Huxley, Alberta, Canada

Historical and geographical information

Home Page Return to the Home Page of the Farndale Family Website

The Farndale Story The story of one family’s journey through two thousand years of British History

The Farndale Lineages The 83 family lines into which the family is divided. Meet the whole family and how the wider family is related

The Farndale Directory Members of the historical family ordered by date of birth

Themes Links to other pages with historical research and related material

Related Family Stories The story of the Bakers of Highfields, the Chapmans, and other related families

Dates are in red.

Hyperlinks to other pages are in dark blue.

Headlines are in brown.

References and citations are in turquoise.

Context and local history are in purple.

This webpage is divided into the following sections:

· The Farndales of Huxley

· Huxley

· Huxley Timeline

· Bibliography

The Farndales of Huxley

Of the twelve children of Martin Farndale (FAR00364)(see the Tidkinhow Line), the following emigrated to Alberta:

· Martin Farndale (FAR00571), settled around Trochu. Martin was the first to emigrate to Alberta in June 1905 and went first to Calgary, where he took some land from the Canadian Pacific Railway near Trochu. He built a small wooden house, a shack, a began farming. He married his cousin Ruth Farndale (FAR00619).

· George Farndale (FAR00588), settled around Three Hills. George Farndale went to Canada in April 1911 and lived at Three Hills, Alberta. He never married.

· James Farndale (FAR00607) went to Canada in April 1911 and then went on to America. He wrote a diary of his voyage to Canada and his early days there.

· Catherine (Kate) Farndale (FAR00601), settled around Three Hills. Her family the Kinseys continue to farm in the area. Catherine Jane Farndale went to Canada in July 1913. Catherine Jane Farndale married William Henry Kinsey at Stettler, Alberta in 1917 and the Kinsey family are still farming in the area.

· Alfred Farndale (FAR00683) with his new wife Peggy (BAK00002) went to Canada immediately after their wedding in March 1928 and farmed near Trochu but later returned to Yorkshire in 1935 after the Great Depression. Their first three children, Martin Farndale (FAR00911), Anne Farndale (FAR00915) and Geoff Farndale (FAR00922) were all born at Trochu.

· Grace Farndale (FAR00659) went to Canada in March 1928 and married Howard Holmes and had a ranch around Huxley. She wrote a diary of her early experiences there.

William Farndale (FAR00647) emigrated to the State immediately to the east of Calgary, Saskatchewan.

Many Farndales broke the virgin prairie in Huxley, Trochu and Three Hills, and made their mark there. They were among the first, and because of this, Alberta held a special place in their lives. The army has trained at Suffield near Medicine Hat, for many years, and Martin Farndale (FAR00911) and his son Richard Farndale (FAR01122) both trained there.

The Farndales of Huxley transcripted from Our Huxley Heritage, published 1983:

The Farndales are a very old North Yorkshire family who can trace their ancestry back to Farndale itself on the North Yorkshire Moors. One branch of the family went to Australia in 1854, but three different families came to Canada at the beginning of the 20th Century. The family which came to Central Alberta were all the sons and daughters of Martin and Catherine Jane Farndale from near Guisborough Cleveland in England. It was a large family of twelve, and there was not room for them all on the farm.

Martin, born in Yorkshire in 1881, was the first to leave, and he arrived in Western Canada in 1904 (sic, recte 1905), and he homesteaded on the Trochu land to farm at Paulson and raised cattle. In 1930, he married his cousin Ruth Farndale, also from Yorkshire, but they had no children. He became well known on the Trochu Council and took a great interest in education, doing a great deal for the community. He died in 1943 aged 63 and is buried in Trochu. He visited England once.

He was followed to Canada in 1905 by his younger brother, George, who farmed all his life at Three Hills. He never married and remained alone and independent although well known in the District. He spent the last years of his life in Calgary where he died in 1954, and where he was buried.

In 1911, a younger sister, Catherine Jane, always known as Kate in the family arrived to join her brothers whom she looked after in the early pioneer days, a hard life after the farm in Yorkshire. In 1917 she married William Henry Kinsey who came from Cheshire, England. They had three children at their homestead some 16 miles NW of Three Hills, George and Alfred who continued to farm close to their old home, and Dorothy Goodbrand, who lived near Red Deer. He died in 1959 and Kate in 1966. She never returned to England.

In the same year, 1911, another brother James arrived to stay with Martin. He did not stay long in Canada before he went to America for the rest of his life. He left five children, Jim who lived in Dallas, Texas, Jane who lived in Austin, Texas, Gordon and Mary who lived in California, and Doris who was tragically killed in a car crash. He fought with the American Army in France in World War I and visited England several times before he died in 1967.

Then in 1913 another brother arrived but he went to Early Grey in Saskatchewan. This was William. He taught with the Canadian Army in World War I, where he was wounded, and he died in 1918 and is buried in Earl Grey. He was unmarried.

By the time the youngest brother, Alfred, and his wife Margaret (Peggy) plus younger sister Grace, arrived in Alberta in 1928, the family was well known in the District. These two members of the Farndale family settled in the Huxley district. They lived first with Alfred's elder brother, Martin, near Trochu while Alfred built their house on Section 27, opposite Ralph Hogg's.s hill, and was two stories, with white walls and a black roof, which stood out for miles around. The chimney was the only part built of brick and was made by Frank Holmes. It still stood for many years into the 1990s but was uninhabited from 1935. They built a wind pump and several barns and later Allred took another quarter section just east of Huxley on the Wickiser Place. In 1929, their eldest son, Martin was born to be followed in 1930 by Marianne (Anne) and in 1932, by Geoffrey. In 1930 Gladys Grist from Trochu came to help look after the children. She was later to marry Aubrey, son of Ralph Hogg who was Alfred's nearest neighbour. He son Philip later lived at their house and farmed most of the Farndale farm.

Alfred had fought with the British army in World War I and completed a unique team of three brothers who fought with the Canadian, British and American Armies in that terrible war. He was a member of the British Legion and attended many an armistice parade in Huxley, by the War Memorial, outside the Memorial Hall. In 1934, Grace married Howard Holmes, who farmed south-west of Huxley until he died in 1955. Grace then moved to Calgary where she lived until she returned to Leyburn in Yorkshire where she lived close to Alfred and Peggy.

But the early thirties were hard on the Prairie. It was hard to get a crop at all, and then they did, the price was poor, often hardly paying the elevator dues. The work was nearly all done by horses, but Allred bought one of the first tractors in 1930. During the long hot summers, Peggy often took the family to the mountains at Banff, and to the coast at Vancouver, and Victoria. Otherwise life consisted of hard work and self-made entertainment. Bridge parties were common in winter and picnics in summer, with expeditions to the newly started Stampede in Calgary, or fishing at Sylvan Lake. In winter life depended on the horse, either to ride or in a sleigh. The 'rack' bodies were taken off their wheels and put onto runners to get hay to the cattle. Meat was buried in the frozen ground to keep, but the houses were always warm. On one occasion Alfred's dog ripped its tongue out by licking the frozen railway line near Huxley, to which it had stuck, so intense was the cold. He had to be shot. The call of the coyote was constantly heard and returning late one evening skunk in the chicken house, which on being shot left a pungent smell for a long time.

Looking back on those days they still remember John Hibbs, the postman, driving his buggy up to the farms from Huxley whistling and singing at the top of his voice. Other neighbours well remembered, were Jake Miller, who farmed to the east, Wagstaffsrds, and Billy Morris. On Huxley road were the Thongs he Shorts, by the slough; then the Delaneys. Huxley was a flourishing little community in those days, with Roach's store and Miss Hibb's confectionary store. There was Mr McMillan garage and even a Chinese restaurant! There were perhaps a couple of hundred people in all. The grain elevator played its vital part in prairie life, and still marked the little township from many miles away in the 1980s.

There were many excitements; hailstorms, dust storms and the snow. The heat, the mosquitoes, the fresh prairie air, the stillness, blue skies, bright stars at night, brilliant sunrises, and sunsets, and always in the distance the Rockies often covered in snow even in summer. The startling cloud formations and the sudden thaw with the arrival of the Chinook wind. Indians travelling round to cut the brush; Sergeant Hammond of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the stories of the Mad Trapper. On one occasion, young Martin aged 4 or 5, was lost on the prairie, causing great concern and a massive search for the corn was high and he was small and the danger great. But finally he was picked up, having walked almost all the way to Huxley, by one of the MacMillans.

The gophers and the jack rabbits were everywhere and the countryside was brown with the plough in spring, and yellow with wheat as far as the eye could see in Summer. These are the sights and memories which, once experienced, can never be forgotten.

But the years of crop failure and poor prices took their toll. The money ran out and Alfred was forced to return to England with his family in 1935. Sadly, came the farm sale in March, and the family went to spend the last days in Alberta with Grace and Howard Holmes at their ranch near Huxley. It was well below zero on 8th April 1935 when they caught the train to Edmonton where they began the five-day journey to Halifax to catch the Duchess of Atholl for Liverpool. The family moved three times in Yorkshire before settling down in Wensleydale. World War 2 came and went and in 1946 their son Martin joined the British Army. He served in Egypt, Malaya, South Arabia and Ireland and was involved in stopping the war in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). In 1955 he married Margaret Anne Buckingham and had a son, Richard. Sister Anne married Norman Shepherd who worked for the BBC in Glasgow. They had two sons and a daughter, Stephen, David and Catherine. Geoffrey continued to run the family farm in Wensleydale with daughter, Christine, and son. Nigel. In 1937, Alfred and Peggy had a second daughter, Margot, who married William Atkinson and they had a son, William, and two daughters, Susan and Judith.

There are no Farndales at Huxley now, but the Farndales continued to remember Huxley with great affection. It is ow a name ingrained in family history.

Many Farndales broke the virgin prairie in Huxley, Trochu and Three Hills, and made their mark there. They were among the first, and because of this, Alberta held a special place in their lives. The army has trained at Suffield near Medicine Hat, for many years, and Martin and his son Richard both trained there.

Those associated with Huxley were Martin (from 1904), George (from 1905), Kate and James (from 1911), William (from 1913), Alfred and Peggy (from 1928), Grace and Howard Holmes (from 1928), Martin (from 1929), Anne (from 1930) and Geoffrey (from 1932).

Huxley

Huxley is a hamlet in southern Alberta, Canada within Kneehill County. It is located approximately 160 km northeast of Calgary, Alberta. The first school was built in 1907 and named Ashcroft for John Courtland Ash, the first rancher in the area, predating the surveying of the area into homesteads.

The community has the name of Thomas Henry Huxley, an English biologist.

Flyng over the country around Huxley in July 1973 (taken by Martin Farndale) The station at Huxley, taken in July 1973

The main street of Huxley, taken in July 1973

Huxley Timeline

1900

At the turn of the century Canada was a young country with vast open spaces and was looking to attract immigrants. The Canadian Government therefore passed the Dominion Lands Act and the Homestead Regulations Act, to make land available to settlers. The Minister of the Interior, Clifford Sifton began a vigorous advertising campaign in Britain. People came streaming into Canada between 1900 and 1920.

The early pioneers took up a ‘homestead’ of land offered by the Canadian government. This became known as ‘homesteading’. Any male who was the sole head of a household and over 18, could pay $10 and file a claim for a quarter section of land. He then had three years to meet particular requirements before he could apply for the land. The requirements were that (1) a habitable house was to be built on the quarter; (2) there was mandatory residence for at least 6 months in three consecutive years; (3) land had to be broken each year (usually 10 acres a year, but this was determined by the inspector), totalling 30 acres after 3 years and the land had to be fenced; (4) a barn for at least four head had to be built.

When the first homesteaders came to the Huxley area, Innisfail was the centre for al supplies and mail. There was collaboration between families to bring mail and groceries. Soon Pickering’s Farm became the local gathering place.

1905

Martin was the first to emigrate to Alberta in June 1905 and went first to Calgary, where he took some land from the Canadian Pacific Railway near Trochu. He built a small wooden house, a shack, a began farming.

The original house that Martin built                                                                      Martin's shack taken when it was still standing in 1981                               

1907

Huxley began with the granting of a post office in 1907. This was operated at the Pickering Farm to the north of the later site of the town. The post office was granted by the Government and named Huxley. The name Huxley was suggested by Leslie Roach in honour of an English poet called Huxley.

The first school was built in 1907 and named Ashcroft for John Courtland Ash, the first rancher in the area.

1909

The mail from Huxley to Perbeck in about 1909

1910

The first store on the present townsite was built by George Pickering in 1910. It was operated by Wilton Brothers. The first blacksmith in Huxley was John Stevenson.

The railroad crew arrived in the Huxley district the summer of 1910. By 1911 the railway had ben surveyed.

1915

By 1915, Huxley had a newspaper, the Huxley Recorder.

1916

The lumber yard at Huxley in 1916

1919

The Merchants Bank was opened in Huxley in 1919, with Fred Kell as manager. Later it was amalgamated with the Bank of Montreal.

1920

The second branch of the Canadian Legion to be formed in Alberta was established in Huxley in 1920.

1928

Alfred Farndale (FAR00683) with his new wife Peggy (BAK00002) went to Canada immediately after their wedding in March 1928 and farmed near Trochu but later returned to Yorkshire in 1935 after the Great Depression. Their first three children, Martin Farndale (FAR00911), Anne Farndale (FAR00915) and Geoff Farndale (FAR00922) were all born at Trochu.

Alfred building the Farndale House on arrival in Alberta                  The porch of the Farndale House                                                       The House that Alfred Built

Alfred Farndale’s House, Huxley in the 1970s (it no longer stands)                                 Martin Farndale in front of Alfred Farndale’s house in July 1973

Martin Baker Farndale lived in Huxley, Alberta, Canada for the first six years of his life until 1935 and later wrote:

Alfred rented a section and a half near Huxley some 10 miles north of Trochu and built a house there. The farm was almost entirely devoted to wheat but with some cattle. I grew up at the farm and my first memories are of playing on the prairie and around the slews (a kind of duck pond) near the farm. I remember all the horses used for farm work, the box waggons with racks, threshing in the fields and the hot summers. The winters were cold - well below zero, and I remember the horse drawn sleighs and the bright sun on the snow. I remember the village of Huxley, the annual sports day, the Legion parade and buying sweets at Miss Hibbs’ store. I remember visits to the neighbours, the Hoggs, the Saggers, the Morris’, the Wagstaffs, the Millers and I remember the postman, Mr Hibbs whistling in his buggy as he came up the road to what is still today called Farndale’s corner. But above all I remember the family. Uncle Martin and Aunt Ruth lived near Trochu and he spoiled me a lot. Uncle George was a bachelor, remote and living alone near Three Hills. Aunt Kate was strict and austere, but kind and she lived between Trochu and Three Hills with her husband Bill Kinsey and their children George, Alfred and Dorothy. I remember evening parties and sitting waiting while the grown ups played bridge. I remember being well looked after by our nannie, Gladys Grist who later married Aubrey, the son of our nearest neighbour, Ralph Hogg.

There was a visit by mother’s sister, Aunt Hilda from England and we all (by this time my sister Marianne Catherine Farndale and brother Alfred Geoffrey Farndale had been born on 30 October 1930 and 10 April 1932 respectively) went to Banff and on through the Rockies by train to Vancouver and Victoria Island where we looked over the new liner, the Empress of Japan.

On another occasion we stayed at the Palliser Hotel in Calgary and went up in a lift for the first time and we visited the Calgary Stampede.

I was playing with Meccano one afternoon at the farm when a bunch of Indians rode right up to the door in search of work. I also remember Uncle Jim and Aunt Edna with their family Hazel Jae, Jimmy, Mary, Doris and Gordon, visiting from USA. I can remember their arrival in a large open car with luggage tied all around it.

Sergeant Hammond of the Royal North West Mounted Police often visited the farm.

One event I can remember clearly was when my father promised to take me the 5 miles or so to the other half section – the Wickizer Place – to see the horses. Towards evening I was playing around the threshing set at the farm when I saw a Chevrolet car like the one my father owned drive past the red gate at the entrance to the farm and was convinced that I had been left behind. I therefore set off to walk. I was about 6 years old and the corn was high and it was getting dark. There was consternation when I could not be found later on, for once into the corn I would be very difficult to find. Search parties were called out from neighbours and from Huxley but apparently I had got into a ditch beside the road and could not be seen. However the ditch took me to Huxley and though I can remember nothing about my 3 mile walk, I do remember being picked up by two men who worked in the Huxley garage and being taken home to a mixture of relief and scolding.

I remember my sister Anne falling down the cellar steps, and, on another occasion, while visiting Aunt Grace and Uncle Howard, throwing his best spanner down his well. I also remember learning to ride our horse, Chubb and I remember our Colley dog, Scot, who slept beside my bed.

1929

Both Howard Holmes and Alfred Farndale were President of the Great War Veterans Association. The photograph above shows the unveiling of the cenotaph on 11 November 1929.

1930

In 1930 there was a fire which destroyed the Chinese café.

Huxley in about 1930

The homestead map in about 1930 which shows the Farndale land

1931

The Canadian Farndales at the Kinseys in about 1931 (Martin, Jim, Kate, Grace, George, Alfred)

1935

Alfred and Peggy Farndale and their family left Huxley to return to Yorkshire in 1935. His son Martin recalled: But things were not well on the farm. Prices were bad in the slump years of the early 30s and the weather was unkind so that my father, along with many others, soon lost all his savings, and in 1935, he decided to return to England. I remember well the excitement of the farm sale by our white house with a black roof, on the hill overlooking Huxley. It was early April and it was cold with snow still on the ground. We spent our last few days in Alberta with Aunt Grace and Uncle Howard at their Ranch near Huxley and finally caught the train at Huxley for Edmonton on 9 April 1935.

1942

In 1942, the store burned and was not replaced.

Extracts from the Kennedy Diaries written by W E Kennedy who homesteaded east of Huxley.

1907

The mail was brought by stage from Innisfail to a little country post office, and store, operated by the Pickering family. It was located north of the present town site. Mr. Con Weis tells us that the first stage driver was one of the Ward brothers. We let Mr. Kennedy tell the story in his own words.

Jan. 5 Clear and frosty. A mirage of the foothills , could see the church spires in Bowden.

Jan 7 Mr. Lusk was elected treasurer of school board, I was elected secretary. Passed a by-law to borrow $1200.00.

Feb. 3 - 56 degrees below zero.

…Mar. 24 Hauling supplies to school, getting on well. Sheeting is on the roof.

… June 17 Saw the school teacher (Mr. Smith) about digging a well for the school.

… June 30 Went to Wickiser's dance. Had a whale of a time.

July 12 Cloudy but didn't rain any until eleven. I went over for the mail , went as far as Owen Smith's for a kitten. It rained when I was at Bartletts. Javey Witsley, and Jim were at Smith's for dinner. Was in to Lusk's on my way back, and in to Pickerin gs. H al Thompson was there and rode back with me. Saw Mr. Runyan to night. First airplane to land at Huxley.

Aug. 11 Got word from the Post Office Dept. that the Post office has been granted, and the name Huxley, given.

… Oct. 16-17 Men ordered out to plow fireguards around the township. Very hard on the horses.

Oct. 28 Mr. Lundy came through here today with his automobile, on his way to Love's .

Nov. 5 Went to Wright 's coulee for coal.

Nov. 20 Went over to Wilton's at night to see Con Weis and Lexie married , but the preacher came in a hurry in the afternoon, and married them at 4 o'clock. Had a big supper and a dance after. Got home at 4 a.m.

Dec. 4 Went to Heinie's and hauled one load of oats. When I got back , saw a fire over at the barn, ran the horses home. The threshers got here first, but the fire had a hold , and all we could do was fight it off the grain stacks, and the cow stables. The boys were trying to smoke, and set fire to the hay . Stayed by the fire all night.

Dec. 5 Walls still smouldering. The threshers got here at noon. We threshed 295 bushels, our whole crop.

Dec. 25 Leslie and Eugene Roach came over and we had a piece of roast cow for dinner.

1908

Jan. 6 Mr. Street and Leslie Roach nominated to the school board

Jan. 7 School accounts, tax roll , etc. had to be taken to Lakeview and sent out to Thomas Jensen to be audited.

Jan. 18 Went to Duffell's to get him to sign a petition to have the name of the school district changed from Ohio to Huxley.

Jan . 25 Mr. Beals came and talked of sending children down from the Stewartville district. (Later Elnora.)

Feb. 22 Went with Owen Smith to a Farmer 's Institute meeting at Lakeview.

Mar. 7 Signed petition for railway at Pickering' s.

June 17 Going to charivari Jake Miller tonight. Cream was now being hauled to Lakeview. First hauler was Heinie.

Sept. 17 Saw the supposed murderer of the Midway Hotel keeper. He was going west. Mr. Weis came over to see what they were chasing him for.

Nov. 7 Literary Society had debate: Old Maids are More Beneficial to Society than Old Bachelors. Old maids won out. Came home and wrung two chickens' necks.

Dec. 7 Sold steer to Pete Mitchell.

Dec. 20 Runnals family went to Vancouver.

1909

Jan. 7 Coldest day I ever experienced anywhere-about 60 degrees below. Mail not getting through.

Jan. 15 Was elected secretary of school board again, Lusk and Duffell on board.

Jan. 19 All the folks in the neighbourhood went to Elnora "Shadow Social ".

Mar. 17 Was down to the school last night. We organized a United Farmers of Alberta Association. Mr. Malcolm was out and gave us an address on the objects of the association.

April 19 Jack McNiece hauling the cream.

April 22 Mr Goddard stopped and fed his oxen. He is hauling pickets to Trochu Valley.

April 24 Cady and Buzzel sale. Team, harness and buggy sold for $ 350 .00.

May 19 U.F.A. meeting. Mr. Roach spoke on why the farmer should patronize the Government creameries.

June 12 Got home from the Letts school opening at 5:30 a.m .

Aug. 1 Bill Harris brought his black ox over and we doctored his foot.

Aug. 6 Mrs. Pickering, Mrs . Ward , Mrs. Love, Mr s. Letts , Mrs. Kennedy, Freddie, Bob, and Bert, all went to MacKenzie crossing to pick berries.

Nov. 19 Political meeting. Mr. Smith of Camrose, and Mr. Roberts of High River, spoke in favour of Duncan Marshall, Liberal.

Nov. 25 Took ballot box , by team , to Innisfail, stopped overnight at Sparks. On to Olds by train , had dinner in restaurant. It was bum , and it cost .35\t.

Dec. 1 The Grand Trunk Pacific surveyors came down across Runnall's this evening.

Dec. 25 Bill Harris and Maurice Ferriter came for Xmas dinner.

1910

Jan . 3 Jake Miller put on council, by acclamation.

Jan . 5 Mr. Smith hired to teach again.

Jan. 15 W. E . Morris elected trustee.

Jan . 23 We saw Haley's comet tonight for a few minutes.

Jan . 31 Elected secretary-treasurer of U.F.A.

Feb. 8 to 24 Cutting spruce rails at the river. Camping in tents.

Mar. 11 Party of surveyors camped at Pickering's.

Mar. 5 Children all sick. Could it be the effects of the comet?

June 1 Snowed a foot. Took kids to school on sleighs.

Aug. 8 Saw the railroad camp at Duffell' s.

Oct. 8 Mr. Hogg got married the other day and brought his bride home.

1911

Jan. 25 This is the day of the sale of the Huxley town site.

Mar. 27 A. L. McRae came and I signed up for a telephone.

April 26 Stayed at Camerons on way home from Innisfail. Donald and I talked till 12.

April 27 Stewart and Sheridan came to drill well for the school.

June 22 Picnic at the new Huxley town site.

July 15 Went to see if I could buy wheat from the Danes . Big Nels Anderson was in the well boring for water.

Sept. 12 Political meeting at Huxley, Hon . Duncan Marshall made fine speech. Dance after.

Sept. 13 Political meeting in school house. Conservative speaker, Mr. Barnett. Did pretty well for a scrub!

Sept. 21 Polling day for Reciprocity Election. Dr. Clark 29 votes, McGillivray, 16. Note The Huxley Post Office must have been a live wire place! They went for mail almost every night and often got home in the wee sma' hours .

Oct. 15-19-26 Haley's comet still visible, in N.W.

Dec. 3 Maurice Ferriter took his .20c horse home today.

Dec. 21 Xmas tree in Huxley school. Went off fine.

1912

Mar. 3 Mrs. Weis is ill. They sent for Dr. Laidlow.

Mar. 8 Dorothy has scarlet fever , Dr. Laidlow has quarantined us.

April 21 Went down to see how they are getting along laying steel on the railroad.

April 27 Went to see all the cars and the engine on the track.

Apr 28 Huxley ball team beat the Railroad Engineers all hollow.

July 16 Saw some men coming home from Trochu, pretty well ginned up.

July 20 Pickering's sale.

July 29 Rumley agent trying to sell me an oil pull outfit.

Aug. 27 Mr. Nelson and John Hibbs came to look at my binder. They got new ones and were stuck putting them up.

Aug. 30 Sold five yearling heifers @ $29.50 per head to cattle buyer.

Sept. 9 Cut the dog's legs off with the binder and had to shoot him.

Sept. 28 Cream hauler says they are closing the creamery.

Oct. 12 Mrs. Tyner shot herself yesterday morning.

Nov. 16 Shot 42 rabbits in 3 ˝ hours.

Dec. 19 Railroad engine set fire and burned stacks belonging to E. Roach and G. Couzins.

1913

Jan. 20 They have got the telephone in Huxley.

Jan. 28 Con Weis wants me to help him move his barn from the Runyan place.

Mar. 15 Buzzel made 110 bales with "press", baling from stack.

Mar. 22 U.F.A. formed a co-op society. I ordered 160 rds. of hogwire.

April 23 Goldie Zierke and Tom Lauder getting married this evening.

July 7 Working on road by the corner lake. The crew was Mack Robertson, Maurice Ferriter, Mr. Smith, Sam and Tom Street, Tom Robinson and myself.

Sept. 4 Cranston's house burned today with everything in it.

1914

Aug. 7 Dolph Miller moved to the Papi lliard ranch today.

Aug. 29 Sam Robertson says he is going to the war on Mon.

Nov. 3 Andrew Stankievech house burned last night.

Nov. 28 Got the telephone in.

1915

June 26 Mrs. K. went to Institute meeting at P. Mitchells. Mrs. Hogg's team ran away, threw her and Mrs . Cross out, but they were not hurt.

July 10 W.I. meeting. Big hen fight!

July 23 Twenty-seven babies exhibited at the Better Baby contest. Everybody wrangled over the results.

July 31 W.I. met here. They left the place whole , but ate everything in sight.

Aug. 23 First moving picture show in Huxley.

Sept. 25 Got the first Huxley newspaper.

Nov. 16 Harding's sale. Lots of booze.

Dec. 21 Huxley Farmer's co-operative elevator burned down this morning.

Dec. 22 Held meeting. Will rebuild elevator at once.

1916

Mar. 15 The 56th battalion went through Huxley tonight about 11.

1917

May 21 The Kennedy family received word that their oldest son Harold had been killed, somewhere in France.

June 8 Huxley got badly beaten at baseball , about as bad as the Conservatives in yesterday's election!

Sept. 23 Hare and Hound Chase at Huxley, Mrs. Wyndham upset the car, no one badly hurt.

1918

Jan. 23 Moving the school into town.

Aug. 1 Postal strike settled.

Sept. 20 Wheat went 21 bus. on breaking, sold for $1.97.

Oct. 21 The flu has struck the community. Kennedy family all very sick.

1919

Mar. 11 New postmaster took a shot at Zierke. Didn 't hurt him much .

June 21 Bad storm. Fire destroyed J . Miller's machine shed, threshing machine and other machinery.

Dec. 4 The Kennedy family lost their little boy Ralph, he never recovered from the effects of the flu epidemic.

1920

Feb. 2 Hauling to Security Elevator. People are still suffering from the flu.

1921

Nov. 11 Community Hall opened in Huxley.

1924

July 20 Laura Buzzel and Steve Zungle married .

Oct. 10 They sold the creamery to D . Markeburg for $4000.00.

1926

June 29 Hauled wheat to Western Milling Co. elevator.

Aug. 22 Fred Brooks has a school at Oyen, and Henry will go to Normal school next month . We are reading " Wild Geese".

1927

Feb. 16 Perry Dunham had his radio over tonight, but it didn't work very good.

Oct. 10 Polio scare. School closed for two weeks .

Nov. 11 Armistice Day. Sir Archibald McDonald of Calgary unveiled the cairn at the Huxley Ha ll. Most of the vets were out. It was 20 below zero.

1928

Dec. 21 Huxley Xmas tree. It was fine . They played "The Merchant of Venice'' .

1931

Mar. 31 Farewell smoker for E . Roach . Bi g crowd, had a big time.

Bibliography

Our Huxley Heritage, 1983. The book may now be difficult to obtain. I have a copy and can share information from it if required – rcfarndale@hotmail.com.

Back over the Trail, University of Calgary. A History of the Huxley Area.