The Brandon College Dean was the head of the College in the absence of the President. It was created in 1925 after the sudden passing of Dr. Sweet. Dr. Harris MacNeill, who had been Dean in Arts up until that time assumed the position of College Dean. The duties of the College Dean were as follows:
1. In the absence of the President of the College he shall exercise the functions of the President in relation to all “inside” College matters; it being understood that frequently it may be necessary for him to exercise his personal judgment apart from anything that may be specified in this memorandum.
2. With respect to matters of special importance arising unexpectedly he shall consult with the Chairman of the Board, or by telegram with the President, or both.
3. All questions arising that have a direct connection with the “business” aspects of College affairs shall naturally be referred to the Chairman of the Board, or the President, or both.
4. In the absence of the President he shall preside at all Faculty meetings, Committee meetings of which the President is Chairman, and shall attend meetings of Committees of which the President is an ex-officio member.
5. In the President’s absence he shall preside at the regular Chapel Exercises and at special College gatherings in the Chapel at which the President would naturally be expected to preside.
6. He shall also keep in touch with the work of the several departments of the College and shall consult frequently with the Heads of such departments.
7. While the Lady Principal and the Resident Master are responsible for the detailed administration and discipline of the College life and activities of Clark Hall and Brandon College respectively, the College Dean shall have the absent President’s responsibility for the general discipline of the College in respect of the students’ relation to Courses of Study, Corridor, Campus, etc.
8. That the President when absent may be kept in touch with the work of the Institution it is desirable that the College Dean keep him informed of the more important happenings and problems with College life.
9. Throughout the Session the College Dean shall be Registering Head of the Arts Department.
The position of College Dean continued until 1952. In 1952 the position became known as the Dean of Arts and Science. In 1963, another change occurred, with the two departments going separate ways. From that time on there was both a Dean of Arts and a Dean of Science.
BRANDON COLLEGE DEANS:
HARRIS LACHLAN MACNEILL (1925, 1926-1928)
Dr. MacNeill was born in Paisley, ON on November 29 or 30, 1871, the son of Rev. Donald and Amanda (Hemenway) MacNeill. He received his B.A. from McMaster University in 1894. He was also educated at the Ontario College of Pedagogy and the University of Toronto. From 1895 until 1898 he was a teacher at Woodstock College. In 1899 he married Anne Hatch. From 1899 until 1903 he was a professor of Latin at Washburn College in Topeka, Kansas. In 1903 he accepted an offer to teach Latin and German at Brandon College. In 1909 he was a Professor of the New Testament, Language and Literature, as well as Resident Master. Dr. MacNeill was the Academy Principal for two years. He then received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1911. MacNeill acted as the Dean of Arts from 1912 until 1930. Dr. MacNeill was the central figure in the scandal involving Brandon College in the early 1920’s. The Fundamentalist Baptists accused Brandon College, and Dr. MacNeill especially, of teaching Modernist views. He was absolved of any charges at the 1924 Baptist Convention in Chicago.
Dr. MacNeill was Acting President of Brandon College after Dr. Sweet died for the period from January 1925 until Dr. Bovington was hired in August 1925. After Dr. Bovington resigned in May of 1926, Dr. MacNeill again accepted the position of Acting President from May 1926 until April 3, 1928, when he retired as College Dean. Dr. MacNeill taught Latin and Greek for two more years then retired from Brandon College in 1930. He accepted a position at Fairview Church in Vancouver, B.C. where he remained until 1932. In 1932 he was offered a teaching position at McMaster University. He married his second wife, Vera Leech, in 1939. He remained at McMaster teaching New Testament Interpretation until 1943 when he retired. Dr. MacNeill was the first person to receive an honorary degree from Brandon University in 1967. He continued to do religious research until his eyesight failed at age 97. On January 15, 1974, Dr. MacNeill died at the Chedoke Hospital at the age of 102.
JOHN ROBERT CHARLES EVANS (1928)
Information on J.R.C. Evans can be found under the heading Office of the President.
W. BURTON HURD (1929-1935)
No biographical information yet.
C.F. RICHARDS (1935-1937)
Information on C.F. Richards can be found under the heading Office of the Registrar.
REV. EVAN M. WHIDDEN (1937-1938)
See MG 1 Brandon College Teaching and Administration, 1.8 Evan McDonald Whidden fonds for biographical information and additional records related to Rev. Evan M. Whidden.
A. HAYWARD FOSTER (1938-1939)
No biographical information yet.
F.J. WESTCOTT (1939-1945)
Frederick James Westcott was born in Douglas, Manitoba. He began taking classes in the Academy at Brandon College in 1918. He entered the Arts course in 1921 and specialized in Political Economy. He received the Special Political Economy Medal in his final year. He was very active on committees and associations, as well as sports. Westcott served as the Senior Stick during the school term 1924-1925. He graduated with his B.A. from Brandon College in 1925.
Westcott received the position of Student Assistant in the Academy the following year. He left soon after to pursue post-graduate work. He received his M.A. in economics from Harvard and spent two years at the University of Toronto on a teaching scholarship in economics, completing the course work leading to the Ph.D. degree. In 1929, he returned to Brandon College and took up the position of Associate Professor of Political Economy. It was also in 1929, that Westcott married Rose Vasey, a 1926 Brandon College graduate. The following year, Westcott was the Resident Master of Brandon College, as well as being an Instructor in Political Economy and Sociology. The Resident Master position only lasted the one school year. He accepted the post of Acting Dean of Arts and Science in 1939. From 1942 until 1945 he was away on military leave with the National War Finance Committee. He resigned from the position of College Dean in 1945. From 1945 on Westcott and his family resided in Toronto. He died suddenly in 1961.
HENRY STEWART PERDUE (1947-1952)
Dr. Perdue was born in 1904 near Souris. He graduated from the Souris Collegiate in 1920. After working several odd jobs, Dr. Perdue entered Brandon College in 1924. He graduated with his B.A. in 1928. After graduation, Dr. Perdue was hired as a teacher in the Academic Department. He received his M.A. in 1930, and went on to receive his Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Chicago. In 1930, Dr. Perdue became the Director of the Matriculation Department as well as an Instructor in Geology. In 1931, he took over the position of Resident Master. In 1937, he married Ella May Higgens, who was the Resident Nurse. From 1938 until 1948, Dr. Perdue acted as Registrar of Brandon College.
In 1947, Dr. Perdue accepted the position of College Dean. This position ran until 1952, when it was changed to the position of Dean of Arts and Science. Dr. Perdue also held this position until 1962, when the office separated into the Dean of Arts and the Dean of Science. Dr. Perdue continued in the position of Dean of Science until 1967. After Dr. Evans death in July of 1959, Dr. Perdue became Acting President. He held this position from August 1959 until August 1960, when Dr. Robbins was appointed President. Dr. Perdue retired from teaching Geology in 1973. He died on December 22, 1979 at the age of 75.
DEAN OF ARTS AND SCIENCE:
H.S. PERDUE (1952-1963)
Information on H.S. Perdue can be found under the heading College Dean.
DEAN OF ARTS
R.F.B. KING (1963 - Brandon University)
Information on R.F.B. King can be found under RG 6 Brandon University fonds, sub-sub series 7.1.1 Dean of Arts.
DEAN OF SCIENCE:
H.S. PERDUE (1963-1967)
Information of H.S. Perdue can be found under the heading College Dean.
Scope and Content
The series consists of records from MacNeill's term as College Dean (1921-1928). It also includes correspondence during the time that MacNeill was Acting President. It contains letters to and from MacNeill regarding examinations, students, business, and finances. Some earlier letters also include correspondence regarding the controversy MacNeill was in during the Baptist Fundamentalist/Modernist Debate in the early 1920’s.
Records from Evans' term as Acting Dean have been included in his Presidents' files. There are no records from the terms of the other College Deans, except R.F.B. King; his records have been encorporated into RG 6 (Brandon University fonds), 7.1.1 (Dean of Arts).
Storage Location
RG 1 Brandon College fonds
Series 6: Office of the College Dean
Related Material
RG 6, sub sub series 7.1.1 (Dean of Arts) for additional Dean's records and RG 6, series 9 (Department of Extension) for additional records related to H.S. Perdue.
Gerry Beaubier was born in Wainwright, Alberta to Beatty and Babe Beaubier. He completed his high school in Saskatoon, before receiving a BSc in Geography from Brandon University.
Before attending university Gerry served in the army as a special reserve, while working as a night clerk at the Bessbourough Hotel in Saskatoon. His post-graduate career consisted primarily of work for Canada Agriculture, under the PFRA Branch (Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration). Later he would work as an Executive Manager, helping develop forage and range management programs for several post secondary schools, including, Assiniboine Community College, as well as schools in Red Deer, Lethbridge, and Saskatoon.
Gerry Beaubier married Joyce Abercrombie, of Saskatoon. Together they had two sons: Neil and Dean. Neil, an Account Advisor for the Royal Bank, was born in Regina, and currently works in Swift Current. Dean was born in Swift Current, received his PhD in Education and currently lives in Forrest working at Elton Collegiate.
The Beaubiers, who were originally from Ireland, emigrated to the Canadian West, making Gerry part of the fourth generation of his family to call the region home. His great-grandfather, along with his grandfather and great uncle were amongst the first one hundred settlers in Brandon. Together they first built the Beaubier House, a boarding house for early settlers and travellers. After it burnt down they began construction on the Beaubier Hotel, which stood at the corner of 8th Street and Princess Avenue in Brandon until August 17th, 2008. His grandfather, David Wilson Beaubier, continued to build and operate hotels throughout the prairies, including the Empire Hotels (of Brandon and Saskatoon) and The Park (Moose Jaw).
David Wilson Beaubier served as a secretary of the Orange Lodge of Manitoba. As an Orange Lodge Colonel, he worked with other Orange Lodge members, to recruit throughout the prairies for the purpose of World War One. For his efforts , David was promoted to Leftenant Colonel, and later Captain of the 99th Manitoba Rangers. David's sons (Gerry’s father, at University of Manitoba, and uncle at McGill), were both working towards undergraduate degrees when war broke out in 1914, and each would leave school to join their father at Camp Hughes.
Custodial History
Gerry Beaubier collected these photos primarily in the years 2000-2011, largely
from family and friends who knew of his interest in the topic. They were donated to the S.J. Mckee Archives in 2011.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of digital photographs of those who trained for battle in World War I at Camp Hughes and in Brandon, Manitoba. It also includes a digital copy of the cover of the Nominal Roll of Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Men, who departed from Brandon in 1917.
The photos, taken primarily at Camp Hughes, are of a number of battalions, including the 34th, 100th, 108th, 181st and 214th. The photo, PT in England, is a postcard sent home from Beaty Beaubier. The Massey Harris building seen on the right side of, WW1 B parade0001, was used to house troops throughout the war. The man standing alone at the front of the parade in, 181 Parade, is David Wilson Beaubier.
Notes
Information for the biographical and custodial histories was provided by Gerry Beaubier on September 25, 2013. Description by Dustin Lane (October 2013).
Contains the following files:
9.1 Class list and lost alumni 1941-1948
9.2 "Spectrum" April 1944
9.3 "The Sickle" 1941-1945 (missing 1944)
9.4 Graduation programmes 1927, 1940-1952 (includes photo of Arts Banquet, Brandon College 1942)
9.5 "The New Era" 1947
9.6 Murray McPherson diary 1942
9.7 The Quill and The Sickle account book [1939-1941]
9.8 Brandon College documentation 1942-1943
9.9 Calendar 1940-1941
9.10 Murray McPherson's notes 1938-1939 (Brandon Collegiate)
9.11 Brandon College notes [1941-1944] (2 files)
9.12 Commencement programme 1944
9.13 Brandon College commencement programmes 1944, 1945, 1952 (also contains 1937-1938 Brandon College calendar and a copy of "S.J. McKee of Brandon College" by Tommy McLeod)
9.14 Physics notes [1942]
9.15 Murray McPherson - math and physics notes 1943
9.16 Murray McPherson - math notes 1944
9.17 Murray McPherson account book 1938-1940 (Brandon Collegiate)
9.18 Miscellaneous pamphlets re: Brandon College and hockey 1909 - ca.1945 (including Student Handbooks 1940-1944 and the 1913 convocation programme, the 1909 Manitoba Amateur Hockey Association constitution, pamphlets from The Boys' Brigade and a pamphlet with etiquette and manner advice for teenagers)
Notes
Part of the Alfred Angus Murray McPherson collection.
