Skip to main content
REMEMBERING
THE REAL
WINNIE

THE WORLD'S MOST
FAMOUS BEAR TURNS 100

Winnie the Bear plaque

Winnie the Bear plaque

Title

Winnie the Bear plaque

Subject

Winnipeg (Bear) -- Monuments.
Colebourn, Harry, 1887-1947 -- Monuments.

Description

Plaque reads:
On August 24th, 1914, while enroute overseas during World War I, Lieutenant Harry Colebourn, V.S., of the 34th Fort Garry Horse Regiment of Manitoba, purchased a black Canadian bear cub at While River, Ontario. He named her Winnie after Winnipeg, his home town. The bear became the pet of the soldiers. While Lieutenant Colebourn served in France, she was left in the care of the London Zoo. In 1919, he gave her to the zoo where she was visited and loved by many, including the author A.A. Milne and his son Christopher.
In 1926, A.A. Milne gave the fictional character Winnie-the-Pooh, named after Lieutenant Colebourn’s bear, to Christopher Robin and his friends for posterity. Winnie died at the London Zoo on May 12, 1934.
“Winnie-the-Bear” by sculptor William Epp was dedicated to the children of the World on August 6, 1992.
Dedication of the bronze statue of Harry and the bear at the Winnipeg Zoo.

Date

1992

Rights

Colebourn Family Archive. Terms & Conditions.

Format

1 photographic print : 10 x 15 cm ; Chromogenic process

Type

Image

Identifier

PW002