George Bryce

George Bryce, (* April 22, 1844 at Mount Pleasant; † August 5, 1931 in Ottawa ) was a Canadian clergyman and historian in Manitoba.

Life and work

The parents of George Bryce had come a year before his birth from Scotland to Canada. The young Bryce received a good education at the high school in nearby Brantford, at the University of Toronto and Knox College. 1866 and 1867 he performed military service against the known as Fenians Irish American, of which in 1866 exceeded more than one thousand, the boundary between the United States and Canada. He took part in the Battle of Ridgeway on 2 June 1866.

As a Presbyterian minister, he went after Louis Riel and the Métis in 1870 the Manitoba Act and thus a certain degree of independence of the Red River colony had been able to prevail, in the newly formed province of Manitoba. Bryce should build there on behalf of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church college. He founded the Manitoba College, where he taught until 1899. He also inaugurated in 1872, the Knox Church, the oldest Presbyterian Church in Winnipeg. In addition, he is one of the founders of the University of Manitoba, where he was employed until 1904 at the University Council.

From 1884 to 1887 and from 1905 to 1913 he was president of the Manitoba Historical and Scientific Society. He has published nine books and at least 40 essays, as well as numerous speeches and prayers. Alone for the Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba, he wrote 30 posts on geology, archeology and the history of the Red River Colony. In 1902 he was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada, 1920, he became an honorary doctorate from the University of Manitoba. In addition, he served in his church as a moderator (1902 ) and was a member of the Royal Commissions on Technical Education and Conservation.

When in 1920 his wife Marion died (b. 1839), he moved in with his brother in Ottawa. On August 5, 1931, he died, largely forgotten, and was buried at the Kildonan Cemetery, Winnipeg.

Works (selection)

• A History of Manitoba: Its Resources and People, The Canadian History Company, 1906.
• The Mound Builders, in: The Manitoba Historical Society, Transactions, Series 1, no. 18, Read in 1885.
• The Old Settlers of Red River, in: The Manitoba Historical Society, Transactions, Series 1, no. 19, read 26 November 1885.
• The Souris Country: its Monuments, Mounds, forts and Rivers, in: The Manitoba Historical Society, Transactions, Series 1, no. 24, read 1887.
• Original Letters and Other Documents Relating to the Selkirk Settlement, in: The Manitoba Historical Society, Transactions, Series 1, no. 33, Read 17 January 1889.
• Letters of a Pioneer, Alexander Ross, in: MHS Transactions, Series 1, no. 63, read 10 February 1903.
• Treasures of Our Library, in: Manitoba Historical Society Transactions, Series 1, no. 64, Read 9 February 1904.
• Among the Mound Builders' remains, in: Manitoba Historical Society Transactions, Series 1, no. 66 Read 9 February 1904.