Criddle Vane Homestead

Reid Dickie

I have just uploaded my 100th video to YouTube, appropriately it is about one of the most unusual and historically significant families to homestead on the Manitoba prairie. In 1882 London merchant Percy Criddle packed up his wife Alice and their four children, and his mistress Elise Vane and their five children, and transported them all across the ocean to a homestead southeast of Brandon. Exceptional and eccentric describes this family. Music, art, sports, astronomy, entomology – the family had wide and varied interests and pursued them all in what is now called Criddle Vane Provincial Park. This picture shows Percy, Alice, Elise and 11 of the brood which eventually totalled 13 children.

At the park, a short easy well-documented walking trail shows you the significant remains of the homestead. I wrote about the Criddle Vane family and homestead in my 2006 book Manitoba Heritage Success Stories, available at libraries all over Manitoba. Though slightly obscure, the homestead is easily accessible, offers lots of information on the site while providing a fascinating glimpse into the lives of these pioneers. Below is a picture of Norman Criddle standing in front of his entomology lab, the first one in western Canada.