Call Number: Mss 104, Pc 111, Tc 72

Title: William Neville fonds.

Dates: 1957-2006.

Extent: 16.72 m of textual records and other material.

Biographical sketch: Born in Winnipeg in 1940, Neville was president of the University of Manitoba Students Union and the 1963 Rhodes Scholar for Manitoba. He attended Oxford University in England studying politics, philosophy, and economics. After Oxford he became a professor of politics at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. He served for several short periods between 1963 and 1965 as a research and administrative assistant to the Manitoba deputy minister of labour and in 1969 and 1970 worked with former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker on the Diefenbaker papers in the National Archives. In 1974 Neville returned to Manitoba to act as chief of staff to Sidney Spivak, QC, Leader of the Opposition in the Manitoba Legislature. From 1976 to 1981 he served as Executive Assistant to the Vice President (Academic) at the University of Manitoba and then, from 1981 to 1997, as Executive Assistant to the President of the University. He was Head of the Department of Political Studies at the University from 1997 to 2005. Neville won a Tuxedo Heights ward by-election and sat on Winnipeg city council for ten years. Neville also served, variously, as Chair of the City's Historic Buildings Committee (1980-1989), Chair of the Manitoba Heritage Council (1989-2001), and Manitoba Member of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (1996-2004). In 2001 he received the Dr. & Mrs. Ralph Campbell Award for University Outreach: "Enlarging and enriching relations between the University and the community." In 2002 was awarded the Lieutenant-Governor's Medal for Excellence in Public Administration "in recognition of over 40 years of distinctive leadership in public administration" (selected by the Manitoba Branch of the Institute of Public Administration in Canada). He twice received Heritage Winnipeg's distinguished Service Award and in 2006 he received the Gabrielle Leger Award, presented by the Heritage Canada Foundation "for services to the nation in the field of heritage conservation". He is a regular columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press, writes for other periodicals and publications; he retired from the University at the end of 2005 but remains a Senior Scholar in the Department of Political Studies.

Custodial history: The William Neville fonds was donated to the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections through several accessions from 1985 to 1994. The collection was arranged and described in 1994. Subsequent accession were received and integrated into the collection in 1995, 2005 (A.05-55, A.05-67) and 2006 (A.06-27).

Scope and content: The collection consists of his papers as city councillor including correspondence and reports of the various committees on which he served. Committee reports include the Historical Buildings Committee and the Winnipeg Library Committee reports. Neville chaired the Committee on Environment and also sat on the Committee on Recreation and Social Services, the Committee on Protection, Parks and Culture and various ad hoc committees dealing with Access to Information, Public Libraries and the General Government By-law. Also included are papers relating to the Manitoba Heritage Council, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board, and miscellaneous writings, speeches, and manuscripts/drafts of columns. The collection also includes Neville's university papers as assistant to the President of the University of Manitoba. The 2005 accessions are divided into six series: Biographical Material; Correspondence; Articles & Writings; Organizations & Conferences; Other Interests & Issues; and Photographs.

The 2006 accession contains Neville’s extensive correspondence, samples of
his writings in completed published and handwritten draft form, and a large
amount of information related to causes he was involved in and people he was
friends or acquainted with. Particularly present are his work as a city
councilor, executive assistant and political science instructor, as well as
samples of the many newspaper columns and speeches he has written or presented in the period of accession.

Restrictions: Some restrictions apply.

Accruals: Additional accruals to this fonds are expected.

Finding aid:

Mss 104, Pc 111, Tc 72

MSS 104, P.C. 111 (A.05-55, A.05-67)

MSS 104 (A.06-27)