MHS Centennial Business: Manitoba Free Press / Winnipeg Free Press

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Presidents | Publishers | Editors-in-Chief | Associate Editors | Managing Editors | City Editors | Editorial Page Editors | Reporters/Journalists | Miscellaneous Executives | See Also | Sources

Volume 1 Number 1 of the Manitoba Free Press was launched on 30 November 1872. A few copies distributed free appeared on 9 November. It was started by two young men, one with newspaper know-how, William Fisher Luxton, and the other with money and muscle, John A. Kenny. Luxton bought a press in New York and they rented a shack at 555 Main Street, near the present Main and James Street corner. It was hot in summer and cold in winter. The Luxton family and the widower Kenny lived upstairs. John Cameron, reporter and humourist, and Justus Griffin, printer, had a bunk downstairs in a cubbyhole next to the front office.

The type and press arrived by Red River steamboat on 25 October. It was the first cylinder press north of St. Paul, Minnesota, and was run by human muscle power supplied mainly by the huge and powerful Kenny who, among others, turned the handle.

Liberal in philosophy, the Free Press was a leader among newspapers in Canada. It became a leading daily and its sister weekly, the Prairie Farmer, became the most widely circulated farm weekly in Canada. Of 20 newspapers that started in Manitoba between 1859 and 1890, only the Free Press survived.

The eight-page first edition contained a variety of material including a story, a poem, men’s news, telegraphic dispatches, editorials, local news, and classified ads. The first main story was the re-election of General Ulysses S. Grant as President of the United States of America. It was the only daily west of Toronto on 6 July 1874. It cost 25 cents per week on subscription and there were 900 subscribers. In those early years, putting together a newspaper was a formidable task. All copy was written by hand and type was set by hand, one letter at a time. In very cold weather, even the red-hot box stove in the press room could not keep the ink and rollers warm and a row of 32 coal oil lamps was placed around the press.

Many other problems surfaced in those early years—failure of telegraphic services via Montreal and the USA due to adverse weather—storms, frost and prairie fires, unreliable paper supply that had to come by rail, steamboat or ox cart. For example, a paper shortage coincided with the hot story of the downfall of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald’s government. There was just enough paper for the Free Press to produce a handbill-sized sheet carrying the news from Ottawa and apologies to readers.

In 1874 the enterprise moved to a new building on Main opposite St. Mary Avenue. As it grew in popularity it continued to live up to its motto of fostering “Freedom of Trade, Liberty of Religion, and Equality of Civil Rights.” In 1882 it moved to a building on McDermot east of Main Street, stayed there until 1900, and then moved to a new address on McDermot and Albert Street. By then it had added a women’s section, crop reports, and a book and magazine page. Because of its growth it moved in 1905 to a four-storey building at Portage and Garry. As circulation grew and new presses were added, another move became necessary, and in 1913 the paper occupied the building at 300 Carlton and remained there for 78 years, becoming known as “the old lady of Carlton Street.” In 1991 the Free Press moved to its present location at 1355 Mountain Avenue.

From the beginning, Luxton’s outspoken editorials shaped the future of the new City of Winnipeg. About 1892, control of the Free Press passed to Clifford Sifton. From 1901 to 1944, John Wesley Dafoe served as editorial writer, editor-in-chief and president. He, too, was a man of strong opinions. He fought for Western issues such as breaking the CPR’s monopoly in the prairies, and lower freight rates. He actively promoted Dominion status and autonomy for Canada. In 1931 the name of the Manitoba Free Press became the Winnipeg Free Press.

James Gray related an interesting story dating to when he worked for the newspaper. A character named Davy Rait established squatter’s rights in the newsroom in 1924. His consuming passion was to avoid work at all costs and he managed to spend his life in idleness. He cadged quarters from the newsroom staff, and for ten years slept erect in a chair by the door of the newspaper library. At the time the business manager for the paper was Edward Hamilton Macklin, known for his sulphuric vocabulary. A new employee, Scott Young, asked about the old man sleeping by the library door. Clem Shields, a senior employee, thought he would play a joke on the newcomer. He said: “That’s Mr. Macklin, so for God’s sake don’t slam the door when you go in or out. If you do and he wakes up, run and don’t look back.” Thereafter, Young tiptoed past the sleeping Rait, until one night disaster struck. Out of the library a few paces behind Young came the editor-in-chief John Wesley Dafoe. Young held the door open for Mr. Dafoe who, preoccupied with weighty matters, paid no attention to the door. It closed with a loud bang. Davy Rait awoke and screamed and shouted abuse at Dafoe’s back while the awestruck Young hid behind a counter. So convinced was Young by this exhibition of what he thought was “Macklin terror,” that for weeks afterwards he removed his shoes before tiptoeing past the sleeping Rait.

In January 2001, an MHS Centennial Business Award was presented to the Winnipeg Free Press by Sam Loschiavo.

Presidents

Period	President
1872-1893	William Fisher Luxton (1844-1907)
1893-1906	John Mather (1828-1907)
1906-1912	John Wright Sifton (1833-1912)
1912-1935	Edward Hamilton Macklin (1863-1946)
1936-1944	John Wesley Dafoe (1866-1944)
1944-1961	Wilfred Victor Sifton (1897-1961)
1961-1969	John Wright Sifton (1925-1969)
1969-1974	Richard Sankey Malone (1909-1985)
1974-1980	?
1980-?	R. H. Shelford

Vice-Presidents

Period	Vice-President
1951-1961	Richard Sankey Malone (1909-1985)

Publishers

Period	Publisher
1944-1961	Victor Sifton (1897-1961)
1961-1969	John Wright Sifton (1925-1969)
1969-1974	Richard Sankey Malone (1909-1985)
1974-1979	Richard C. Malone
1979-1987	Donald Nicol
1987-1989	Arthur Wood (c1926-2004)
1990-1992	Bruce LeRiche Rudd (1936-2000)
1992-1994	Maurice Switzer
1994-2003	Rudy Redekop
2003-2005	Murdoch Davis
2006-2007	Andrew S. Ritchie
2007-2022	Bob Cox

Editors-in-Chief / Executive Editor / Editor

Period	Editor-in-Chief / Executive Editor / Editor
1872-1893	William Fisher Luxton (1844-1907)
1893-1898	Frederick Edward Molyneux St. John (1838-1904)
1898-1901	Arnott James Magurn (1861-1923)
1901-1944	John Wesley Dafoe (1866-1944)
1944-1946	George Victor Ferguson (1897-1977)
1946-1954	Alexander Grant Dexter (1896-1961)
1954-1959	Thomas Worrall “Tom” Kent (1922-2011)
1959-1967	Shane MacKay (1926-2001)
1967-1979	Peter McLintock
1979-1993	See Managing Editors
1993-1996	Duncan McMonagle
1996-2005	Nicholas Hirst
2005-2007	Bob Cox
2007-2012	Margo Goodhand
2012-present	Paul Samyn

Associate Editors

Period	Associate Editor
1929-1931	Thomas Beattie Roberton (1879-1936)
1931-?	?
?-1946	Alexander Grant Dexter (1896-1961)
c1967	Maurice Western Peter McLintock

Managing Editors

Period	Managing Editor
?-1889	Archibald McNee (1845-1925)
1889-1944	?
1944-1950	Albert Ernest Horsemah “Abbie” Coo (1885-1967)
1944-1952	Edwin Elcome “Ted” Dafoe (1894-1981)
1952-1959	William Henry “Bill” Metcalfe (1906-1990)
1960-1975	Albert Boothe (1913-1985)
1975-1979	?
1979-1990	Murray Burt
1990-1993	David Clayton William “Dave” Lee (1946-2017)

City Editors

Period	City Editor
?-1914	Charles Victor Combe (1888-1953)
1914-1944	?
1944-1950	Edward Arthur Nicholson “Eddie/Ed” Armstrong (1904-1950)
1950-1960	?
1960-1965	Gordon Henderson Sinclair (1921-1976)
1965-?	?
?-?	Patrick Thomas “Pat” Flynn (1948-2012)
?-?	Maurice Gilbert “Buzz” Currie (1947-2022)

Editorial Page Editors

Period	Editorial Page Editor
1980-1995	John Dafoe
1995-?	Brian Cole
?-?	Terence “Terry” Moore

Sports Editors

Period	Sports Editor
1939-1944	Edward Arthur Nicholson “Eddie/Ed” Armstrong (1904-1950)

News Editors

Period	News Editor
?-?	Walter Frederick Payne (1863-1930)

Reporters/Journalists

Reporter/Journalist	Period	Title(s)
Jeffrey William Anderson (c1929-2014)	Late 1950s	Music Critic
Edward Arthur Nicholson “Eddie/Ed” Armstrong (1904-1950)	?-1939	Sports Reporter
Welford Beaton (1874-?)	1895-?
Madeleine Bernier (1920-2017)	?-?	Women's Page Editor
Mary Jane Bletcher (1913-1982)	?-?
David Reginald “Dave” Bonner (1928-2006)	1946-1978	News Photographer
Albert Boothe (1913-1985)	1975-1978	Consulting Editor
Jean Brown (1928-2022)	1952-1982	Society Page Editor, Women's Page Editor, Television Editor
James Gordon “Jim” Carr (1951-2022)	1992-1997	Editorial Writer
Lillian “Jimmy” Coo (1914-2005)	1937-1942, 1946-1947	Women's Sports
John Andrew Milton “Jam” Cook (1902-1963)	1940s	War Correspondent
Melvin Roy “Mel” Dagg (1931-2012)	1960s-1990s	Outdoor Writer, Columnist
Reynolds Leonard “Reyn” Davis (1943-2006)	?	Sportswriter
Olive Patricia Dickason (1920-2011)	?
Arthur Coates “Ace” Emmett (1872-1959)	?-?	Automotive Editor
Patrick Thomas “Pat” Flynn (1948-2012)	1981-2010	Night City Editor, Night News Editor, Deputy Editor, Travel Editor
Max Freedman (1914-1980)	1946-1953
Larry Joseph Geller (1937-2005)	1970-1977	Columnist
Marjorie McGillivray “Marj” Gillies (1923-2020)	?
James Henry Gray (1906-1998)	1935-1947
Albert Burton Gresham (1905-1941)	?-?
George Henry Ham (1847-1926)	1875-1879
Michael Harris	?-1960	Labour Reporter
Katherine Simpson “Kate” Hayes (1855-1945)	1899-?
Shaun Herron (1912-1989)	1965-1976	Editorial Writer
Ella Cora Hind (1861-1942)	1901-?	Agricultural Reporter
Nancy Bisset Kennedy (1912-2005)	1930s	Columnist
Vincent “Vince” Leah (1913-1993)	1980-1993	Columnist
Florence Hamilton Randal Livesay (1875-1953)	1906-?	Women's and Children's Departments
Frederick McGregor “Fred” Marter (1886-1954)	1916-1920	Telegraph Editor
Harold Ralph Maybank (1890-1965)	1919-?
Peter McClintock	1967-1980	Consulting Editor
William Henry “Bill” Metcalfe (1906-1990)	1931-1940
Harold Henry Moore (1877-1971)	1920-1946
Frank Morriss (c1907-1972)	1928-1959	News Copy Editor
Roger Newman (1935-2021)	1960-1965	Legislative Reporter and Financial Editor
Robert William “Bob” Noble (1901-1994)	1950-?	Culture Reporter
Elizabeth Fulton “The Bookman” Parker (1856-1944)	1904-1940
Edith V. Paterson (1905-1995)	1958-1976	Reporter, Columnist
Philip Purcell (1865-1939)	1912-1917	Telegraph Editor
Katherine Gloria Queen-Hughes (1909-1978)	1927-1928	Sports Reporter
Bill Redekop	?
Lindor Marion Rose Heuvel Reynolds (c1958-2014)	1994-2014	Columnist
Heather Margaret Robertson (1942-2014)	?
John Robertson (1934-2014)	1956-?, 1986-1987
John Palmerston Robertson (1841-1919)	1881-1884
Hope Fleming McKenzie Ross (1866-1942)	1903-1942	Railway reporter, financial editor, church editor
Frances Russell (1941-2022)	1981-1999	Political columnist
Télesphore Saint Pierre (1869-1912)	?
Garth Ross Taylor (1922-2002)	?	News Editor
Eugene Louis “Gene” Telpner (1920-2005)	14 years
Claire Tisdale Street (1917-?)	?-?, ?-1981
Valentine “Val” Werier (1917-2014)	1980-?

Miscellaneous Executives

Executive	Period	Position
A. George Cowan (1876-1970)	1891-1964	Circulation Manager
William Lord (1892-1960)	?-1946	Business Manager
	1946-1957	General Manager
John Beaufort Somerset (1843-1901)	1893-1901	Secretary-Treasurer

See Also

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Free Press Building (300 Carlton Street, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Lyon Block / Aikins Block / Bate Block (221 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: John Wesley Dafoe Plaque (1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg)

Sources:

“Davis named Free Press publisher,” Winnipeg Free Press, 19 July 2003, page 1.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 2 January 2023