Historic Sites of Manitoba: Headingley Gaol (RM of Headingley)

Link to:
Photos & Coordinates | Sources

This correctional facility in the Rural Municipality of Headingley was designed by Winnipeg architectural firm of Pratt and Ross and built between 1929 and 1930 by St. Boniface-based contractor J. L. Guay.

In the centre of the complex was the two-storey administration building that housed offices for the complex and the receiving room that prisoners would be brought to when they first came to the facility along with medical rooms, governor’s office, chief turnkey’s quarters, laundry room, and work rooms. The three-storey east and west blocks contains the cells for the prisoners with 56 cells on each floor, 448 cells in total. The end of the west block contained the death cells and the execution room. The complex also contained a auditorium building.

Superintendents

Period	Superintendent
1929-1938	John Crawford Downie (1864-1942)
1938-1946	Royal Burritt (1876-1962)
1946-1955	Staff Sargeant Edward Weeks
1955-1968	Sargeant Sidney H. B. Littlewood
1968-1970	William Ellis Lawson (c1912-1970)
1970-1973	Reverend Eric G. Cox
1973-1975	Douglas Henry Walter “Doug” Lawrence (1926-2015)
1975-1977	John Michael Gillingham
1977-1980	Alvin H. Carruthers
1980-1981	Reginald A. Forester
1981-1983	Albert Stuart
1983-1984	Paul Levielle - Acting
1984-1988	Reginald A. Forester
1988-1992	Denis B. Lemoine
1992-1996	Lawrence Robert “Larry” Krocker (1948-2004)
1996	Denis B. Lemoine
1996-1997	Reginald A. Forester
1997-2001	James Ross

Photos & Coordinates

Architectural drawing of the Headingley Gaol (1929) Source: Winnipeg Tribune, 6 July 1929, page 7 Site Location (lat/long): N49.87032, W97.43793 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Headingley Gaol Cemetery (RM of St. Francois Xavier)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Industrial Farm / Prison Farm (RM of Reynolds)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Central Judicial District Gaol and Courthouse (20 Third Street SE, Portage la Prairie)

Manitoba Business: Pratt and Ross

Memorable Manitobans: J. L. Guay (?-?)

Sources:

“Plans for new provincial jail,” Winnipeg Tribune, 6 July 1929, page 7.

“Govt. accepts $198,991 tender,” Winnipeg Tribune, 9 July 1929, page 2.

Turnkey to Case Manager: The Professionalisation of the Correctional Officer Headingley Correctional Institution, Manitoba, 1930-1996 by Christian J. R Stansfield, MA Thesis, University of Manitoba, 2001. Appendix B / page 155.

We thank Lois Braun, Nathan Kramer, and Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 12 November 2022

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