© 2023, Christian Cassidy
I was walking down Henry Street a few weeks back when I noticed this old facade sandwiched in between two sections of modern wall. Initially, I thought the old building may have been part of Manitoba Cartage and Storage that had a huge presence in the area at one time. This included an office at Henry Avenue near Lizzie Street and a huge stable along Fountain Street stretching from Higgins Avenue back to Henry Avenue.
After more research, I found that this was not part of Manitoba Cartage at all. It was a long-standing bakery owned by George J. Timms that pre-dated the stable. This modern version of that bakery opened in 1907.
Here's a look back at Timms and his bakery.
1891 Census of Canada (Library and Archives Canada)
George Timms came from England with his wife Isabella and three children around 1883.
The 1891 census shows George living with what was by then five children at 375 Common Street, (which was renamed Henry Avenue around 1890). The address becomes 411 Henry in the 1895 street directory and it is unclear if this is just change was due to a renumbering of the street as more development took place or a move to a new house.
For many years, street directories do not list a place of work for Timms which could mean he ran a small operation from the home. In 1897, he goes to work at the bakery of J. T. Speirs located at Higgins Avenue and Maple Street.
December 11, 1903, The Voice
Ads for Union Bakery at 411 Henry Avenue began appearing in the local labour newspaper The Voice in April 1900. Initially, it was a partnership between Timms and William Milton, who was likely a co-worker of his at J. T. Speirs. The partnership dissolved in June 1901 when Milton left to take over a bakery on Ross Street.
Timms was an active member of the local labour movement. He was on the 1899 Labour Day organizing committee and held committee roles in other labour organizations.
Business appears to have been good at Union Bakery and it was expanded in August 1902 with the addition of a second brick oven.
The building seen now at 411 Henry Avenue was built in 1907.
Construction got underway in April on two structures. The first was a
brick building on a stone foundation measuring 66 x 45 feet. Out back
was a shed measuring 45 x 20 feet to house horses and wagons. J. T.
Hunter was both designer and builder for the $9,000 project.
The new facility opened later that year under the name Henry Avenue Bakery with G. J. Timms as proprietor. It had a capacity of 3,000 loaves per day, 1000 more than the old bakery.
This was a busy time for construction in the neighbourhood as a permit was granted that same month to Manitoba Cartage to build a 145 x 40 foot extension to its stable across the street that would bring its capacity to 240 horses.
February 18, 1913, Winnipeg Free Press
Timms' business continued to grow with the addition of a retail store at 402 Logan Avenue around 1911 and the addition of four new "baking machines" to the bakery in 1912.
In June 1913, when the bakery was at its peak in terms of production, Timms sold out to Toronto-based Canada Bread Company.
Canada Bread was created in 1911 when George Weston Ltd. merged with four other Ontario bakeries. Within weeks, it announced an expansion to Winnipeg and Montreal on its quest to become Canada's first national bakery.
Before it constructed its main bakery on Burnell Street in 1912, Canada Bread bought up several independent local bakeries such as Perfection, Western, Germain, and Richardson's. It faced criticism for the move as all it did wit the businesses was close them down to eliminate competition.
Canada Bread also bought a large stake in Speirs-Parnell Bakery on Elgin Avenue, one of the city's largest. It provided the bakery with a list of baked goods and quantities it required but allowed the firm to continue to bake and market products locally under its own name as long as the items didn't compete directly with Canada Bread's line-up.
It is unclear if Canada Bread had a previous connection to Timms. Perhaps, like Speirs-Parnell, it had invested in his company in 1912 so that it could use the additional capacity created at Henry Avenue Bakery for its national products. It could also be that Canada Bread simply bought out a growing competitor to shut it down.
Canada Bread likely sold off the property as the building can be found for lease in June 1915 as a bakery or warehouse. (If Canada Bread still owned it, it is unlikely that the company would allow a competing bakery to go back into the space.)
February 17, 1916, Winnipeg Tribune
What did George Timms do with the spare time he now had on his hands? He went off to war.
After the sale of their house/business, George and Isabella moved to 188 Maryland Street and he enlisted with the 90th Battalion in February 1916.
According to Timms' attestation papers, he was 44 years and ten months old, which was just a couple of months shy of the age cutoff for infantry enlistment. This age, however, was a lie. Census documents and his obituary show that he was actually 54 years of age!
It is unclear why a man of 54 would volunteer to go to war. He was born and raised in England, so it could have been a desire to go fight for King and Country or perhaps to get an extended visit back home knowing that he likely would not be sent off to the front lines.
A brief February 1916 Tribune mention of Timms' enlistment noted that he
was "already hard at work providing appetizing fare for the men",
which suggests he may have been taken on specifically for his baking skills.
Despite his age, Timms was described as "fit" after his military medical checkup and went to England aboard the S. S. Olympic on May 31, 1916. As expected, he did not go off to France. Instead, he was transferred to the 11th Battalion and assigned to Shornecliffe military base where he presumably baked for the tens of thousands of Canadian soldiers who passed through for their final training before they went off to war.
Timms' military file indicates that he began to have health issues, particularly acute back pain, not long after arriving. In mid-June 1917, he was sent to the Buxton Hospital, a Canadian Red Cross convalescent hospital. He was then discharged for being "No longer physically fit for war service" and was shipped back to Canada on July 10, 1917 .
August 16, 1917, Winnipeg Tribune
Back in Winnipeg, Timms was sent to the Military Convalescent Hospital in Tuxedo, Manitoba, (now the Jewish Asper Campus). He died there on August 14, 1917 after suffering a stroke at the age of 55 and is buried St. John's Cemetery in Winnipeg.
Oliver Timms, a son who also served in the war, was severely wounded in the shoulder and was invalided back to Canada in June 1917.
Soon after George's death, Isabella relocated to Victoria, B. C..
What happened to 411 Henry Avenue?
Matt Thomson, baker and confectionery manufacturer, called it home from around 1915 to 1917. The building then wasn't listed in street directories for many years which suggests it sat empty or was used as storage. In the 1930s, the freight delivery company Western Truck Terminal was located there.
Lögberg November 24, 1955
In 1955, the company opened a new office building and warehouse called Manitoba House at 354 Lizzie Street. The long, 40,000 square foot warehouse portion of the building extends along Henry Avenue and incorporates this building.
No comments:
Post a Comment