Historic Sites of Manitoba: Gunton School No. 1507 / Gunton Monument (Gunton, RM of Rockwood)

Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

One of two monument, erected in 1980 in the village of Gunton in the Rural Municipality of Rockwood, was dedicated to pioneers of the Gunton district. The town had its beginning in 1904 when Donald Gunn began a limestone quarry just south of the present village. The first post office was known as Gunnview. In 1906, John Gunn purchased the 80-acre village site from Samuel Herron and had the land surveyed into town lots. Twenty-two English families settled in Gunton in 1909 and, by 1914, up to 500 men were employed in the local quarry. The Gunton Anglican Church was built in 1906, the Gunton Methodist Church in 1907, and the Gunton School (designed by Winnipeg architect H. R. Eade) was constructed of local limestone in 1911. The outbreak of the First World War forced the closure of the quarries but Gunton remained an active farm community.

A second monument was unveiled in November 2000 in commemoration of Gunton men, known as the “Gunton Rangers”, who joined the Fort Garry Horse (10th Canadian Armoured Regiment), and served with Canadian forces during the Second World War.

Principals

Period

Principal

?

Mr. J. Wolfe

1916-1917

J. S. McGowan

1917-1929

William Meldrum (1884-1959)

1929-1934

Frederick “Fred” Morgan (1870-1936)

1934-1937

Clifford George Williamson (1904-2002)

1937-1938

Thomas William Ebbern (1879-1970)

1938-1940

Frank I. Tindall

1940-1942

Samuel Stewart Bryan (1889-?)

1942-1944

Jane Agnes Nisbet (1902-1959)

1944-1945

Kenneth Donald Bruce

1945-1946

Edward James Marshall (1901-1964)

1946-1947

A. M. Young

1947-1948

Arnold Marshall Leech (1911-1998)

1948-1950

Michael Richard Firman (1909-1977)

1950-1952

Marion Elizabeth Todd Pye (1912-2002)

1952-1954

Julius George Toews (1893-1981)

1954-1957

J. R. Lord

1957-1958

Daniel Stasiuk (1914-2013)

1958-1959

Ronald C. Beech

1959-1960

Weston Sweet (1899-1994)

1960-1964

Edward L. “Ed” Bourrier

1964-1965

Constance Gertrude Spratt “Connie” Guthrie (1912-1971)

1965-1967

William Sanford “Bill” Kirbyson (1908-1995)

1967-1969

Gaston Garry Gelinas

Teachers

School Year

Teachers

1960-1961

Edward L. “Ed” Bourrier (grades 7-8), Roderic Bruce Buschau (grades 4-7), Ethel Irene Drummond (grades 1-3)

1961-1962

Edward L. “Ed” Bourrier (grades 6-8), Roderic Bruce Buschau (grades 4-5), Ethel Irene Drummond (grades 1-3)

1962-1963

Edward L. “Ed” Bourrier (grades 6-8), Odile Pauline Bourrier (grades 3-5), Ethel Irene Drummond (grades 1-2)

1963-1964

Edward L. “Ed” Bourrier (grades 6-8), Odile Pauline Bourrier (grades 3-5), Ethel Irene Drummond (grades 1-3)

1964-1965

Ethel Irene Drummond (grades 1-3), Constance Gertrude Guthrie (grades 6-8), Eileen Gail Waluk (grades 4-5)

1965-1966

Elaine Katherine Arseny (grades 3-5), Ethel Irene Drummond (grades 1-2), William Sanford Kirbyson (grades 6-8)

1966-1967

Ethel Irene Drummond (grades kindergarten-2), William Sanford Kirbyson (grades 6-8), Thomas Frank Tyler (grades 3-5)

1967-1968

Ethel Irene Drummond (grades 1-3), Gaston Garry Gelinas (grades 7-8), Thomas Frank Tyler (grades 4-6)

1968-1969

Ethel Irene Drummond (grades 1-3), Gaston Garry Gelinas (grades 7-8), Thomas Frank Tyler (grades 4-6)

Among the other teachers of Gunton School were Rhoda May Gibbs Small, Archie Carmichael, and Annie B. Fraser.

Photos & Coordinates

Gunton School

Gunton School (circa 1911)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspector Photos GR2664, C65.

Gunton School

Gunton School (no date) by H. D. Cumming
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 130.

Gunton School

Gunton School (August 1937)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, George Harris Fonds, Acc. 1979-141, P7453, Album 20, Page 66.

Gunton School

Gunton School (July 1973)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, George Harris Fonds, Acc. 1979-141, P7448, Album 2, Page 82.

Gunton commemorative monuments

Gunton commemorative monuments (July 2010)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

Gunton commemorative monuments

Gunton commemorative monuments (June 2020)
Source: George Penner

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.31917, W97.26683
denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Greenridge School No. 211 (RM of Rockwood)

Memorable Manitobans: John Gunn (1850-1936)

Sources:

“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 3 October 1910, page 2.

Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.

100 Years of History: Rockwood Municipality by Rockwood Municipality History, 1982.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Gunton Consolidated School District #1507 - Daily Registers, GR2043, Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Gunton Consolidated - School Division #21 - Daily Registers, GR2043, Archives of Manitoba.

We thank George Penner for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 16 May 2023

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