The Bell Farm Visitors' Register was not printed until 1884, two years after work started at the Farm. From various historical records, including newspapers, journals, books, government reports and correspondence we know that many other people visited the Farm between 1882 and 1884.
This album records those people who have been positively reported as having been at the Farm between 1882 and 1896, when the farm closed. In addition, people continued to visit and report on the Bell Farm well after it ceased to exist, and those reports are also included.
One large group came in late August 1883, when a special CPR train was assembled in Montreal to go to the Rocky Mountains. A Group of 66 dignitaries were on board, including the President of the Canadian Pacific Railway, George Steven, and many members of Canada's financial and political elite. The train left Montreal on Aug. 20, and travelled to Toronto, Ontario; then on to Chicago, Illinois, followed by St. Paul, Minnesota, where they arrived on Aug. 25. After the group reached Winnipeg Manitoba, it headed due west on the newly-completed rail line to Calgary, Alberta, which was reached on Aug. 28. During the return trip, the entourage stopped off at the Bell Farm for a tour of this grandiose agricultural wonder. They arrived in time to witness the first harvest at the Bell Farm.
Two Winnipeg photographers also visited the Bell Farm in August 1883. Hall and Lowe took about 20 photographs of the Bell Farm, less than a third have been found to date. It is not known if Hall and Lowe also documented the Group of 66 tour to the Bell Farm.
As well, many others who visited the Bell Farm after 1884 did not, for some unknown reason, sign the official Bell Farm Visitors' Register. This included some of the members of the Tenant-Farmer delegation from England in October 1890.
RESEARCH:
As with the Visitors' Register album, most of the information and photos for the entries in this album have been located and provided by Michelle Cabana, of Saskatoon, with assistance from Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask.
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001 - Major Bell, on left, with five of his friends
This album includes information on and photos of people who did not sign the Bell Farm Visitors Register. - This photo probably includes friends of Major Bell (seated far left) who at some point visited the Bell Farm. It is suspected that this photo was taken in Winnipeg after Major Bell left Indian Head in 1896. The location for this photo has not been determined. Based on archival research, we believe that some of the men are as follows, from left to right: • Major William Robert Bell (1845-1913) – confirmed (Manitoba Club member: 1882-1913) – no doubt about this identification, as we have lots of images of Major Bell on file. • Walter Frederick Payne (1863-1930) – possibly ? • Unknown _____ ? • Thomas William Taylor (1852-1924) – possibly ? • Walter Reginald Baker (1852-1929) – possibly ???? - (Manitoba Club member: 1881- ___) • John Haffner (1848-1921) – possibly ? Research by: Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon and Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask. -
AIRD, Sir John
Visited the Bell Farm in 1882 - Sir John Aird (1855-1938) was born in Longueil, Quebec. He worked most of his life in the banking business, serving as Superintendent of Western Canadian Operations for the Bank of Commerce from 1908 until 1911, and then returned to Head Office in Toronto. Earlier, in 1882, after four years of working for the Bank of Commerce, Aird was sent to the Bell Farm to help deal with certain as-yet-undetermined banking difficulties then facing the newly-established Qu'Appelle Valley Farming Company (also known as the Bell Farm) at Indian Head. He was Knighted in 1917, and in 1928-29 he chaired the federal government's Aird Commission, the results of which ultimately led to the formation of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in 1936. SOURCES: "Toronto Globe and Mail" Dec 1, 1938/ article "Life of Aird Was Full and Happy": "Authority on the West" Photo: Sir John Aird - https://archive.org/stream/historyofcanadia02rossuoft#page/n9/mode/2up - John Aird (1855-1938); Knighted in 1917 - http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/aird_j.shtml RESEARCH BY: Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon, Sask. -
BLANCHARD, Dr. Robert Johnston
Visited the Bell Farm on Oct. 13-14, 1895 - Dr. Robert Johnston Blanchard (1853-1928) was a Scottish medical doctor (graduated 1878) who moved to Winnipeg in 1879. In mid October 1895 he was summoned by Major Bell to attend to his ailing wife, Catherine. Dr. Blanchard came as quickly as possible, travelling by CPR President Sir William Van Horne's private train. However, Mrs. Bell was too sick and died on Oct. 14 from appendicitis. Both Dr. Blanchard and his wife Janie Louise, came to the Winnipeg CPR Station along with at least a dozen other mourners who were friends and associates of Major and Catherine Bell, when the Van Horne train carrying Mrs. Bell's remains passed through en route to Brockville, Ontario for burial. Dr. Blanchard served oversees during World War I, and afterwards returned to Winnipeg, where he practised until his death in 1928. SOURCES: Memorable Manitobans: Blanchard, Robert Johnston - http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/blanchard_rj.shtml RESEARCH BY: Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon, Sask. -
Burgess, A.M.
Visited the Bell Farm in June or July, 1884. Alexander Mackinnon Burgess (1850-1898) was born in Scotland, and emigrated to Canada in 1871, where he worked as a journalist for the Toronto Globe and the Ottawa Times. Burgess joined the federal civil service in 1876, and became Deputy Minister of the Interior on July 1, 1883. He travelled throughout the West in the summer of 1884. Part of his journey included discussions relating to squatters at the Bell Farm and other locations. Burgess was demoted to Commissioner of Dominion Lands after the Liberal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier was elected in 1896. He died iof a stroke two years later.
SOURCES
Annual Report of the Department of the Interior for the Fiscal Year pgs 13-16 http://books.google.ca/books?id=7QpOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA7&lpg=PA7&dq=%22Scarth%22++%22Bell+farm%22&source=bl&ots=XVEMAM3a-B&sig=skIkhyOD31wjLmCco-SBvxbDHkM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hMDnUM_FFYSk8gS4_oGwCA&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBw#v=snippet&q=Bell%20farm&f=false Annual Report of the Department of the Interior for the Fiscal Year pgs 13-16 Biography: http://books.google.ca/books?id=7QpOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA7&lpg=PA7&dq=%22Scarth%22++%22Bell+farm%22&source=bl&ots=XVEMAM3a-B&sig=skIkhyOD31wjLmCco-SBvxbDHkM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hMDnUM_FFYSk8gS4_oGwCA&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBw#v=snippet&q=Bell%20farm&f=false
RESEARCH BY:
Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon, Sask. and Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask. -
DANIEL, Arthur
Visited the Bell Farm with the Tenant-Farmer Delegates on Oct 3, 1890 - Arthur Daniel came from 172 Dereham Road, Norwich, England. In 1890 the Canadian government invited a dozen farmers from Great Britain to visit Canadian farms in order to report on agriculture and the prospects of immigration. The Tenant-Farmer delegates spent the autumn of 1890 travelling from Eastern Canada to the BC Coast with a stopover at the Bell Farm, Brassey Farm and / or the Dominion Experimental Farm on Oct 3, 1890. Arthur Daniel was one of those delegates. He left Liverpool on 28 Aug. on board the Allan Line Company's ship “Circassian”. Like his fellow delegates, he wrote a report on his trip. His report on the Bell Farm was not complimentary. He considered the Farm a failure, and credited that view due to reports he heard from others about mismanagement by Major Bell. SOURCES: http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1853/6.html - p. 18-19 RESEARCH BY: Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon, Sask., and Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask. -
Sering, Max
Dr. Max Searing (1857-1939) was a German agricultural economist who was sent by the Prussian government to visit various North American farms. He sailed on the German steamer "Werra", leaving Bremen on Feb. 11 and arriving in New York on Feb. 23, 1883. During the next six months he studied North American agriculture and colonization schemes; then reported his findings to the Prussian government. One of the farms that he visited that summer was the Bell Farm at Indian Head - then into its first full year of operation. In 1887 Max Sering published a book that further discussed his observations. During his 1883 tour of the West, Sering noted that wages were lower that summer because of a noticeable increase in Irish immigration.
SOURCES:
German Text: https://books.google.ca/books?id=0e5mAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA435&lpg=PA435&dq=%22cgl+kelso%22&source=bl&ots=nTJBAyRTFH&sig=NmoDmGm2-U_WcNRyT-mHmatUSds&hl=en&ei=M0zgTc7cJszogAe59sTyCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=cgl%20kelso&f=false German Translations by: Heather Korvemaker, Regina, Sask. - Jan. 16, 2020
Photo: University of Berlin "A German on the Prairies: Max Sering and settler colonialism in Canada", by Robert L. Nelson , 2014 - click here "Learning Empire: Globalization and German Quest for World Status, 1875 - 1919 ", 2019 - by Erik Grimmer-Solem "Legacies of Violence: Eastern Europe’s First World War - article: Utopians of Open Space", by Robert L. Nelson Various newspaper clippings relating to Max Sering
RESEARCH BY:
Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon, Sask., and Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask. -
DEVLIN, C.R.
Visited the Bell Farm in March-April 1897 - Charles Ramsay Devlin (1858-1914) was a Quebec politican, and later served as an Immigration Agent in Ireland. In 1897 he joined with Alfred F. Jury (Immigration Anget in Liverpool, England) for a tour of Western Canada, including Indian Head and the Bell Farm. Sources: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/devlin_charles_ramsay_14E.html - Dictionary of Canadian Biography Charles Ramsay Devlin photo source for Charles Ramsay Devlin Winnipeg Tribune - March 22 1897 - report on Jury & Devlin Research by: Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon, Sask. -
EDWARDS, Oliver and Henrietta and Family
Lived at Indian Head in 1882-83 and visited the Bell Farm regularly - Dr. Oliver Cromwell Edwards (1859-1915) came to the West in 1882 and over the next decade acquired periodic government employment as Medical Officer for the Treaty 4 region, providing medical service to the First Nation peoples living in the Fort Qu'Appelle - Indian Head - Qu'Appelle region. In 1883 his wife Henrietta Muir Edwards (1849-1931) and their two children, Alice and William, joined him. Their third child, Margaret, was born at Indian Head in the midst of the North-West Rebellion of 1885. The Edwards were reportedly frequent visitors at the Bell Farm. Throughout the 1880s Dr. Edwards regularly reported on the difficulties that the First Nations people faced with respect to a lack of food and inadequate health care. However, his reports, like similar ones from other sources, were basically ignored by officials in Ottawa. Some suggest that his Liberal political support hindered his ability to influence the Conservative government of the day, and to gain more regular medical appointments. His later appointments by the Liberal Government would, in part, seem to corroborate this statement. The family lived in the Fort Qu'Appelle, Indian Head, Regina and Qu'Appelle regions during the 1880s, and later in Eastern and Western Canada. Dr. Edwards’ medical career was not lucrative, and Henrietta often supplanted family income from her own resources. In addition to caring for her family, Henrietta collected aboriginal art and became an accomplished artist in her own right. The sale of her art helped sustain the family's income. In the late 1880s she also took up the cause of women's rights. Henrietta became even more socially and politically influential after their move to Ottawa in 1890 and later to southern Alberta. She was one of "The Famous Five" Alberta women who espoused women's suffrage in the early 20th century and secured the right of women to vote and hold elected office. Their fight to have women declared as legal "persons" was confirmed by the British Privy Council in 1929. Henrietta was also the co-founder, with Lady Aberdeen, of the National Council of Women and the Victorian Order of Nurses. For her various contributions, Henrietta Edwards was recognized in 1962 by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada as a person of national historic significance. Larger-than-life bronze statues of The Famous Five can be seen in downtown Calgary. Dr. Oliver Edwards died in 1915; Henrietta Muir Edwards died in 1931. SOURCES: Wineglass Ranch website: http://www.wineglassranch.ca/family-heritage/dr-oliver-c-edwards Montreal Medical Journal – Oct 1883, page 190: https://archive.org/stream/montrealmedicalj12mont#page/190/mode/2up Dr. Edwards at Indian Head: https://archive.org/stream/honalexandermac00rossgoog#page/n614/mode/2up Dr Edwards obituary: April 22 1915, Ottawa Journal Dr Edwards treats BA member Burton – accident: Aug. 18. 1884 Winnipeg Free Press M.A. Thesis, U of Calgary, 1975 (p. 103 & 108, 109): Henrietta Muir Edwards: the journey of a Canadian feminist by Patricia Roome: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp04/nq24346.pdf Edwards Family photo, ca. 1882-83 (L-R: Doctor Oliver C. Edwards; Alice (in chair, foreground); Mrs. Henrietta Muir Edwards; Amelia Muir; Willie (asleep); Willie Edwards: http://www.glenbow.org/collections/search/findingAids/archhtm/edwards_gardiner.cfm#series13 Glenbow Archives Collection: http://www.glenbow.org/collections/search/findingAids/archhtm/edwards_gardiner.cfm#series1 "The Banker and the Blackfoot", by J. Edward Chamberlin "Qu'Appelle: Footprints to Progress" - local history Research By: Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon; Margaret Hryniuk, Regina; Bill Armstrong, Regina; and Frank Korvemaker, Regina -
EDWARDS, William
Visited the Bell Farm with the Tenant-Farmer Delegates on Oct 3, 1890 - William Edwards came from Ruthin, Wales. In 1890 the Canadian government invited a dozen farmers from Great Britain to visit Canadian farms in order to report on agriculture and the prospects of immigration. The Tenant-Farmer delegates spent the autumn of 1890 travelling from Eastern Canada to the BC Coast with a stopover at the Bell Farm, Brassey Farm and /or the Dominion Experimental Farm on Oct 3, 1890. William Edwards was one of those delegates. He left Liverpool on 28 Aug along with six delegates on the “Circassian” of the Allan Line. Edwards did not comment on the Bell Farm in his report; possibly he was among the group that was caught in a heavy downpour that day and opted not to visit Major and Mrs. Bell after touring the Experimental Farm. Source: http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1855/4.html Research by: Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon, Sask. and Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask. -
ELKINGTON, William M.
Crossed the Bell Farm on July 1, 1892 - William M. Elkington bought a homestead 20 miles north of Fort Qu'Appelle, and moved there from England in April 1889. He worked his farm ,and did other manual labour in the region until he returned permanently to England in 1893. Meanwhile, he helped to construct the Brassey stone barn SW of Indian Head in the summer of 1892, serving as a stonemason's helper. SOURCES: https://archive.org/stream/cihm_30169#page/n5/mode/2up Five Years in Canada (Bell farm references from pg 91, 92, 99, and 121) (1892-1893) – published in 1895 https://archive.org/stream/wideworldmagazin01lond#page/424/mode/2up photo source for Elkington (born c.1871) https://archive.org/details/cu31924003044173 Elkington and Long Research by: Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon, and Frank Korvemaker, Regina -
FANE, Col. Francis Augustus
Probably visited the Bell Farm on Oct 3 or 4. 1890 with other Tenant-Farmer delegates from Great Britain - Col. Francis Augustus Fane (1824-1893) visited the Bell Farm as a member of the 1890 Tenant-Farmer Delegation to Canada, probably on Oct. 3 or 4, 1890. He fought in the Indian Mutiny (1857-58); and was commander of the Peshawar Light Horse. He gained the `rank` of Colonel in the 25th Regiment. Fane lived at Fulbeck Hall, Lincolnshire, England. In 1890 the Canadian government invited a dozen farmers from Great Britain to visit Canadian farms in order to report on agriculture and the prospects of immigration. The Tenant-Farmer delegates spent the autumn of 1890 travelling from Eastern Canada to the BC Coast with a stopover at the Bell Farm, Brassey Farm and / or the Dominion Experimental Farm on Oct 3, 1890. Col. Fane was one of those delegates. In his report to the Canadian Government, Fane did not comment on the Bell Farm; possibly he was among the group that was caught in a heavy downpour that day and opted not to visit Major and Mrs. Bell after touring the Experimental Farm. However, he left an excellent itinerary for the tour. Col. Fane and six fellow Delegates left Liverpool on Aug, 28, 1890 on board the Allan Line steamer: "Circassian". They arrived at Quebec: Sept. 8; Ottawa: Sept. 9; Toronto: Sept. 11; Owen Sound: Sept. 17; Port Arthur: Sept. 19; Winnipeg: Sept. 20; Brandon: Sept 25; Moosomin: Oct 1; Grenfell: Oct. 3; Regina: Oct. 6; Calgary: Oct 8; Vancouver: & Victoria: Oct. 10; RETURN: Virden - Brandon: Oct 22; Winnipeg: Oct 24; Niagara Falls: Nov. 1; Toronto: Nov. 5; Montreal: Nov 9; Quebec: Nov. 11; return ship "Parisian", back to Liverpool: Nov. 22. Others travelled on the "Sardinian", leaving Sept. 4 and returned to England on the "Parisian" - both Allan Line ships. Col. Fane does not state when he visited or passed by the Bell Farm, and he did not sign the Visitor's Register. SOURCES: http://archive.org/stream/cihm_58480#page/n5/mode/2up - “The Visit of the Tenant-Farmer delegates to Canada in 1890”- p. 26 & 45; references to Bell and Brassey Farms on p. 33 and 42. http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1853.html - by Col, Fane, etc http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1855/43.html - Hutchinson, etc Peerage: http://thepeerage.com/p5467.htm#i54669 - genealogical information http://thepeerage.com/p33541.htm#i335409 - genealogical information Research by: Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon, Sask., and Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask. -
HALL, James Deakin
Photographed the Bell Farm during harvest time, 1883 - James D. Hall (1854-1936), was born in Londonderry, Ireland, and moved to Ontario, Canada in 1867. In 1881 he moved to Winnipeg, and a year later joined Skene Lowe to form the photographic partnership of Hall and Lowe, who photographed the West until 1892, when Hall moved to Vancouver to become its sheriff. Hall and Lowe took the first known photographs of the Bell Farm. Sources: http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/photographers/hall_jd.shtml Research by: Frank Korvemaker, Regina -
HART, Rev. Prof. Thomas - Presbyterin minister
Visited the Bell Farm on 24 June 1887 as part of a Presbyterian delegation tour of Western Missions - Rev. Prof. Thomas Hart (1835-1912) Like many other Presbyterians, Rev. Hart originated in Scotland, then migrated with his parents to Canada. In this instance, he came in 1842 and settled in Ontario. He obtained a B.A. from Queen’s University in 1860, and moved to Manitoba in 1871. He was a professional educator and initially taught at Manitoba College; in 1877 he helped found the University of Manitoba. Thomas Hart married Isabella Margaret Malloch (1846-1928) of Perth, Ontario in 1872. In 1880 he became Moderator of the Synod of the Presbyterian Church in Manitoba and the North-West Territories, a position he held until 1890. He retired from his educational career in 1909 and died in 1912. Professor Hart was a delegate to the Presbyterian General Assembly meeting, held in Winnipeg, Manitoba from June 9-17, 1887. Some members of that gathering subsequently travelled to Regina, and then on to the Qu’Appelle Valley and Indian Head region to inspect various Indian Reserves and the status of Presbyterian missions in that vicinity. During the tour, they also briefly visited the Bell Farm on June 24, and were accompanied by Hayter Reed, of Regina, the Assistant Indian Commissioner for the North-West Territories. Sources: Thomas Hart, Manitoba College, Winnipeg http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/hart_t.shtml http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/hart_thomas_14E.html http://www.archive.org/stream/cihm_32133#page/n21/mode/2up/search/Indian Presbyterian Pioneer Missionaries in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia; Pg 17 Robertson; pg 21 Hart https://cdm22007.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p22007coll8/id/997534/rec/1 Thomas Hart photo source : Story of Manitoba http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/hart_t.shtml - Biography for Hart in Memorable Manitobans http://www23.us.archive.org/stream/cihm_92581#page/n3/mode/2up Mrs. Thomas Hart http://uccarchiveswinnipeg.ca/wp-content/uploads/Presbyterian-Workers-Among-the-Indians-Fonds-UCC-Archives-Winnipeg-IRS-Photo-Index.pdf http://uccarchiveswinnipeg.ca/collection/photographs/ Research by: Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon, Sask, and Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask. -
HOWARD, Captain Arthur L. - Gatling Gun operator
Captain Howard operated the Gatling Gun in the North-West Rebellion of 1885. Visited the Bell Farm in 1885. - Captain Howard joined General Middleton's forces in 1885 to operate the Gatling Gun provided by the American manufacturing firm. Howard visited the Bell Farm along with General Middleton en route east after the Rebellion was quashed, and reportedly gave a demonstration of the gun's firing power on the Farm. SOURCES: http://members.memlane.com/gromboug/P5NWReb.htm Indian Head: History of Indian Head and District, 1984; p. 6 -
HUTCHINSON, George
Visited the Bell Farm with the Tenant-Farmer Delegates on Oct 3, 1890 - George Hutchinson came from Brougham Castle, Penrith, England. In 1890 the Canadian government invited a dozen farmers from Great Britain to visit Canadian farms in order to report on agriculture and the prospects of immigration. The Tenant-Farmer delegates spent the autumn of 1890 travelling from Eastern Canada to the BC Coast with a stopover at the Bell Farm and / or the Dominion Experimental Farm on Oct 3, 1890. George Hutchinson was one of those delegates. He left Liverpool on 28 Aug along with five other delegates, on board the “Circassian” of the Allan Line. In his report he mentions driving around the Bell, Brassey and Dominion Experimental Farms, but they did not stop in to visit with Major and Mrs Bell due to the inclement weather. Source: http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1855/4.html - p. 40 Research by: Michelle Cabana, Saskatoon, Sask. and Frank Korvemaker, Regina, Sask.