by Stuart Grayson pg 232 Big Hill Country
My father, Charles Grayson was born July 1, 1870, at Scarborough, Yorkshire, England, immigrating with his family to Canada as a child. The family moved steadily westward, homesteading in the Qu ‘Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, in 1886. They remained there for twenty years, then returned to Virden, Manitoba, where Charles’ parents spent their final years.
Charles did not stop in Saskatchewan; he continued working his way westward, finally arriving at the Cowan ranch in the Big Hill Springs area in 1886. He was sixteen years old. Here he obtained employment as a ranch hand. He left Cowans to work for C. W. Fisher and later worked at the Union Bank as Ranch and Homestead Inspector, and in still later years as Imperial Oil Agent for Cochrane. He was also a Justice of the Peace and Police Magistrate for a while.
Dad married Blanche Bruce, daughter of Donald and Jane Bruce, in Cochrane in 1902. They had three children, Bruce Gordon, born 1903, Dorothy Maud, born 1905, and Leslie Stuart, born 1907. Mother passed away in November 1907; I was nine months old. Dad later married Mrs. Margaret White, widow of Daniel C. White, of Cochrane. Margaret passed away at Lethbridge in 1961; Dad had predeceased her in 1950.
Gordon worked for the Royal Bank of Canada, for Montelbelli Brothers at Bluffton, Alberta, and for many years in the implement business at Lacombe and Wetaskiwin. He passed away in Wetaskiwin in 1966, leaving his wife Dorothy and two children, Evelyn and James.
Dorothy, a school teacher, married Gordon Lock, of Calgary. She passed away in 1956, leaving one daughter, Joan.
I, Stuart, taught school for a short time, then joined the Alberta Provincial Police in 1930, transferring to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1932, and served with them (including a period of over six years Overseas with the Canadian Army during World War Two, while on leave of absence from the Force – Pt. Lt. Col.)
I was stationed for a further period of three years in London, England, as Liason Officer for the Force, which included acting as Canadian Representative to Interpol. It afforded me wide opportunities for travel throughout Europe. My last six years of service were spent as Superintendent of the Calgary Subdivision of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, retiring in 1965 with a maximum service of thirty-five and a half years. In 1936 I married Magdalena Platzer of Silverwood, Alberta. She was a teacher and also served Overseas with the Women’s Auxiliary of the Royal Air Force. We have two children, Charles, with the Calgary Public Library and daughter, Gail, residing in Toronto.
