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The Griswold School District was established formally in September 1885. The present one-storey brick building in Griswold, in the Rural Municipality of Sifton, dates from 1897, built on a design by Brandon architect Walter Henderson Shillinglaw.
In 1959, grades 5-8 of the three-room school were transferred to Oak Lake’s Assiniboine School. It operated as a two-room school until 1968. From 1973 to 1976, the facility hosted only grades 1 to 3 and a private kindergarten class prior to the Fort la Bosse School Division offering the kindergarten option at Assiniboine School. The school closed its doors following the 1975-1976 school year. The building was renovated for use as a community hall.
A minute book for the school district, from 1907 to 1943, is held at the S. J. McKee Archives of Brandon University.
Period
Principal
1896
E. Beveridge
1897-1899
Allan Bowerman (1844-1923)
1900-1901
George P. Bawden
1902-1903
Alfred White (1869-1955)
1903-1904
W. A. Beynon
1905
Hugh Clarke Fairfield (1877-1961)
1905-1908
Charles T. Cresswell (1872-1961)
1908-1909
James Erron Stanley Dunlop (1882-1945)
1909-1910
Margaret Roderick “Maggie” Stuart (1881-1951)
1910-1912
John Stanley Hollies (1889-1916)
1912-1914
Florence M. Carnduff
1914
David Harmon Lent (1858-1938)
1915-1923
Sidney Irvine “Sears” Mott (1870-1957)
1923-1926
Daniel Frederick “Fred” McNeill (1878-1956)
1926-1928
Samuel Stewart Bryan (1889-1972)
1928-1929
Walter Fahrig (1889-1937)
1929-1941
John Clarence “Kelly” Williamson (1903-1981)
1941-1951
John Henry Doughty (1900-1958)
1951-1952
?
1952-1954
Michael John Makowski (1924-2002)
1954-1958
J. A. Sawatsky
1958-1959
S. Livingston
Among the early teachers of Griswold School were no classroom operated (Fall 1885), Katie M. Race (Spring 1886), M. B. Williams (Fall 1886 - Spring 1887), William John McComb (Fall 1887 - pt Spring 1888), Margta? Nimmons (pt Spring 1888), Sarah Good (Fall 1888), Esabelle Merritt (Spring 1889), Lizzie C. O’Hara (Fall 1889 - Fall 1890), Louisa Hall (Spring 1891), F. Hooper (pt Fall 1891), I. Hooper (pt Fall 1891), and George E. Anderson (Spring 1892 - Fall 1895).
School Year
Teachers
1896
E. Bella (junior grades, Fall), E. Beveridge (senior grades, Fall), Allan Bowerman (all grades, Spring)
1897
Eunice Bell (junior grades), Allan Bowerman (senior grades)
1898
Allan Bowerman (senior grades), Nellie B. Scarth (junior grades)
1899
Allan Bowerman (senior grades), Nellie B. Scarth (junior grades)
1900
George P. Bawden (senior grades), Nellie B. Scarth (junior grades)
1901
George P. Bawden (senior grades), Mona C. Stirling (junior grades)
1902
records not available
1903
Violet Kyle (primary grades), records not available
1904
Violet Kyle (primary grades), records not available
1905
Innis Colton, Hugh Clarke Fairfield (senior grades, Spring), Charles T. Cresswell (senior grades, Fall), Violet Kyle
1906
Innis Colton, Charles T. Cresswell (senior grades), Ordelia Hornibrook (Fall), Violet Kyle (Spring)
1907
Innis Colton, Charles T. Cresswell (senior grades), Ordelia Hornibrook
1908
Innis Colton (Fall), Irene C. Colton (Spring), Charles T. Cresswell (senior grades, Spring), James Erron Stanley Dunlop (senior grades, Fall), Ordelia Hornibrook
1909
Irene C. Colton (Fall), James Erron Stanley Dunlop (senior grades, Spring), Ordelia Hornibrook, Ethel McKim (Spring), Margaret Roderick “Maggie” Stuart (senior grades, Fall)
1910
Irene C. Colton, John Stanley Hollies (senior grades, Fall), Ordelia Hornibrook, Margaret Roderick “Maggie” Stuart (senior grades, Spring)
1911
Fanny Alexandria Hitchcock, John Stanley Hollies (senior grades), Ordelia Hornibrook (Spring), Florence Skinner (Fall)
1912
(January-June only): Fanny Alexandria Hitchcock, John Stanley Hollies (senior grades), Florence Skinner
1912-1913
Fanny Alexandria Hitchcock (later married John Stanley Hollies), Florence M. Carnduff (senior grades), Maude Roddick
1913-1914
Florence M. Carnduff (senior grades), Frances E. Gillespie, Edna J. Hamilton
1914-1915
Frances E. Gillespie, Edna J. Hamilton, David Harmon Lent (senior grades, Fall), Sidney Irvine “Sears” Mott (senior grades, Spring)
1915-1916
Josephine Devitt, Elma Drysdale, Sidney Irvine “Sears” Mott (senior grades)
1916-1917
Elma Drysdale, Dora Faryon, Sidney Irvine “Sears” Mott (senior grades)
Among the other teachers of Griswold School Frederick Leopold Johnston, M. Thomson (1920-1921), Mary Isbister Wilson, Reba Wallace McManes, and Lillian Hatch Brownlee.
Postcard view of Griswold School (circa 1910)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2013-0031
The former Griswold School building (circa 1986)
Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1243.
The former Griswold School building (September 2011)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.77778, W100.47160
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Walter Henderson Shillinglaw (1864-1957)
Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
“The Indian famine fund,” Winnipeg Tribune, 4 March 1897, page 4.
“Local and district [Miss Violet Kyle ...],” Brandon Western Sun, 15 January 1903, page 4.
“Teachers at the convention,” Brandon Sun, 15 October 1920, page 6.
Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.
“Griswold grads hold reunion,” Brandon Sun, 1 September 1976, page 31.
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.
Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.
We thank Andrew Cunningham and Fred McNeill for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 25 February 2026
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