 1916
Harvey William Bridal [Crystal City, Cypress River]	Farmer	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	12 December 1897	14 April 1917
David Charles Connon [Cypress River]	Clerk	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	9 June 1897	13 September 1917
Frederick Diehl DCM [Cypress River]	Stationary Engineer	1st Canadian Mounted Rifles	Lance Sergeant	21 September 1895	26 August 1918
Arsène Auguste François [Cypress River, Holland]	Farmer	Régiment 6 D. A. Genie, Belgian Army	Soldaat 2kl	26 November 1894	28 September 1918
James Albert Girling [Cypress River]	Bridge Carpenter	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	8 February 1876	28 April 1917
Reginald Robert Hope Hebden [Cypress River]	Farmer	78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	11 December 1887	9 April 1917
John Lauder [Cypress River, Sidney]	Farmer	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	25 October 1896	28 April 1917
Gordon Samuel Marten [Cypress River]	Farmer	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	13 December 1884	28 April 1917
Edward Royal McLeod [Cypress River]	Butcher	78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	30 October 1893	30 October 1917
George Nelson Porteous [Cypress River, Rivers, Rivers Methodist Church]	Farmer	5th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	5 April 1896	13 October 1918
William Charles Robb [Cypress River]	Liveryman	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	17 January 1895	27 November 1917
Sigþór Sigurbjörn Kristjánsson (Thor) Sigurðsson [Cypress River, Glenboro]	Farmer	44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	21 November 1893	11 April 1917
David Stanley Stewart [Carman, Cypress River, Vimy Ridge Memorial, Union Bank of Canada]	Bank Clerk, Union Bank of Canada	44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	19 May 1897	9 May 1917

Sources:

Pioneers Perseverance & Progress: Cypress River 1885-1985 by Cypress River History Book Committee, 1985, page 83.

R.M. of Victoria: Past & Present, Volume 1 by RM of Victoria History Book Committee, 2002, page 151.

Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.

We thank George Penner and Darryl Toews for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 5 December 2025

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