A builder named Henri Soucisse

© 2026, Christian Cassidy

I came across the name Henri Soucisse during my King’s Hotel research. He was the contractor who was issued the building permit for the hotel in 1903. 

According to the city's historic building report for the hotel, written in 2007, not a lot is known about Soucisse. Aside from the King's Hotel in 1903, "his name only appears on three permits between 1899 and 1913 (this hotel and two houses which he owned, designed and built, one on Osborne Street [1900] and one on Good Street [1903])." 

This gives the impression that he may have been a small-time builder and perhaps the King's was his crowning achievement. Yet, his obituary notes that, "As a contractor and builder he was well-known all throughout the West...”

How can this be when his name appears on so few building permits? 

It turns out that Soucisse often worked in partnerships, and some of his largest works were in other cities and towns.

Bird's Eye view of Winnipeg, 1881

Joseph-Henri Soucisse was born in St Anne Des Plaines, Quebec, on October 18, 1844, and came to Manitoba from Montreal in 1878, four years before the arrival of the CPR.

The first newspaper mention of Soucisse is in December 1882, when he launched a $96 lawsuit against the city for injuries to his horse after it fell into an excavation hole in the roadway at Bannatyne Avenue and Rorie Street that he claimed wasn't properly marked.

The city was slow to respond, and in January 1883, bailiffs seized the furniture in the city clerk's office. The city appealed the ruling and the outcome of the case is unknown.

At the time, Soucisse was working construction and living in a suite in Caldwell's Block, a three-storey mixed-use building at Main and McDermot (now demolished). 

Soucisse began working for the firm J. E. Gelley and Company by 1883. 

He also became a Justice of the Peace for Winnipeg from 1884 to at least 1888.

December 29, 1883, Le Manitoba

Joseph E. Gelley was born in Levis, Quebec and can first be found in the street directory of 1882, the data for which would have been compiled in 1881, as a partner in the construction firm Grant and Gelley.

Gelley must have had great political connections and a good reputation in the construction industry from his home province, as just a couple of years after arriving, he and Soucisse were working on the city's highest-profile public buildings.

The above item in Le Manitoba newspaper of December 29, 1883, notes that a federal government architect came to visit Gelley and Soucisse to tour several government projects they were working on that would open over the next couple of years. These included the new Dominion Post Office, a new Manitoba legislature, and the completion of Government House after the original contractor failed.

North-West Territorial Jail and Lunatic Asylum (Source)

Soucisse married Geraldine Chenet in St. Mary's church in October 1885. The couple's honeymoon was a temporary move to Regina, where Gelley and Soucisse were building a new Dominion Post Office, the North-West Territorial Jail and Lunatic Asylum, and the NWMP main drill hall in the Queen City.

They remained busy on the home front as well, with the aforementioned public buildings in Winnipeg, a new sanctuary for St. Mary's Church, and a 45 ft x 85 ft church at St. Pierre-Jolys. 

In April 1887, Soucisse & Co. was formed. The "and Company" was his wife Geraldine.

This was likely due to Gelley taking contracts to help build railway branch lines and spending more time prospecting in the Lake of the Woods region. He relocated to Notre Dame des Lourdes, where he died in 1897. 

It's unclear how busy Soucisse &Co. was, as the only newspaper mention of him is a contract to build a 40 x 54 foot extension to the Selkirk Asylum in 1888.

Soucisse creditor notices

Working for himself was a personal and financial disaster for Soucisse.

The Montana Farmer and Stock Journal of September 8, 1888, reported that “H. Soucisse, the well known contractor of Winnipeg, has skipped to the States leaving numerous creditors…. There was a large number of unpaid workmen.”  The skip was short-lived as later that month, a notice to Soucisse's creditors appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press seeking claims that had to be settled. 

Due to the bad publicity, Soucisse relocated to Montreal. Back in May 1895, he had created a construction business with Pacifique Brouillette. He must have spent some time there as census records show that his two youngest children were born in the province around 1895. 

By January 1898, Soucisse & Brouillette was declared insolvent and its creditors lined up. 

Soucisse then appears to have spent the remainder of 1898 in St. Paul, Minnesota as a house builder and carpenter.

 

1901 Census of Canada, Library and Archives Canada

The 1901 census shows that the family returned to Manitoba. This entry has them living together in the Provencher / St. Boniface area. There is no street address, so it may have been a rural property.

(According to Soucisse's obituary, he was married twice, and Victor, born in 1887, was his son from his first marriage. If this is the case, his second wife's first name was also Geraldine.)

Soucisse kept a low profile and his days of building large government projects were over. According to the city and newspaper items, he built a couple of houses, did the woodwork in another one, and replaced the facade on the Windsor / Manwin Hotel.

The only large contract he received seems to have been the Richelieu / King's, Hotel at 114 Higgins Avenue. There was a French community connection there, as the hotel's owner was Joseph Napoleon "Nap" Levesque.

1906 Henderson's Street Directory of Winnipeg

The first Winnipeg street directory mention of the Soucisse family comes in the 1905 edition, the data for which would have been compiled in 1904. They live at 178 Good Street (now demolished), a house that Soucisse built.

The following year shows that Soucisse was in partnership with Henry Maranada of 558 Ross Street, and they had a work yard at 220 McDermot Avenue.

Sacred Heart Church with school likely at rear, ca. 1950 (Source: WSD)

The firm Maranda Bros., the predecessor to Soucisse and Maranada, got the contract to construct Église du Sacré-Cœur /Sacred Heart Church on the south west corner of Bannatyne Avenue at Lydia Street in April 1905. It was a Roman Catholic church to serve Winnipeg's French-speaking population. Though this is before Soucisse joined him, the time needed to construct such a substantial building, which was officially dedicated in late December 1905, likely meant he worked on it.

The only project noted in newspapers specifically built by Maranda and Soucisse was École Sacré-Coeur, which was a two-storey plus basement building that measured 120 feet x 54 feet, constructed next to the church in 1906. (It's unclear in the image above if it is at the back of the church or the building to the right of it.)

The church and school were torn down starting in June 1992. 

This was certainly the last substantial project for Soucisse, who was now in his early sixties.

1906 Census of Canada, Library and Archives Canada

The 1906 Census of the Prairie Provinces shows the family at home on Good Street. 

The Soucisse name then disappears from the Winnipeg street directory for a couple of years. He and Geraldine relocated to Lorne Street in Regina in the summer of 1907 where their son, Vincent, lived and worked as a sign painter.
 
They returned to the city in 1909, and Henri died at 260 Beacon Street on March 10, 1909, age 65. His obituary noted that he had been in ill health for some time.

Partial Buildingography

Gelley & Co. / Gelley and Soucisse
1883 - Manitoba Parliament / Legislature (Mar 13, 1884, Wpg Free Press)
1883 - Completion of Government House / Lt.-Gov residence (Jan 24, 1884, Wpg Daily Sun)
1884 - New church for St. Pierre Jolys (St. Pierre-Joly history book, p.8)
1885 - Sanctuary, St. Mary's Church, Winnipeg (Nov 5, 1885, Wpg Free Press Weekly)
1885 - Dominion Post Office, Regina (Korvemaker Inventory and Dom p112)
1885 - Dominion Post Office, Winnipeg (Dec 18, 1886, Wpg Free Press and Dom p. 109)
1886 - North-West Territorial Jail and Lunatic Asylum, Regina (Korvemaker NWT Jail and Dom p112)
1886 - NWMP Riding School and Drill Hall # 1 (Korvemaker Inventory)

Soucisse & Co.
1887 - Extension to Selkirk Asylum (Aug 4, 1887, Wpg Free Press Weekly)

Henri Soucisse
1887 - 1900 - Various houses and renovations  in Quebec and Minnesota
1900 - Two-storey brick veneer house on Osborne Street (Dec 22, 1900, Morning Telegram)
1903 - House at 178 Good Street (Winnipeg historic buildings report)
1903 - Richelieu / King's Hotel at 114 Higgins Avenue (Winnipeg historic buildings report)
1904 - New façade to Windsor / Manwin Hotel at 655 Main Street (Jun 1, 1904, Wpg Free Press)
1904 - Carpentry work for  J. C. Scott home at 200 Colony Street (Jun 1, 1904, Wpg Free Press)
1904 - House for Isaic Lavoie, Provencher Avenue (Aug 31, 1904, Le Manitoba)

Soucisse & Maranda
1905 - Sacred Heart Church (Apr 04, 1905, Winnipeg Tribune)
1906 - Sacred Heart School, Bannatyne Avenue (Dec 06, 1906, Winnipeg Free Press)

Abbreviations:
Korvemaker Inventory = Frank Korvemaker - Inventory of North-West Territorial Governmental Buildings in Saskatchewan
Korvemaker NWT Jail = Frank Korvemaker - Summary Report for the North-West Territorial Jail and Lunatic Asylum, Regina
Dom = Sessional Paper, Dominion of Canada Vol. 10

New development for West Broadway, and farewell to Dr. M. Ellen Douglass House

 © 2026, Christian Cassidy

130 Sherbrook Street - now and future

Big changes are likely coming to West Broadway as one of its last intact blocks of houses loses a few houses for a big, new development.

The proposed seven-storey, mixed-use building combines four lots, 124-136 Sherbrook Street, into a single lot known as 130 Sherbrook Street. Initially, the applicant’s plans called for 102 dwelling units (38 of them affordable housing units) and seven commercial spaces on the ground floor. They had to return to the city in February 2026 to request a variance to reduce the number of affordable housing units down to 18. 

1911 Henderson's Winnipeg Street Directory

The "pioneer" of these four houses was 136 Sherbrook, built in the late 1890s for real estate agent Coldwell  Graham. It was the only structure on the entire block for several years.

The other three houses were built around 1905. One of the first to be completed was that of Franklin W. Henry, a real estate developer. The 1911 directory, which would have been compiled in 1910, shows all of the houses built and two of the four, 126 and 136, housed physicians.

Douglass, foreground, with reservists in 1916. (Archives of Manitoba - Foote Collection)

One of those physicians was Dr. M. Ellen Douglass of 136 Sherbrook, who both lived and practiced from here. Her classified ads read: “Formerly of New York Infirmary for Women and Children, specialist — obstetrics, diseases of women and children.”

Douglass was a strong advocate for women's health and education for disadvantaged or handicapped children, and was a member of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, the Women’s Canadian Club, the University Women’s Club and the St. John’s Ambulance Association. She hosted many organizing meetings and other events for these groups at the house.

During the First World War, Douglass raised the Winnipeg Women’s Volunteer Reserve, which eventually consisted of around 600 members. They learned to shoot, practice self-defence, and do first aid, and were willing to go to the front if called upon. (Several women used the training to sign up to work in hospitals and administrative roles, but the Reserve itself was never called on.)

Douglass died at this house in July 1950. The next day, the Free Press paid tribute to her in an editorial: “There are streets in this city, not rich streets, obscure, quiet streets where the name of Ellen Douglass is held in such affection that it reaches to something like worship. With Dr. Douglass there passes from the city a flavour, a comeliness, a grace which will not come again.”

For more about the indomitable Dr. Douglass, I wrote about her in detail here.

Google Street View

Sherbrook Street's low-density residential origins have always faced the pressures of also being a major traffic route.

A streetcar line ran down Sherbrook Street between Portage to Notre Dame starting in 1900, and was the only north-south service after Main Street. This made its major intersections, Portage, Ellice, Sargent, and Notre Dame, major commercial hubs that grew over the decades and spilled into houses along the street.

Sherbrook Street was the favoured location of a new civic pool in 1931. The hospitals at each end of it, Misericordia and Health Sciences Centre, ate up dozens of houses along the street through their various expansions.

September 23, 1955, Winnipeg Free Press

For the blocks of Sherbrook Street south of Broadway, the biggest changes came starting in the 1950s as the city struggled to keep up with the increasing amount of traffic heading to and from its new suburbs every day.

In a bid to eliminate traffic jams crossing the Maryland Bridge every day, the downtown one-way street system was extended to the neighbourhood in 1956. Sherbrook and Mayland were made one-ways in opposite directions. A new, dual-span Maryland Bridge opened in 1969 and 1970, with the northbound bridge using Sherbrook Street to funnel cars and buses into the city's core. 

This made this stretch of Sherbrook was now a major thoroughfare, and many houses were bulldozed to make way for commercial buildings. For many others, they became commercial properties, sometimes extending a commercial front to them that stretched to the sidewalk. (In fact, most of the houses on this block are commercial, not residential.)

This development pressure has continued in the 2020s, and four more buildings that provided a hint about Sherbrook Street's residential past will soon be gone.

Updated to note that the house have been torn down already.

The Manwin Hotel's ghost images

Something I have been curious about ever since the Manwin Hotel was demolished are the "ghost images" left on the south wall of the neighbouring Calder Block. 

The top row of the image above shows the empty lot and the south wall of the Calder Block. You can see windows and possibly a back side entrance outside the yellow line I drew. 

Looking back, I found that these windows were definitely part of the Manwin Hotel, as it opened in 1889 and the Calder Block didn't come along to block them off until 1912. The drawing of the original footprint of the Calder Block (Bottom right) shows that it followed the Manwin Hotel right to the back lane.

To further confirm that it was the Calder Block that caused these windows and doorway to be filled in, if you look at the 1906 Gibson postcard image on the bottom row, you will see what predated the Calder Block was a ramshackle single-storey building.

That building's outline appears to also be ghosted into the side of the Caldwell Block as the lighter portion inside the yellow line? I assume when it was demolished, it left something on the side of the Manwin that then got transferred to the Caldwell.

It’s impossible to tell when this smaller building was constructed. Street directories show that the address 661 Main Street was first used around 1890, the year after the Manwin opened. It was Peter Minuk’s Fruit Shop until around 1905, just before that postcard photo was taken, then it became Benjamin Cockshott’s real estate office and bookseller.

Ellice and Arlington's century-long gas station tradition to continue

© 2026, Christian Cassidy

January / February 2026

The nearly century-long tradition of a gas station being located at Ellice Avenue and Arlington Street is set to resume after more than a year's absence as Bunty’s, a.k.a. the “Chicken Car Wash”, is getting set to open Esso pumps. 

Here's a look back at the gas station history of  the intersection:

The first filling station to open at this intersection was a McColl-Frontenac in late 1928 at the SE corner. You can read more about the station's (and company's) transition from an M-C to a Texaco here.

“Peak gas station” came by the 1960s when three of the four corners had one. There was Leach's Auto Service (Texaco) on the SE corner, Ken’s Esso Service Station on the NE corner, and Shell Oil Service Station on the SW corner.

The Texaco closed in the early 1980s.

Shell Oil built a new, expanded service station in 1966. Thawani Enterprises applied for rezoning to change the building into a laundry, car wash and convenience store in November 1989. That store was put up for sale / lease in 1991 and became a Bread Basket Discount Bakery.

Bunty's, which has an Ellice Avenue address despite facing Arlington Street, dates back to at least 2001. The original owner put this location up for sale in 2019 to concentrate on his original location, Walia’s, on Isabel Street.

November 4, 2024, C. Cassidy

The Esso became a Mohawk Oil (Husky) Service Station by 1979. Husky was bought out by Co-op in 2023, and the new owner opted not to keep this location. It closed in the fall of 2024 and was demolished by early November. For the first time in 96 years, there was no gas to be had at Ellice and Arlington!

Celebrating Manitoba Black History

Over the years, I have written about many prominent people and places that celebrate the history of Manitoba's Black community. Here are the links all in one place!

At the Black History Manitoba website, you can find out more about upcoming events and projects. 

Hewburn Nathaniel Greenidge (1893-1921) came to Winnipeg in 1913 to enroll at the Manitoba Medical College. The war interrupted his studies, but in 1920, he became the first Black to graduate from the University of Manitoba and Manitoba's first Black doctor.

- H. N. Greenidge: Manitoba's first Black doctor West End Dumplings

Norman and Sarah Lewsey came to Winnipeg from Guyana in 1908. They raised a large family and welcomed many newcomers from their home country as lodgers in their home. 

- Norman and Sarah Lewsey West End Dumplings

Percy Haynes (1911-1992) is one of my favourite personalities from Winnipeg's past. He was a star athlete, celebrated musician, the first Black to serve in the Royal Canadian Navy, and an all-around community leader. He is best remembered for Haynes' Chicken Shack, the long-time Lulu Street restaurant / night spot that played host to the likes of Harry Belafonte and Oscar Peterson.

- Percy Haynes West End Dumplings (an expanded version in the Free Press)
- 257 Lulu Street Winnipeg Places
- Farewell to 257 Lulu Street West End Dumplings

Billy Beal (1874-1968) was a Renaissance man who settled in the Swan River region in 1906. He was the long-time secretary of the local school division, an amateur astronomer, the doctor's helper, and ran the region's first library using his own vast collection of books.

- Swan River's Billy Beal (an expanded version in the Free Press)
- Every inch a Gentleman Winnipeg Free Press
- On the trail of Billy Beal West End Dumplings

George Beckford (1890-1976) seemed reluctant to become a railway porter, one of the few jobs dominated by Blacks in early Winnipeg. In the end, he spent 34 years with the CNR and became a respected local labour leader.

- Labour Leader George Beckford
- Longtime porter became labour leader, pillar of black community Winnipeg Free Press

Reverend Dr. Joseph T. Hill (1877-1949) was a southern American preacher who spent many summers as a popular guest preacher at predominantly white churches in Winnipeg in the 1920s and 1940s. He is credited with founding Pilgrim Baptist, Winnipeg's first Black church.

- Rev. J. T. Hill, his Winnipeg summers, and the founding of Pilgrim Baptist Church

Winnipeg's Aaron Black Jr. (1945- ) is often overlooked when celebrating early Black hockey pioneers, largely because he spent his career in the WHA, not the NHL. He is considered the second Black professional hockey player and the first to score a hat trick at the pro level.

- Aaron Black Jr.: The second Black professional hockey player

Photographer L. B. Foote took this photo of the Railway Porters' Band of Winnipeg on the front steps of the Bank of Montreal Building at Portage and Main in 1922. I was curious to find out the backstory of what turned out to be a short-lived part of Winnipeg's musical history.

- Behind the Photo: Railway Porters' Band of Winnipeg West End Dumplings

The nondescript Craig Block on Main Street is one of the few remaining buildings directly associated with Winnipeg's early Black community. In 1922, it became home of the locally organized Order of Sleeping Car Porters, which some claim is the first Black union in North America. Other Black organizations joined it and the building became a community hub.

- Craig Block, 795 Main Street Winnipeg Places

Many Black celebrities have dropped in on Winnipeg over the decades. Here is the backstory of some of these visits.

- Duke Ellington, Omar Williams, and their Banning St. jam session West End Dumplings
- The day Sammy Davis Jr. came to town West End Dumplings
- Jesse Owens at Osborne Stadium (an expanded version in the Free Press)

H. N. Greenidge: Manitoba's first Black doctor

 © 2026, Christian Cassidy. Please respect my research.

May 20, 1920, Winnipeg Tribune

Hewburn Nathaniel "Hubert" Greenidge made Manitoba history three times. Once in 1913, when he became the first Black student to enroll at the Manitoba Medical College, again in 1920 when he became the first Black student to graduate from any of the University of Manitoba's colleges. As a medical graduate, he also became Manitoba's first Black doctor.

Greenidge was here for a short time, and sadly had a short life, but he relied on a network of friends, family, and expats from his home country to achieve his goals.

Here's a look back at his story. For more of my Black History Month posts.

October 15, 1913, Winnipeg Free Press

A small item in the Winnipeg Tribune of October 13, 1913, noted that earlier that day, the "Manitoba Medical College has its first negro student, H. J. Greenridge (sic), a native of British Guiana." A couple of days later, the Winnipeg Free Press said he was the first Black student to enroll at any of the U of M's colleges, though the present-day U of M does not claim the first to enroll, just the first to graduate.

The Manitoba Medical College building he attended still stands on Bannatyne Avenue, now known as the Medical Services building.  

Greenidge was born in Georgetown, the capital of British Guiana (known as Guyana since 1966), on November 1, 1893. This family post on Instagram says he was the eldest of seven children and that the "four oldest were sent to Canada to live with their mother’s sisters who had emigrated from Barbados in the 1890s."

It is unclear when the Greenidge children came to this country. That last name cannot be found in Canadian census records of 1906 or 1911. 

As a young man, Greenidge traveled to England, where he attended extension lectures at the Cambridge College of Preceptors. He opted to enroll at the Manitoba Medical College to "see what Winnipeg had to offer". 

Greendige's first Winnipeg workplace and Lewsey, his first landlord

Greenidge's name appears for the first time in Winnipeg in the 1913 edition of Henderson's Street Directory, the data for which would have been compiled in 1912. His occupation is listed as a shoe shiner at the Sterling Bank Barber Shop. It was owned by E. L. Doerr and located in the basement of the newly opened Sterling Bank Building on Portage Avenue.

As for his place of residence, Greenidge is renting a room in a duplex located at 526 Simcoe Street in the West End. The owner of the house was Norman B. Lewsey, who also worked as a shoe shiner at Sterling and lived there with his wife and two children.

Lewsey was a former sergeant in the British Guiana police force who came to Winnipeg in 1908. At whatever house the family lived at, they always took in boarders to help pay the bills and be a welcoming presence for new immigrants. (Read more about Lewsey here.)

936 Alexander in the 1916 Census of Canada (Library and Archives Canada)

In the 1915 street directory, which would have been compiled in 1914, we find Greenidge renting a room at 936 Alexander Avenue with the occupation of carpenter. His brother Arnold, a tailor, also lived there.

This was the home of William Haynes, his wife Frederica, and their five children. William came to Canada in 1910 from British Guiana, followed by his wife and what was then three children in 1911. He was a carpenter by trade, so Greenidge likely worked for him.

Greenidge lived at this address until 1916, went to war, and returned here in 1918 when he was discharged.

It must have been a packed house, as a 1920 for sale ad describes it as a "5 room cottage". The house and an adjacent one burned down in 1997, but they likely looked similar to the neighbouring ones still on the street.

The Haynes family moved in 1920 to a much larger property at 257 Lulu Street, where William set up a workshop. One of their sons, Percy, carried on the family business, and with his wife Zena converted it into Haynes Chicken Shack in 1952.

As was the case with many students in this era, the First World War interrupted Greenidge's studies.

Greenidge enlisted on November 21, 1916, and was assigned to No. 2 Construction Battalion CEF, which was based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was the first and only all-Black battalion-sized formation in Canadian military history. (For more about its history, see here and here.)

In his attestation papers, Greenidge listed his brother Arnold at 936 Alexander Avenue as his next of kin, though he would relocate to Toronto before the war ended. Another name that appears in his file is Viola Greenidge, who rented a room at the home of Mrs. A. A. Cole at 812 Banning Street.

According to his military service file, Greenidge left Halifax on March 25, 1917 aboard the S. S. Southland (formerly the Vanderland) and disembarked in Liverpool on April 7. The battalion arrived in France on June 4, 1917.

No. 2 Construction Battalion spent most of its time in the forested area of south-east France to establish a series of logging camps. They felled trees and supplied raw lumber and finished wood products that were shipped by rail to allied forces for use in trenches, camps, and other infrastructure.

Discharge papers, Library and Archives Canada

Greenidge served for 2 years and 12 days before he was discharged back to Winnipeg on December 2, 1918.  It was noted on his discharge papers that he had reached the rank of corporal and that his conduct as a soldier was "very good". 

The reason for the discharge was the Canadian government's order that all medical and dentistry students who had completed at least one year of their education before enlisting be sent home. This was to combat alarmingly low enrollment levels at medical schools across the country.

Greendige returned to 963 Alexander, but by then his brother had relocated to Toronto.

Greenidge resumed his studies, and in May 1920 he graduated with his medical degree. He was the first Black to graduate from the University of Manitoba and Manitoba's first Black doctor. 

The Winnipeg Tribune said that he was planning to attend the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the fall before returning to his home country to practice. (An Oliver Campbell Greenidge graduated with a diploma in tropical medicine from there in 1904 - perhaps he had a family connection to the institution?)

The news of his graduation was picked up as a wire story and reprinted in several Canadian and American newspapers.

1921 Census of Canada (Library and Archives Canada)

Dr. Greenidge opted to stay in Winnipeg for another year, as he can be found in the 1921 census living upstairs at the Harris Block at 267 Selkirk Avenue with his occupation listed as doctor. Street directories do not indicate where he was practicing. 

Also living on his floor were three men who all worked for the CPR: William Smith from the USA, Clifford Davis from the British West Indies, and another American.

November 30, 1921, Winnipeg Free Press

Sadly, Dr. Greenidge never made it to Liverpool.

Not long after the census was taken, he returned to Georgetown to see his parents. There, he fell ill for five months before he died on November 20, 1921 at the age of 28.

A cable was received by friends in Winnipeg with the news, and the Winnipeg Free Press posted the notice shown above. (The notice incorrectly states that he served with the Army Medical Corps, but his military file indicates that he served with No. 2, Construction and was discharged by the Medical Corps.)

The last mentions of Dr. Greenidge that can be found in Canadian newspapers of the era are a series of in memoriams from his siblings in the Montreal Star through the 1920s.

Footnote:

No. 2 Construction Battalion in November 1916, likey in Canada before shipping out
(City of Windsor Archives)

The No. 2 Construction Battalion was officially disbanded in September 1920 without ceremony or official recognition.  

In July 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued an apology to the descendants of battalion members for the racism they faced during and after the war. It was awarded the France and Flanders Battle Honour 1917-18, and $2.25 million from the Veterans Affairs Canada Commemorative Partnership Program to tell the stories of the Battalion and other Black veterans. (Here's a related CBC news story.)

A descendant of Greenidge was on-hand at the ceremony to receive the No. 2 Battalion Apology Medal.

For more about Greenidge and other Black veterans, see the website Canadian Black Veterans

For more of my posts and columns celebrating Manitoba's Black history!

Manitoba's Black History: Norman and Sarah Lewsey

 © 2026, Christian Cassidy. Please respect my research.

Lewsey obituary photos

This is the story of Norman and Sarah Lewsey, who came to Canada in 1908 by way of British Guiana (known as Guyana since 1966). They not only raised a large family but also took in lodgers, acting as a welcoming committee to others in the Guyanese and larger Black community.

Mr. Lewsey was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and was a police sergeant in the British Guiana police force. That is where he met and married Sarah Frances Hope on April 30, 1907. It was likely Norman's second marriage.

The couple came to Winnipeg in 1908, aged 35 and 24 respectively, and had eight children: Edna, Irene, Laura, Evelyn, Cecil, Lawrence, Clarence, and Charles. Charles died in 1925 at the age of eight.

Gustavus (Gus), one of Mr. Lewsey's sons from his previous marriage, came to Winnipeg around 1911 as a young teen and also lived with them. 

1911 Census of Canada, Library and Archives Canada

The Lewseys first appear in the Winnipeg Street directory of 1910, the data for which would have been compiled in 1909. They lived at 309 1/2 Notre Dame Avenue at Adelaide Street (now demolished).

This was a mixed-use building with Clackson's watchmaker and jewellers on the first floor and initially one large suite upstairs. The view from their doorstep looking east towards downtown would have looked similar to this, and the Winnipeg Opera House was across the street. 

The 1911 census entry (pictured above) shows the Lewseys living at this address with Gustavus Lewsey, a son from Mr. Lewsey's first marriage, their first daughter, Edna, who was born in 1911, and three lodgers.

Unfortunately, the census entry for the household contains many errors. It lists everyone as coming from Ontario, the Lewsey ages are wrong, and there is no race noted, which would have been clue as to whether the roomers were also Guyanese, or at least from the city's Black community.

January 7, 1905, Winnipeg Tribune

Mr. Lewsey's listed in the street directory as a porter at United Cigar Store and Barber Shop located in one of the office buildings at Portage and Main. The following year, he was a porter at barbers Ostrander and Hughes in the basement of the Union Bank building at Main Street and William.

Barber shop porters did maintenance, cleaning, and services other than cutting hair. These were the days when men stopped at a full-service shop, such as the ones in the city's business district where Lewsey worked, to also get a shave, shoe shine, hair tonic, and their head, neck or scalp massaged. The Union Bank barber shop offered baths when it first opened in 1905 and had a manicurist booth until around 1912.

970 Alexander in 2024 (Google Street View)

The couple moved to a small house at 970 Alexander Avenue later in 1911, and Mr. Lewsey is now a porter at another United Cigar Store Barber Shop. There are two others listed as living with them. Fred Lewsey, no occupation listed, and a roomer named William Haynes.

Haynes came to Canada in 1910 from British Guiana and was joined the following year by his wife, Frederica, and three children. The family then moved a couple of blocks east to 936 Alexander Avenue (now demolished) and eventually to Lulu Street. Son Percy opened Haynes Chicken Shack there in 1952. (Read more about the Haynes' here.)

526 Simcoe in 2015 (Google Street View)

In 1912, the Lewseys family moved to 526 Simcoe Street, and Mr. Lewsey is a shoe shiner at the Sterling Bank Barber Shop in the basement of the newly opened Sterling Bank Building on Portage Avenue.

Here, they also took in lodgers, such as Hewburn Greenidge, a recent arrival from Guyana who worked with Mr. Lewsey at the barber shop. Greenidge then moved to 936 Alexander Avenue, the Haynes residence, enrolled in medical school, took a break to serve in the War, and in 1920 became Manitoba's first Black doctor. (Read more about him here later this month!)

1931 Census of Canada (Library and Archives Canada)

By 1915, the Lewsey family moved to a home they would stay at for several years to raise their growing family. 59 Gallagher Avenue (now demolished) was in the city's Weston neighbourhood, nicknamed "CPR Town", for its proximity to the CPR Weston Yards.

The remainder of their eight children were born at this house. Sadly, their son Charles died here in 1925 at the age of eight.

During this time, Mr. Lewsey continued to work at barber shops until 1918 - 1920, when he was a porter at the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. He was a shoe shiner at the Grain Exchange Barber Shop in 1922, and the following year began a decades-long career as a porter with the CNR working from Union Station.

May 27, 1939, Winnipeg Tribune

Mrs. Lewsey, when not raising her children and looking after lodgers, was involved in Pilgrim Baptist Church. She was a charter member of the church, which was a founding member of back in 1924.

In her book North of the Color Line: Migration and Black Resistance in Canada, 1870-1955, Sarah-Jane Mathieu notes that in cities across Canada through the inter-war years, councils of Black women associated with churches, Masonic groups, or YWCAs, "lectured on proper nutrition, sanitation, education, finance, and racial uplift" to their community.

Mathieu lists Sarah Lewsey as one of eleven "powerful matriarchs" who did this counselling in Winnipeg. 

February 21, 1942, Winnipeg Tribune

During Mr. Lewsey's tenure with the CNR, he was for a time an executive member of the porters' union and part of its mental welfare association. He also sat on the CNR's Veterans committee.

Though he retired in 1940, Lewsey didn't stop working. He became a shoe shiner at the Union Station shoe shine stand, which kept him close to three of his sons, who also became CNR porters. 

A man who fondly remembered Lewsey from his railway days was C. P.  Porter, a former editor of the Winnipeg Telegram newspaper, who in his old age was a columnist at the Winnipeg Tribune, often under the nom de plume "Old Timer."

Porter did a lengthy interview with Lewsey for the Tribune in February 1942, where the former porter spoke about his family, his outlook on life, and stories from his time at the railway. (You can read that column here.)

423 McKenzie in 2017 (Google Street View)

The Lewseys moved again in 1944 to a two-storey house at 423 McKenzie Street. They celebrated their 40th anniversary here with a gathering of family and friends on April 30, 1947.

For the first few years, some of their children lived with them. Lawrence, for instance, moved with his parents and stayed until around 1953. Cecil lived here immediately before and after serving in World War II. Evelyn lived here in the early 1950s after she became a nurse at the General Hospital. 

Edna Lewsey and her husband, Lionel West, lived here for a time in the early 1950s. Lionel West and Lawrence Lewsey were business partners for a few years in the Liberty Pool Room, the successor to the Union Pool Room in the Craig Block at 795 Main Street.

November 24, 1956, Winnipeg Free Press

By 1954, it appears that everyone had moved on to their own domiciles and it was just Norman and Sarah at home.

Norman's name made the newspapers a few times as part of a seniors' bowling league. The last mention of him playing was in 1961 at the age of 88.

Norman Lewsey died at Princess Elizabeth Hospital on October 17, 1963 at the age of 90.

Sarah remained at the house for a time before moving to 638 Linden Avenue, presumably the home of one of her children. She died at age 95 on May 19, 1979, at Grace Hospital. Her obituary noted that she was the last charter member of Pilgrim Baptist Church and had been the oldest living Black pioneer in the city.

For more of my posts and columns celebrating Manitoba's Black history!