Hardie Creek (flowing into Columbia Lake); Hardie Creek Road

A veritable parade of Hardie siblings lived in and/or visited the Windermere Valley from the mid 1880s into the early 1900s.

The name of the unassuming Hardie Creek, located on the west side of Columbia Lake, is a remnant of a since-forgotten English family who were well-known during the early years of valley settlement. A veritable parade of Hardie siblings lived in and/or visited the Windermere Valley from the mid 1880s into the early 1900s.

The First Hardie

The property from which Hardie Creek drains into Columbia Lake, Lot 139, had a pre-emption application filed for it in April 1885 by William Hardie.¹ This makes the property the second oldest of the settler occupied properties on Columbia Lake for which a Crown Grant was eventually given (the first being Lot 48 applied for by Francis Patrick Armstrong in July 1883).²

A survey of William Hardie’s Lot 139 pre-emption. Hardie Creek is depicted by the line through the middle going into Columbia Lake. Crown Grant 963/49, William Hardie (26 May 1890), British Columbia Crown Land Grants, Vol 49 (no 0891/0049-0987/0049), 1890. Img 484 of 646.

This Hardie Creek Ranch makes an appearance in other stories of the area. For example, after spending the summer of 1885 panning for gold up Toby Creek, John Hopkins Taynton spent the winter at the Hardie ranch on Columbia Lake.³ John and his younger brother, William, later went into cattle ranching on a property just south of the Hardie ranch, on a property that later became Thunder Hill Ranch.

Florence Baillie-Grohman also mentions stopping at William Hardie’s ranch while travelling with her husband (William Adolph Baillie Grohman), in the summer of 1888, as Baillie-Grohman supervised work on the canal then being dug at Canal Flats. Florence recalls that, shortly after her arrival, Hardie delivered a large sack of potatoes and onions grown on his ranch, refusing payment when offered.⁴

William Hardie

Given his very general name, I wasn’t able to find a lot of information about the life of William Hardie. He was born to parents Herbert and Elizabeth in 1858 in Stockport, Cheshire, England.⁵ William and his twin, Herbert, were the eldest children and were christened in Buxton, Derbyshire on 14 November 1858.⁶

In the 1871 census Herbert is recorded as living with his parents in North Meols, Lancashire, England,⁷ while William was at a boarding school located in Doncaster, West Riding of Yorkshire.⁸ The schoolmaster at William’s boardinghouse was George Hardy, and was possibly a relative.

William disappears after this, only reappearing with that 1885 pre-emption application on Columbia Lake. He seems to have been in residence on his ranch for at least some time following, being listed as a farmer in both the 1887 and 1889 British Columbia Directories.⁹ His name also appears in May 1890 on a list of people entitled to vote in the East Kootenay district,¹⁰ and again on voting lists in August 1893,¹¹ June 1894,¹² and May 1898.¹³ He does not appear on the 1891 Canadian Census, however, and that appearance of of William’s name on the May 1898 East Kootenay voting list is the last written record found of his association with the valley (his brothers continued in the valley, but we’ll get to that).

William’s Columbia Lake property is listed as being up for sale for unpaid taxes in December 1903,¹⁴ and in 1906 is mentioned in a local newspaper as belonging to his brother, Samuel.¹⁵ It’s unclear if the latter statement is accurate.

By 1901 William was living with his wife and three children in Sussex, England.¹⁶ He again appears in Sussex with his family (this time with one more son) in 1911, at which time he is listed as a Dairy Proprietor.¹⁷ It is unknown what happened to him after this.

A Parade of Siblings

Alfred

Although it remains a mystery as to how William ended up in the Windermere Valley to begin with, his presence prompted a parade of siblings to follow him. The first recorded was Alfred (1862-?), who trained as a barrister and graduated from Cambridge in 1888 with a BA and LL B.¹⁸ Alfred filed for a pre-emption on what would become Lot 54, near the mouth of Dutch Creek, in August 1887.¹⁹

A survey map of Alfred Hardie’s Lot 54 pre-emption. The lot bordering on the north (lot 291), was purchased by his brother, Samuel. Crown Grant no 2291/74, Alfred Hardie (19 October 1894), British Columbia Land Grants Vol 74 (no 2222/0074-2316/0074), 1893-1895. Img 495 of 660.

Alfred is listed along with William as a rancher in Fairmont in the 1889 British Columbia Directory.²⁰ Alfred is also noted in Jim McKay’s diary entry of 10 January 1890 as being en route to Golden to return to England.²¹ This trip resulted, on 29 March 1890, in Alfred’s marriage to Marie E Muller in Manchester.²²

In his application to have the land brown granted to him in 1893, Alfred made a declaration that he “occupied in the manner prescribed by the “Land Act” the land recorded… from the time of the said record up to the present time,”²³ but no other record is found of Alfred by name living in the valley after that 1890 departure. By 1911 Alfred and his wife were living with their three sons in Finchley, Middlesex, England, where he was employed as a barrister.²⁴

Vivian

Another brother, Vivian Well (c.1866-), published his intention in November 1887 to purchase a 160 acre lot on the east side of Columbia Lake, roughly across from William’s property.²⁵ Earlier that year William had announced his intention to purchase that same lot,²⁶ but there is no evidence that either of these announced purchases went through. This is the only reference I was able to find of Vivian, by name, in association with the Windermere Valley. Vivian was admitted to Trinity Hall at Cambridge in April 1887, and was enrolled 1888, although he does not seem to have gained a degree.²⁷

Samuel

The brother with arguably the longest and most involved history in the Windermere Valley was the third brother, Samuel (1859-1938). Samuel was also educated at Cambridge, although like Vivian he was not awarded a degree.²⁸ He was married relatively young on 10 May 1884 to Annie Augusta Morgan in Wimbleton, Surrey.²⁹

Samuel and his wife lived in Canada for at least a couple of years. Their son, Reginald Cecil Hardie, was born on 25 April 1890 in the Upper Columbia,³⁰ and one year later all three appeared on the 1891 Canadian Census as living in the Upper Kootenay area (being the only members of the Hardie family listed on this census).³¹ It is likely they lived on William’s Columbia Lake ranch.

In February 1892 Samuel gave notice of his intention to purchase about 200 acres of land immediately north of Alfred’s (Lot 291).³² Combined with Alfred’s property, this became the Hardie (or Hardy) ranch at Dutch creek. From the mid to late 1890s, this was primarily a horse ranch with some cattle, for a time being operated by J.N. Robertson.³³ Samuel and his family remained in the valley until sometime in 1893 when they returned to England.³⁴

The records available make it difficult to track Samuel’s subsequent involvement in the valley: the extent to which he lived in the area or how long he was visiting for. It does not appear that his wife or son returned. Like William, Samuel is on the list of those entitled to vote in the East Kootenay in May 1890,³⁵ August 1893,³⁶ June 1894,³⁷ and May 1898.³⁸ His name also appears in the (not exactly official) British Columbia Directories for 1894,³⁹ 1895,⁴⁰ and 1899-1900.⁴¹

Samuel, then remembered as, “one of the most popular ranchers of Canal Flat,” is recorded as returning to the Valley in the summer of 1897.⁴² The following summer, the “Messrs Hardie” sold off “the whole of their stock” from their Dutch Creek Ranch, including 100 horses.⁴³ Following this sale, the ranch was leased short term and Samuel took a trip to England, announcing that he intended to return and, “go in for cattle on his ranch, as he is convinced there is money in it.”⁴⁴ Samuel was present at a St Andrew’s Day gathering in Windermere at the end of November that year.⁴⁵

Samuel continued to hold interests in the valley for some time. In the summer of 1899 he is reported as representing English capital in bonding “several very promising” mining prospects up Bruce Creek, west of Wilmer.⁴⁶ His name is also listed that October on an application for a timber license to the west of Lake Windermere.⁴⁷

Samuel is listed in the 1901 census as living in the household of his younger brother (Thomas), in Cheshire,⁴⁸ and in Montgomery Wales in 1911 with his wife and daughter (born 1894).⁴⁹ Samuel was living in St Clements Gardens in Jersey when he passed away 28 June 1938.⁵⁰

George

A final brother, George, is also mentioned in connection with the ranch, beginning with his “return” to the Windermere Valley in May 1899.⁵¹ No record was found documenting when he first arrived. George is also listed in the 1900-1901 directory as living in Fairmont (along with Samuel) as a rancher.⁵²

And Some Unnamed Sisters

Finally three of the Hardie sisters visited Fairmont from England in the summer of 1906.⁵³ There were at least four Hardie sisters: Elizabeth (1861-?, married name Newton), Beatrice (1863-?, married name Pryce-Jones), Grace (1865-1925), and Mabel (c.1867-?).

Hardie Creek

Hardie Creek itself was named by William Hardie, as the first mention of the creek by name is in his 1885 description of the land he wanted to pre-empt.⁵⁴ In context, it could therefore be argued that “Hardie Creek” was named specifically for William Hardie alone, but such early settler names for features often failed to stick. It is likely that the presence and involvement of the broader Hardie family over the next two decades helped in the name “Hardie Creek” to become thoroughly established.

The Hardie Ranch at Dutch Creek, meanwhile, came into the hands of L.S. Oulton in 1950. It was then 1050 acres. The ranch was purchased in 1962 by the Downey Brothers of Gull Lake, Saskatchewan.⁵⁵

See Also

Francis Patrick Armstrong
William Adolph Baillie Grohman
Canal Flats
John and William Taynton
Thunder Hill Ranch

Footnotes

References