Manitoba Lieutenant Governor

Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba

The Honourable Anita R. Neville, P.C., O.M.

15th – The Honourable Errick French Willis

Term of Office: 15 January 1960 – 1 September 1965

Born: Boissevain, Manitoba, 21 March 1896

Died: Winnipeg, Manitoba, 9 January 1967


  • Manitoba’s first native-born Lieutenant Governor.
  • Educated at Universities of Toronto, Alberta, Manitoba.
  • Practiced law in Winnipeg 1926-29 and in Boissevain 1929-33.
  • Unsuccessfully stood for Parliament as a Conservative in Souris Constituency in 1926, but was elected and served as a member of the Bennett government of 1930.
  • Ceased law practice in 1933 to take up farming.
  • Defeated in the 1935 federal election by three votes.
  • Member of Legislative Assembly 1936-60.
  • Leader of Manitoba Conservative Party 1936-54.
  • Provincial Minister of Public Works 1940-50.
  • Minister of Agriculture 1958-60 and Deputy Premier 1958-59.
  • An enthusiastic curler, he was a member of the Olympic Champion Canadian Curling Team at the 1932 Lake Placid Olympics.