Historic Sites of Manitoba: Royal Alexandra Hotel / Canadian Club of Winnipeg War Memorial (Higgins Avenue, Winnipeg)

The Royal Alexandra Hotel was designed for the Canadian Pacific Railway by Montreal architects Edward and William Maxwell and built by contractor Alexander A. Woodward at the north-east corner of Higgins Avenue and Main Street in Winnipeg. Upon opening in 1906, the “Royal Alex” was considered one of the finest hotels in western Canada and, for many years, it served as the social centre of Winnipeg. For example, the hotel hosted meetings of the Canadian Club of Winnipeg and a plaque listing Club members killed during the First World War was displayed there. (It is now stored at the Archives of Manitoba.)

The hotel closed its doors in 1967 and was demolished in 1971. The interior of its dining room was carefully disassembled, then reassembled at the Cranbrook History Centre at Cranbrook, British Columbia. Some Tyndall stone lion heads that originally graced the facade were donated to the City of Winnipeg by Alexander Billinkoff, proprietor of Atlas Wrecking that had done the demolition, and are displayed a few blocks from the former hotel site.

Royal Alexandra Hotel

Royal Alexandra Hotel (c1910)
Source: Winnipeg Illustrated, Peels Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta

Royal Alexandra Hotel

Royal Alexandra Hotel (no date)
Source: Toronto Postcard Club, LGG2016-0078

Postcard view of Royal Alexandra Hotel

Postcard view of Royal Alexandra Hotel (early 1960s)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2011-0009

Royal Alexandra Hotel

Royal Alexandra Hotel (March 1971)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, George Harris Fonds, Acc. 1979-141, P7451, Album 15, Page 64.

Cafe Royal in the Royal Alexandra Hotel

Cafe Royal in the Royal Alexandra Hotel (no date)
Source: Toronto Postcard Club, LGG2016-0080

Royal Alexandra Hotel Plaque at N49.89760, W97.13497

Royal Alexandra Hotel Plaque at N49.89760, W97.13497 (2009)
Source: City of Winnipeg

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.90486, W97.13377
denoted by symbol on the map above

Canadian Club First World War Casualties

Name

Occupation

Service

Rank

Birth Date

Death Date

John Robertson Baird
[Augustine, Next of Kin]

Bookkeeper

1st Canadian Mounted Rifles

Private

2 February 1891

5 June 1916

Samuel Percy Benson
[Augustine]

Jewelry engraver

78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Lieutenant

6 November 1887

9 April 1917

Charles Thurston Bowring
[Next of Kin, St. Lukes Anglican]

Grain Merchant

44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Lieutenant

2 September 1881

29 December 1916

Reginald Edward Burch
[Next of Kin]

Insurance Manager

78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Private

26 February 1873

30 October 1917

William Joseph Chalk
[Law Society, Next of Kin]

Barrister

59th Squadron, Royal Flying Corps

Lieutenant

4 June 1890

14 April 1917

Arthur Claydon DFC
[First Baptist, Next of Kin]

General Contractor

32nd Squadron, Royal Air Force

Captain

25 September 1885

8 July 1918

William Henry Puddicomb Collum MC
[Masonic, Next of Kin, Westminster]

Financial Agent

27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Major

11 October 1884

14 August 1917

Leonard Vivien Drummond-Hay MC
[Next of Kin]

Secretary

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry

Major

21 January 1894

14 August 1918

John Geddes
[Next of Kin, St. Lukes Anglican]

Agent

16th Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Captain

6 November 1878

24 April 1915

Arthur Lionel Griffin

Broker

3rd Division Train, Canadian Army Service Corps

Captain

2 October 1879

23 March 1916

William Forbes Guild MiD
[Brandon Armoury, Law Society, Manitoba College, Next of Kin, Westminster]

Barrister-at-Law

52nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Captain

2 December 1886

10 April 1917

Harold Balleny Hamber
[Next of Kin]

Broker

Canadian Army Pay Corps

Captain

29 December 1884

22 June 1917

Gordon Ruthven Heron
[Dominion Bank, Next of Kin, St. Lukes Anglican]

Banker

78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Major

13 September 1883

9 April 1917

Ronald Hoskins
[Law Society, Manitou]

Barrister-at-law

10th Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Lieutenant

6 December 1887

22 April 1915

George Willis Jameson
[Law Society, Next of Kin]

Barrister

16th Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Captain

25 February 1882

23 April 1915

Ralph Egerton Norris Jones

Bank Manager

27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Lieutenant

3 June 1877

6 April 1916

David Bracegirdle Jones DCM
[Next of Kin]

Plumber

84th Squadron, Royal Air Force

Second Lieutenant

6 September 1894

3 July 1918

Henry Francis Lewis
[Vimy Ridge]

Financial Broker

44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Lieutenant

10 July 1884

12 April 1917

Louis James Lipsett

Army Officer

Royal Irish Regiment

Major General

15 June 1874

14 October 1918

James Ernest Robertson
[Augustine, Law Society]

Barrister

27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Lieutenant

20 June 1879

9 March 1916

George Huntington Ross
[Law Society, Manitoba College, Next of Kin, Rapid City]

Barrister at Law

16th Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Captain

10 January 1874

24 April 1915

Charles Russell Stinson MC
[Armoury, Next of Kin, St. Margarets, St. Matthew's Anglican, UGG]

Grain Salesman

27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Major

25 August 1886

6 November 1917

H. Taylor

?

?

?

?

?

Robert McDonnell Thomson
[Law Society, Manitoba College, Next of Kin]

Barrister

43rd Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Lieutenant Colonel

4 July 1869

8 October 1916

Melville Cornelius Wood
[Next of Kin]

Contractor

Royal Naval Air Service

Flight Lieutenant

27 June 1890

9 October 1917

Arthur Hamilton Young
[Next of Kin]

Banker

7th Canadian Infantry Brigade Headquarters

Captain

11 May 1879

7 September 1918

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: Alexander A. Woodward (?-?)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Royal Alexandra Hotel Shard (Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Canadian Pacific Railway Main Street Subway (Main Street, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Sinclair’s Creek Plaque (John Hirsch Place, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Winnipeg Transfer Railway Spur Line Plaque (John Hirsch Place, Winnipeg)

A Fallen Splendour: The Challener Murals of Winnipeg’s Royal Alexandra Hotel by Susan Moffatt Rozniatowski
Manitoba History, Number 42, Autumn / Winter 2001-2002

Sources:

“Drowned in Red River,” Winnipeg Tribune, 24 July 1905, page 7.

Obituary [Alex Billinkoff], Winnipeg Free Press, 17 December 1990, page 24.

Information for this page was provided by The City of Winnipeg’s Planning, Property and Development Department, which acknowledges the contribution of the Government of Manitoba through its Heritage Grants Program.

We thank Jason Vanderhill (Vancouver Postcard Club) and the Toronto Postcard Club for providing images of the Royal Alexandra Hotel, and Mark Walton for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Darryl Toews.

Page revised: 12 December 2023

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