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Before we take you to 1915, something should be said for what is known about our early family history and some other background information. Our family tree from my father's side is very complicated to say the least, but can be traced back to the early 1700's to someone named Galsworthy Chidsley. However, facts are weak and so let me start this story with Joseph and Mary Chidley, who have a headstone in the village of Shebbear, Devonshire, England. Seems most appropriate to start with Mary and Joseph, correct? Joseph found employment on a farm located some two miles north of Shebbear, known as Ladford. Joseph and Mary lived their married life here and raised nine children.
Would it ever be interesting to meet up with Joseph and Mary, as we would have so much to talk about! Note the last name mysteriously changed to Chidley from Chidsley. We Chudleighs are here because of Joseph...well, sort of. This log will help explain how this all happened. Joseph would have been my great, great, great grandfather! My son Matthew took it upon himself to go visit the graveside in 2020 since no one from our side of the family has gone to visit this site for close to 50 years. Based on the information provided, Matthew was able to find the tombstone in one of the two cemeteries that exist in Shebbear. Joseph lived to the incredible age of 85 years, which would have been almost unheard of back then. He would have been really impressed to have his great, great, great, great grandson spend a few minutes with him189 years later! The headstone is still in fairly good shape because it was made from marble.
Joseph and Mary's second son was also named Joseph, and he married a Susannah Fry and they had 13 children, some who never reached adolescence. Together they would spend the rest of their lives seeking to improve their status and search for an improved future for their children. Joseph Jr. was originally a gardener for the Barton House in Oxfordshire and they lived in what is known as the Barton House Lodge. The Barton House has a lot of history is now renovated and a five star B&B. I found on the internet a preserved home on the same property that is named the Barton House Lodge that supposedly Joseph and Susannah lived in for a period of time. This home was built in the early 1800's and it's description on the website matches how it looks in the picture following, such as thatched roof, brick chimney shafts, iron casements and leaded glass, most of it original.
Joseph later became an innkeeper of a pub in Great Torrington, England, named the Vernon and the Black Horse, which was relatively close to Shebbear. This pub still exists today and was named after Admiral Vernon, a famous son of Devonshire, who played a key role in the defeat of Napoleon at Trafalgar. Also existing in Devonshire was a small town named Chudleigh along with many other towns of Saxon origin that ended with the name 'leigh', such as Bondleigh and Warkleigh.
When Joseph passed away in 1852 at 65 years of age, Susannah was very courageous and chose to emigrate to Canada (Clinton, Ontario) with eight of her children, one who was named George Chidley (born in the same Great Torrington, England). Susannah took this course of action so that her remaining children had a chance of moving beyond their current rank of peasant, which is all they may have expected had they remained in Devonshire. As determined by Ted Chudleigh:
Susannah could see no future for herself at 49 years of age, or for her remaining children. Why Sushanna chose Clinton as her destination is entirely conjecture. The Lord of the Realm in the Parish of Shebbear and the area generally of North Devon was Lord Clinton. It is known he sponsored a number of emigrants to Canada. One ship named "The Lady Peel" sailed in 1854 from Plymouth, Devon to Quebec City arriving eight weeks later, and this ship carried Susannah and her eight children.
To help finance the trip, a vestry meeting was held at the local Anglican Church of which they were members of and it was decided to grant her 10 pounds to help make this happen, and the rest is history.
Susannah passed away 23 years later in 1878. George Chidley married Julia Woodruff Cutten, and they had eleven children, four of which were already born upon Susannah's death: Edward Logan, Norman Paul (my grandfather), Allen Percy, and George Earnest. My Aunt Pansy's middle name is Julia for a reason, and this was commonplace to name offsprings after family elders. Others born later in Ontario included Maxwell Rufus, and daughters Catherine Julia (better known by us as Great Aunt Kate) and Susanna Blanche, who also went by the name 'Pansy' for some strange reason.
While the Chidley's were having a life in Ontario, the west was opening up.
The Lure of Western Canada
The buffalo used to roam and graze the prairie grass freely in the area between the Bow and Red Deer rivers, their population of which was controlled by the Blackfoot and Crowfoot First Nation tribes. But the Chiefs signed a treaty in 1877 at Blackfoot Crossing, near Gleichen, giving most of the land to the Crown in exchange for reservation and other form of remuneration. Great Uncle Edward was already born in 1874 when this happened. Norman, my grandfather came along in 1879. With the change in land ownership, the beginning of the Dominion Land Survey marked a new era for Western Canada as the survey system forced the end of the nomadic ways previously established by the First Nations and Metis.
The DLS divides most of Western Canada into one-square-mile sections for agricultural and other purposes and to allow individual ownership. The reason that the Canadian government was pushing to subdivide Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta was to affirm Canadian sovereignty over these lands. The government was afraid that the Americans would expand into Canadian territory and its introduction of a railway and surveying grid was a means to discourage American encroachment. An organized survey grid allowed the opportunity to grant homesteads to those who applied based on area location.
The survey for Alberta began in 1881, but it would take many years to complete. A number of places are excluded: federal lands such as First Nation reserves, federal parks, and air weapon ranges (eg. Suffield). Because of my background living on a surveyed farm, I always knew which direction was north, whereas those born in the city, not as likely! I remember my father finding and showing me a surveyor's pin in the SW corner of a quarter section once, which now would have been placed over 135 years ago.
The Canadian Pacific Railway built the transcontinental main line across the prairie east of Calgary in 1883. At this time, the prairie was considered semi-arid, containing native grassland, with little to no tree, and being largely unproductive. With the build of the CPR line came the earliest settlers, such as John Ware, Rod MacLeay, CJ Long, and Sam Howe, all of these names which will be mentioned later in this log. The first ranchers did not need fences since the area was still open range, as the DLS was still getting established.
The west was becoming the land of opportunity. Go west young man. As told by Ted Chudleigh, great grandson of George Chidley:
George Chidley was a druggist in Clinton, Ontario in a chemist shop. Things must have seemed wonderful as the town was booming and George and Julia were producing children regularly. As the recession of 1885 – 87 deepened, more of George's clients must have come to him with various signs of depression. In those days, druggists would prescribe arsenic as a tonic in certain cases and in very small doses for short periods of time. It does act as an elixir tonic, lifting the spirits. Unfortunately one of George's clients died which could have been the result of an allergic reaction, or George was poorly trained or overly exuberant with his prescription. This made life in Clinton difficult for their rapidly growing family because of their tarnished reputation.
Emigration seemed a suitable solution and so in 1888, they chose to move to Bird's Hill, Manitoba (near Winnipeg). As the family traveled on the brand new CPR across the Canadian Shield, George changed his last name from Chidley to Chudleigh, which was a very distinguished Devonshire name.
In Bird's Hill, George Sr. assumed management of a gravel pit, which supplied much of the gravel for the building of the CPR and now was equally busy supplying gravel for its maintenance. Once established in Manitoba, George and Julia had more children: Walter Starks, Frederick Randolph, and Rupert Taylor to complete the family.
Next Generation
Through his contacts with the CPR, George was able to get his eldest son, Edward Logan, started with the line. Edward was the most senior child and eventually became wealthy working for the CPR as a superintendent of the line from Port Moody to Winnipeg. He married Elizabeth Cochran, also known as Great Aunt Bess in 1898, and they lived in a railway coach car, travelling back and forth along the CPR line since Edward needed to go where his work was. Therefore all four of their children (Max Moran, Ralph Eric, Catherine Sadie, and Elizabeth Julia) were born in a coach car somewhere along the line! My Aunt Elizabeth was named after Great Aunt Bess.
Edward chose to settle his family in Medicine Hat once his kids needed to attend school as his growing family could not spend the rest of their life in a passenger coach car! In 1921, Edward then moved his family to Toronto to get involved in real estate. When the kids were of age, Edward and his wife spent each winter in Florida. Now this was quite abnormal 100 years ago to be something like a 'snow bird' since you could not travel south by car or plane and so he was ahead of his time.
My grandfather, Norman settled on a ranch at a place called Seven Persons in the Cypress Hills area and Edward probably influenced, or helped him get started as he was his older brother and already established. Edward was able to keep in touch with Norman from there when out west and Edward's kids remember picnics on the prairies, shooting gophers, and rattle snakes and swimming in the Elkwater Lake in Cypress Hills, the lake swim of which is something I have done myself.
Here is Norman as a bachelor on this ranch around 1912:
Meanwhile, Allen Percy (Perce) had been a teacher at the start of his career back in Ontario, but got a student into trouble and therefore lost his license. Perce needed a fresh start and so moved to Brooks by 1910 and was very active as an International Machine agent, a shareholder of the Brooks Newell Hotel, and also serving on the town council. Perce also was one of the first Grand Masters of the Masonic Lodge, Brooks branch.
Next son, George Earnest worked as a call boy for awhile with the CPR in Medicine Hat, thanks to Edward who got him that job. He later became the CPR Station Agent/ Telegraph Operator in Bindloss, learning how to be a morse code operator and a telegrapher. He married Dorothy, who was the cook/ maid for Edward when he was starting his career for the CPR in Medicine Hat. George and Dorothy had two children: George Starks and Dorothy Julia, first cousins of my father and you will learn more about these two later. Not much is known about Catherine Julia (Great Aunt Kate), despite the support she provided Norman's family. She lived her life in the Winnipeg area and never got married.
Before focusing on my grandfather Norman, Great Uncles Edward and Perce, and to some extent George Earnest and Catherine Julia, lets summarize the life of the remainder of Norman's siblings. Susanna Blanche died at a fairly young age with tuberculosis, and whom my third Aunt Blanche was also named after. If you are confused with all the similar names, you should be! Nothing much to report on Maxwell Rufus, but we are starting to research a bit more. He apparently married Annice Van Poole in Edmonton in 1910, then in the same year died of Rocky Mountain fever in Jasper at the age of 29. Rupert Taylor died shortly after birth in 1911.
Walter Starks at the age of 27 never came home from WW I. His service records indicate he was shot in the forehead. Yup, that would do it alright. Despite being shot, he was reported trying to walk back to the nursing station, but he did not make it. As per research, his body was eventually found later and he was buried in Flanders Field, Belgium. Walter had three years of military experience before joining the army and getting posted overseas. Less we forget the sacrifice he made to give us freedom.
Frederick Randolph, the youngest also joined the army in May, 1918 and was discharged in December due to demobilization as WWI had ended, and so was after his brother had been killed. He may not have been posted overseas yet. Once discharged, he got married and settled near Winnipeg, had two children in Bryan and Vera, and ran a store.
People might ask why did not some of the other Chudleigh brothers go to war as well to fight for the cause. I can say at least for Edward, being older and probably a foot taller and wider than Walter and Frederick, he would not stand a chance as he was much bigger and an easier target to shoot at and no doubt would have gotten all sorts of bullet holes in him in short order and become an early statistic!
It should be noted that George Chudleigh (Chidley) Sr. would have known about most if not all of what was getting built and established in Western Canada and where his family settled since he did not pass away until 1917 in Manitoba.
Background Information - The following notes help set the stage for the Chudleigh story and they get referenced at some point. They add more meaning/ context for how certain facts/ events influenced family on the choices made with their life on the farm.
Influence of the Canadian Pacific Railway
In exchange for the building of the railroad, the CPR was granted millions of acres of land on both sides of the right of way. To attract further settlers, the CPR built major irrigation works to render the land suitable for farming. In 1910 the CPR commenced construction of a diversion structure on the Bow River known as the Bassano Dam.
Certainly Uncle Ed would have been consulted and influenced any strategic decisions made. Water conveyance canals, wooden and concrete flumes, and reservoirs were constructed to allow water to flow by gravity to most areas of the current Eastern Irrigation District. With the dam build, Bassano became the biggest town in the area, thus causing family to go to Bassano for the 'big town' experience as opposed to Brooks. In conjunction with the Dominion of Canada, the CPR then undertook an extensive marketing campaign to attract settlers to the area.
The Duke of Sutherland
The British played a very important role in the expansion of agriculture and the promotion of settlement in Alberta in the early part of the twentieth century. My father used to mention the Duke of Sutherland several times throughout my years on the farm. The Fourth Duke of Sutherland, a man of enormous wealth was a major investor in irrigation agriculture and it is noted that he brought in organized settlement of British flavor into Western Canada at a time when an increase in the population was crucial for the development of Canada as an independent nation.
More specifically, in 1910, the Duke purchased from the CPR, 8,000 acres of land east of Brooks, running north from the railway tracks as far as the One Tree District, which, well had only one tree in the area until irrigation came along. He bought land, buildings, equipment, and livestock and had the CPR oversee the preparation of several ready-made farms with a cottage and barn. In addition to being one of the chief proponents of irrigation, he was able to encourage settlement and so along came thirty families from England and Scotland to colonize his land. In a very short time, the Sutherland Colony was a going concern and by 1914, nearly all the farmland was in crop. The Sutherland Colony (call it a prototype) was used as an advertisement by CPR to prospective settlers as proof of the benefits of irrigation.
The main residence north of Brooks was built by the CPR for the personal use of the Duke when he came from Scotland to view his farm estate. Within its bungalow format, it contains a sizable living space with elements far more imposing than its exterior. Arched doorways, two large arched fireplaces, extensive use of paneling and moldings, a main staircase with flaring bottom steps into the lobby, the ox-eye window in the bathroom, and the glass skylight above the stairs are features which would not normally be found on the prairies! Today the bungalow is in its original location, is owned privately, and has been designated a Provincial Historic Site.
Irrigation brought change in vegetation and habitat since different species were able to thrive in wetter conditions during the summer. A good example is the garter snake. There used to be so many of them around our farm, due to the dense vegetation and thick and tall brome grass we had. They wanted to be close to water, and that was never a problem with the irrigation system and ditch banks in place. They came into the area via the canal system built by the CPR as there were no garter snakes on dry native prairie, which is more suitable for the rattler. The brome grass also had been imported originally into Canada from England, not native to the prairies and it spread like wild fire, as seeds floated downstream along the ditch banks. The same can be said for the weeping willow, a river bush, which grew all along the canals and irrigation ditches. None of this vegetation existed on the prairies prior to irrigation, other than along the river edges.
I chose to mention the garter snake since you could not have a life on irrigation without experiencing them! I never liked the long, slithery, scaly green garter snakes. When my mother used to send me out to pick wild asparagus in that tall brome grass with its long slender green trunk waving in the wind, the vegetable used to remind me of a garter snake and I have never liked eating asparagus to this very day!
Phase II Railway Construction
More change to come. The arrival of farm settlers mandated the construction of more railway lines/ spurs to feed the main line and for the construction of grain elevators which generated grain traffic for the railway. In 1914, the CPR constructed a line between Bassano and Empress, passing through Duchess and Millicent along the way. This line was referred to as the 'Royal Line' because the villages along it, such as Princess, Empress, Countess, Duchess, and Millicent were named after British nobility. The village of Duchess was named after the Fourth Duke of Sutherland.
Grain Elevator
Since grain storage facilities are of prime importance in any prospective grain producing area, three grain elevators were built in Duchess between 1915 and 1918. The middle elevator burned to the ground in 1937 and so it was a surprise to learn there used to be three, as Duchess had only two during my childhood. This would explain why the elevators were quite far apart. It is also interesting to note that there would have been better crops produced during my time using more efficient and effective farming operations, yet Duchess remained with only two elevators. This had to be because of more efficient and timely unloading of that grain into rail cars. The picture is of elevator #3:
Duchess Livery Stable
The livery barn was as important to the early west as a boarding house or hotel and you really could not have one without the other being available. There was open range between the Red Deer and Bow rivers, and if the early settlers had to ride to town on business, haul grain long distances to local elevators, or take a train to the city, they were assured of a place to stable and feed their horses for an indefinite period of time. Because of the stench, noise, and vermin that surrounded the livery, villages attempted to control their location.
The horse owner had the option to have the livery staff undertake all care for the horse, or the owner could generally remain responsible, such as for providing hay, feeding, and bedding, and cleaning the stall. The original livery barn in Duchess was built in 1915 and so something that the Chudleighs would have used when riding a horse to town.
Duchess CPR Station
The cute little CPR station for Duchess became operational in 1920. I remember walking into this well used station once as a child in its original location by way of a 'board walk' that went beside the railway line as it was still operational complete with telegraph equipment. This station once retired in 1965 was bought and used privately for storage, but eventually found its way to Brooks as a museum piece for curious tourists. The station was then stocked with original artifacts that were used in all areas of the railway industry.
The 'CPR build' was basically done by 1920.
Eastern Irrigation District
For close to 20 years the CPR owned and operated the irrigation conveyance infrastructure for the Bassano Dam. Their ownership of the system coincided with the economic depression and drought of the late 20’s and 30’s. Plunging commodity prices resulted in many landowners being unable to sell and ship their product to market and make their payments to the CPR. As a result, many made the decision to leave the area. With more and more landowners defaulting on their payments, the operation of the irrigation system became a non-profitable venture for the CPR, a company whose main operations were already significantly impacted by the economic depression.
By the mid 1930s a growing number of landowners became more and more frustrated with the CPR’s operation, such as unaddressed problems with water delivery and disputes over the classification of irrigable land. The CPR’s Calgary based administration office added to the problems by increasing the cost and time required for landowners attempting resolution of disputes. In 1935, a group of landowners approached the CPR proposing to take over its ownership and operation, thinking as a collective group they would be able to run the irrigation system in a more efficient manner. Once agreement was reached, the Eastern Irrigation District was officially created with the passing of the “Act to incorporate ” by the Province of Alberta on April 23, 1935.
Just look at the green areas on the map for what became land under irrigation. Now lets recap if you were a member of a First Nations tribe what change you would have noticed and seen for land that used to be 'free':
railway came in with the 'iron horse';
buffalo and other wild animals were massacred, native prairie plants destroyed, all of which were so heavily relied upon;
land was organized into sections scientifically;
an irrigation system was constructed with canals and ditches;
homesteaders moved in for their 'plot of land;
fences were built to mark their territory and choking movement across land;
vegetation and habitat radically changed due to irrigation;
population increased and villages, towns, and roads were built.
This is just simply mind boggling what European civilization did to their way of life as a nomadic tribe so close to nature on the wide open prairie. All development went against what they wanted; their way of life was completely destroyed! No wonder the indigenous people struggled because they lost their identity and no longer knew how to live, how to adapt to such foreign ideas, and they did not want to lose their spiritual connection with nature. But then there would have been no opportunity for the Chudleighs without change. Would my ancestors take advantage of the opportunities available and take out a homestead in the irrigation district?
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