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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance Times, 1935-05-16, Page 8PACC:t#, I IC 71s175? 47 1 11 HISTORICAL, I .EVIG W OF THE TOWN OF WINGHAM ehursclay, May 16th, 1935 The High School, Wingham, Ont. WINGHAIVI EDUCATION- ALLY Is Learning your .ambition?there is no Royal Road, Alike, the peer and peasant, rnnst climb to her abode, Who feels a thirst for knowledge in Helicon can slake it, If be has still the Roman will—to find a way or make it. • • Wingham Public School Long before our Public School was .established there were three .Private Schools in:Wingliatn. One was con- ducted by Mrs. Oglvie Varney, an- other by kers. Ellen Spence, and the third by Miss Murphy ---Sister of the Rev. William Murphy of the Anglican Church. ].1'Iiss Murphy's little school room Was over Abram's shoe shop, on Victoria Street. However in the, year 1863 or '64, the first Public School was built on the property now ,occupied by Mr. H. C. MacLean and Mr. A. E. Lloyd, on the corner of John and Leopold Streets. I am sire that many will remember that frame buildin„ Mr. Mundell was- the first Teacher and had as his assistant Mrs. Ellen Spence. Then there were Charles and Farquar Stewart, and a retired soldier by the name of Molesworth. Mr. Molesworth's nose had been shot- off and his sight and hearing tt;ere af- fected, His stay was sliort as the Pupils were too in=ch for him. Mr. George Henderson, who later on was Proprietor of the Conirncrciai. Hotel in Seaforth, was the next teacher. Mr. James Ferguson followed. Mr. Hend- erson and.taught for malty years-in •fart until the new and present school was built. This was in 1878. The old school was mored to where otir pre- sent Town Hall stands and was used as a Town Hall, until the present one was built in 1890. The old Town Hall was then sold to the Temperance So- ciety and moved over on Edward Street and was used as a Temperance Hall. Later it was sold to William Armour and Was used as an egg em- porium. Part of it—the old Wing,, is used now as Fire Hall and Tower, However, to continue with the story of our new School (the present ane). It is one of the `best equipped, steam THE LATE ARCHIBALD FISHER With his brother, Peter, established I the first mills in .Lower Wingham, selling out to L. McLean and son, J. A. Mr. Fisher moved to Paisley where he built a Flour and Saw Mill, carrying on this business with his son until the time of his death some few years ago. His son and partner also died -last fall. 1.04S'•:' Xr4: ° CUT RATE PRICES Wingham's Bright, Sanitary and Modern Grocery The store that is always brimful of Fresh Re-. Table and Dependable lines of well known Brands, put up by firms who have a reputation Greatest Weekly Specials Always THAT DEFY ALL COMPETITION Iowa 1 heated schools in .Ontario. It is a two storey brick building and pres- ents a beautiful appearance on the corner of Jolin and Frances Streets. There ,are many beautiful shade trees and plenty of room for all sorts of diversions and athletics. ' Mr, 1i. l*;. Groves, son':of the late James Groves and brothel• of our for Town • Clerk; John F. Groves, of .Toronto, succeeded Mr. Ferguso'ti. He later resigned to take charge of Ry- erson ' School, in Toronto, as Princi- pal. He, held this position until the tine of his death, I--Iis wife, who also Was a Teacher, Was honoured. by the naming of a school in her honor The Edith L. Groves Memorial School. Mr, A, H. ' Musgrove (our present Postmaster) was the next Principal. He taitght for eighteen years, -but resigned in the year 1908 to contest the North Huron Provinc ial Election, for the' Conservative Par- ty. Mr, Joseph Stalker who Was the next'Principal:appointed, proved very efficient. Mr. Stalker was followed by Mr. A. L. Posiiff, who : taught for three years. In 1916 he a'sked for leave of absence and enlisted in the Great War. During his absence Miss Maud Brock, acted as Principal. Miss Brock was one of the most capable teachers Wingham ever had and was' beloved by all the boys and girls. Mr. Posliff served in the War for three years' and when he returned again took up his duties :and is the present THE LATE RICHARD CLEGG 'Who was one of. Wingham's well known Furniture Manufacturers.. was. Miss'Ivlaiy Fisher (now Mrs. Al- exander, residing in Victoria, B.C.) and daughter of the late Mr. Archi- bald Fisher. 'Mr, Alexander Walker. was next engaged and taught for four years. He resigned and became a Vet- erinary Surgeon .with William Ridd. Mr, W. E. Groves who later was Principal of the new Public School was next engaged and taught from The Public School, Wingham, Ont. Principal of the School, "Alf". as :he•. is familiarly known to many, is an example well to be copied by his pup- ils—both in manner and life. His ef- ficiency and..kind manner have donee ranch to make the children love him. Mention should be made here of two other assistants in aur present school, namely, Miss B. Reynolds and Miss C. Farquharson.. The boy or girl who has been fortunate enough to have been guided by these two l painstaking Teachers have indeed much for which to be thankful. I am sure that nowhere in the Province will you find teachers who have given so much of their time and knowledge.. "The room displays Long rows of desk and bench; the former stained And streaked with blots and trickles of dried ink, Lumbered with maps and slates, and well thumbed books, Anil carved with rude initials." Street. The Lower Town School The first Baptist Church was purr chased and 'was used as a school- house by the Trustees of Lower :Wingham. School was opened in the year 1875, on i,rebr•nary 15th. An Ir- ishman by the nanee of Mooney was the :first teacher. The next teacher WE KEEP DOWN THE UP -KEEP YOU GET YOUR WEIGHT HERE Phone 17 —• We Deliver, Gurney Block, Opposite Merkley's Garage THE BUSIEST CORNER OF THE PAST TO BE THE BUSIEST IN THE FUTURE. M11. A. H. MUSGP.OVg Postmaster of Wingham, Ex-P1•in- eipal of Wingliatn Public School and Eye-M,P.P, for North Huron. 1881 t� 1885. Then followed Mt. .Rob- ert Montgomery, Mr, W.. E. Harper and Mr, T. C. Graham. After that came Miss Kate Eadie, Messrs, John S. Anderson, Win. Hartley, McFad- den and Hogarth, Barton, Miss Isa- bel Johnston, Messrs. Fred and Harry Ansley, Miss Nellie Beckett, Miss Laura Ansley, IV'Iiss C, J. Brock, Miss C. G. Sherriff, Miss L. V. Johns, Miss M. • Walsh, Miss Uldenc McLean; Messrs. R. C. MeLean, H. B. McIn- tyre, Hector Mutton, Miss Bone, Miss Martin, Miss McCoy, Mr. Archie Montgomery and Mr. Alan Finlayson. The present teacher is, Mr, Fralick. The Wingham High School "Learning by study, must be won; 'Twas ne'er entailed from sire to son." bridge University, England. He is earning for himself many .laurels and is a credit to his teachers' at .Wing - ham High School, Bill's father is a' metiiber of the Board of Education. There are -many. anany' .others whom I might mention. ---but space will not permit Mr, W. Stanley Hall. followed Mr. Brackenbury-n September, 1934+ -and from all accounts be is .striving to keep the reputation of the school uli to Grade A. Wingham Business College At one time Wingham colud boast of having two Business Colleges. One was the McLaughlin Business College on the third floor of the MacDonald Block, and the other, our present. one, Spotton's Businss College. Mr. Geo,. Spotton, M.P., is the President of the College, which is situated in the Mey- er Block, On the 24th pf May it will be thirty years old. Here, the art of. bookkeeping,typing and shorthand, are taught, Many graduates of this College have been placed' in .respon- sible position throughout Canada. THE WINGHAM POST OFFICE The first. Post •:Office in Wingham was on Victoria Street, near Joseph- rue. Mr. Edward Foley .was the first Postmaster. The Post Office was Moved to Lower Wingham, and then moved. again to the corner of Leopold arid Victoria Streets, (in_ the house now occupied 'by the plisses Margar- et and Marjory Fisher). Mr: Peter Fisher was the next Postmaster and held this position for forty-eight years -until the time of his death. The Post Office rims again moved and this time it was to where Mr. Robinson, at present; has his implement shop. Then it was moved to the MacDonald Block. All these places had cramped quarters, and that was the reason that the Office had been moved so often. The Government decided to build a new one and this was done in the year 11907, by the late Samuel Cooper, Con- tractor. It was built on the beautiful (grounds where the late Mr. Benjamin Wilson's residence stood, on Mani i Street. It is an up-to-date building !with Custom Office attached. A pic- iture of the lost Office will be found i. n this paper. After Mr. Fisher's death, in 1914, the late Mr. C. N, Griffin was appoint- ed. Postomaster. Mr. A .H. Musgrove was made Postmaster after the death of Mr. Griffin, and is still carrying on very capably: Miss M, E. Fisher is Assistant Pcistminstress. Miss Fisher las gained many friends through her courteous and efficient manner to the >ublic. 'Mr. William Fraser is the pre - sett Customs Officer. Wingham F•I.igl.t School is built On the hill, on Carling Terrace; on land purchased :from the late Mr. John•Ar- inour and the 13urwash Estate. It was erected in the year. 1906, It is well built, steam heated, and has electric lights. There is a good sized. campus' and room in the -basement for Physi- cal training. The School which is three stories high, has• a Laboratory,. si.x.roo ns and an. Assembly Hall. The staff is second to none in Ontario, Many a clever boy and girl, educated bete, is now carrying on his or her chosen ;profession. Mr. J; A. Taylor was the first Principal of the High Sebool-fulfilling his duties for four and a half years. Mr, 3, G. Workman followed Mr. 'Taylor and acted as Principal for four months. Mr. 5, C. Smith was eirgagecl January lst, 1911. and continued until June, •1913, 'T'hen followed Mx. Ricker for two years incl Mi J R. Smith for three years Mr.. J, A. Anderson acted as Principal for one year and was followed by W, H. Houser who held this position until June 80th,' 1920. Miss Hamilton was engaged' front September 1st,; 1920, to November1st, 1920 and then the High Schaal Board engaged Mr. G. I... l3rackenbirry. Mr. Brackenbury taught until Jut=e 30t1,. 1984. He gave, of his best and many a student will remem- ber him tts a faithful, kind, and very efficient ;teacher. l: 'might intention here, one foraner student of Mr. Braekenbury°s- ",Bill" Henderson, son of Wm. Henderson, of 'Wingham Junction. Bill won a scholarship to "Queens U11iverslty" at Itingston „and thenwon a seliolarsiti,p,' which made it possible foto him to .attend Cam - THE WINGHAM ARENA Wingham can boast of having one of the finest arenas in this part of the Province. The ice space is seventy feet wide by one hundred and seven- ty-five feet long. It has a seating ca- pacity of twelve hundred people. There are twenty-two lights of 250 candle power each. It was built in the year 1924, and is a credit to the community and a joy to the children. The Arena is situated on the corner of Victoria Street and Diagonal Road. The Wingham Curling Rink The Wingham Curling Rinlc was built not many years ago, on Main Street. The Club have nice recreation rooms, three sheets of ice and a good- ly merribership. WINGHAM CITIZEN'S BAND Wingham has been fortunate in,al- ways having a first class Brass Band. At one time we could boast of having two bands. That was when the Bell Factory Company had one of their own. Many of our old timers have been connected with the Bancl at one time or another. At the 'present time, The Band is composed of eighteen members, and have as their leader, Mi•. A. Schatte. The Late Dr. Thomas 'Chisholm Ek-M.P. for North Huron; The Post Office, Wingham, Ont. One of the oldest members of the Band; now living in town, is Mr. Fred, Johnston. The Band is assisted ancially by a grant from the Town Council. The Band is a credit to .tlie Town, and the men look quite smart in their navy blue uniforms. Allow me to name some of the past leaders of Wingham Citizens' Band: Profes- sor Kay Sam, Merrifield, George Whitely; F. Billingsly, Mr. Hinkley, Mr. Willis, George Wright, Spurg. Shepherd, James Duncan, Mr. Tanner, Addison Hingston, and the present leader, Mr. Adolph Schatte. The Band has its regular Friday night concert in the Park during the summer months, TURNBERRY AGRI• - CULTURAL SOCIETY- The Turnberry Agricultural Society was formed in the early sixties. Grounds were selected -on what was then known as the Victoria Square in Lower tiV'ingharn—where the annual Fain could be held. In the eighties it was decided to move the Fair Grounds to where the C. P. R. station now stands. However, on the advent of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1887, the Society again moved, to the grounds known as the Gregory Prair- ie. It was found that the ground was nut suitable and another move was made. This time it was. to the Driv- ing Park, across the River from the old Salt Block. In the early days Wingham was noted far a number of .fine race horses, among them Harold H. and Darky Hal, owned by the late Mr. J. E. Swarts, proprietor of the Queen's Hotel. A life-size painting of each of these horses may be seen hanging in the rotunda of the Queen's Hotel, at thepresent time. The Driv- ing Park was a half mile track and one of the fastest tracks of its size, Eventually horse racing, was abanbon- ed here and the Track and grounds were neglected. The Agricultural So- ciety moved again and this, time it was to where they had held their first Fairs. This is' still our Fair Grounds, and here the Turnberry Agricultural Society, hold their Exhibitions, each Fall of the year. - Beautiful- stone Gates were erected, by the Women's Institute and the Township of Turnberry, at the en- trance of the grounds—in proud and loving memory ofthose men of Turn- berry who died in the Great War. THE LATE LAUCHLIN McLEAN Who was a native of the Isle of Mull, Scotland ,and later of Bras -Dore in Cape Breton. He settled in Kinloss Township, in 1854, and came to Wing - ham in the early sixties, where he was engaged in the Lumber Business all was considered at that time as being 'his life, . Mli.MilERESTSSEMINEEntireEr he ILevale Creamery — And The. — yVingham Produce Phone 609 - 4. Phone 90. ARE CASH BUYERS OF CREAM EGGS PSULT'Y Bluevale a rand Crearnery Butter TRY OUR PASTEURIZED MILL CREAM, GUARANTEED TO WHIP s Cultured buttermilk Just Like the Old Fashioned Kind H. 1. THOMSON GEO. THOMSON