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Authority record
Bank of Montreal, Edmonton
AR-MS-913 · Corporate body · 1903 - current

The Bank of Montreal was established in Canada in 1817. The Bank of Montreal in Edmonton was first opened in September of 1903 with E.C. Pardee as the manager. The bank first operated in a frame building on Jasper Avenue with plans to build a permanent building. The Bank of Montreal’s new permanent building was built on Jasper Avenue and Howard Street (now known as 100A Street). The architects for the building were Taylor, Hogle and Davis of Montreal. The three story building was opened by 1907.
In 1918 the Bank of Montreal absorbed the Bank of British North America and moved to 101 Street and Jasper Avenue. In 1921 the Bank of Montreal absorbed The Merchants Bank which had been in Edmonton since 1898, and in 1925 they absorbed Molson’s Bank.
The main branch building underwent reconstruction in the early 1960s. The new building opened in 1963 and was 10 stories tall and had the province's largest bank vault. In the 1980s the Bank of Montreal built a building on the former site of Tegler Building located on 101 Street and 102 Avenue.
In 2012 the Bank of Montreal building located on Jasper Avenue and 101 Street was demolished. The Bank of Montreal continues to operate at various locations throughout Edmonton.

Barford, Vernon
AR-MS-632 · Person · 1876 - 1963

Vernon Barford was born September 10, 1876 in Berkshire, England and came to Edmonton on January 15, 1900. He married Agnes Lynch and together they had three sons: Thomas, James and John and one daughter, Marjorie. He was a piano teacher and music arranger, composer of 50 original pieces in addition to acting as organist and choirmaster at All Saints' Anglican Church. He was also involved in the Edmonton Light Opera Society which performed at Robertson Hall, and at one time conducted the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and helped to establish the Alberta Music Festival. He founded the Edmonton Male Chorus and the University [of Alberta] Glee Club and Chorus and was the only male member of the Women's Musical Club. A junior high school on the south side of Edmonton was named in his honour. Mr. Barford died on April 22, 1963 and was predeceased in 1955 by his wife Agnes.

Barker, Gregory
AR-MS-1235 · Person · 1951 -

Gregory “Greg” Barker was born in Vancouver in 1951. He moved to Edmonton in 1978 and worked as a city planner for the City of Edmonton from 1978-1986 and 1993-2010. After finding that the social scene for gay people in Edmonton was limited to a handful of clubs and the Gay Alliance Towards Equality office, he decided to establish a recreation association for gay men. With the support of other gay men in the community, Greg founded the Edmonton Roughnecks Recreation Association, the first gay sports organization in Alberta. Greg was the first president of the Edmonton Roughnecks Recreation Association.

The Edmonton Roughnecks Recreation Association focused on volleyball and baseball but offered gymnastics for a brief period. At its peak, the Roughnecks had more than 70 active members and its own volleyball league with six teams. The Roughnecks teams traveled to Calgary annually to participate in the Western Cup Volleyball tournament, and to Vancouver to participate in the Pacific Cup Baseball Tournament and the Vancouver Gay Summer Games. The Roughnecks also hosted their own tournaments, including a Pride tournament at Camp Harris (1982), a volleyball tournament at Commonwealth Stadium (1982), and an invitational volleyball tournament in Sherwood Park (1985).

The Edmonton Roughnecks Recreation Association also produced a monthly newsletter beginning in May 1982 to promote the association’s activities. The newsletter was subsequently transformed into Fine Print, Alberta’s first gay newspaper.

In 1987 the Roughnecks informally ceased operations, as a result of the economic downturn in Alberta which saw an exodus of many Roughnecks members from Edmonton, as well as the AIDS epidemic. Greg moved to Vancouver in 1986, but later moved back to Edmonton where he once again worked as a city planner until 2010.

Barnes, John T.
AR-MS-242 · Person · 1896 - [ca. 1985]

John T. Barnes was born in 1896 the Sarnia district of Ontario where he spent his childhood. In 1911, at the age of 15, he went to Chicago to work in his aunt and uncle's delicatessen store. He returned to Ontario in 1912 and then travelled to Edmonton with his family. Here he worked for his uncle, Jim Gauld, who was in charge of constructing window frames for the new provincial legislature. John Barnes later worked for the Swift Canadian Company in north Edmonton. In 1914 he and a friend left Edmonton for Butte, Montana, where he spent some time before returning to Sarnia. John T. Barnes passed away in ca. 1985.

Barr, Alex
AR-MS-19 · Person · [ca. 1905-1986]

Alex Barr began working in Edmonton around 1925 as a clerk at the Royal Bank. In 1930 he was a clerk at Royal Trust and by 1940 he had moved to the real estate division at the same company. Later he became manager of the real estate division at the Royal Trust in Edmonton until his retirement in the 1970s.

He was married to Dora, and he died in 1986.

Beaumont, Selwyn
AR-MS-624 · Person · n.d.

Mr. Beaumont researched British car sales for the Edmonton Jaguar Drivers' Club.

Beck, Nicholas D.
AR-MS-231 · Person · 1857-1928

Nicholas Dominic Beck, son of Georgiana Boulton and John Beck, was born in Coburg, Ontario on 4 May 1857. He received his LL.B. from the University of Toronto in 1881 and practiced in Ontario, Winnipeg, and Calgary before moving to Edmonton in 1891. He was made a Queen's Council in 1893. He served as Town and City Solicitor from 1892 to 1907, when he was appointed to the bench.
Nicholas Beck married Mary Ethel Lloyd on 17 Nov 1886 in St. Boniface, Manitoba. They had a daughter Beatrice Marguerite Beck born on 21 Mar 1888 in St. Boniface, a son Philip (1890-1890) and daughter Mary Marjorie Beck, born 5 Apr 1891 in Calgary. The family moved to Edmonton, where Nicholas and Mary had two more children - Cyril Stephen Beck, born 9 Jan 1893 and Hubert Francis Beck, born 4 Apr 1894.
Mary Lloyd Beck died 30 Apr 1894.
Nicholas married Louise Adelaide Teffy on 9 Jan 1906. Louise Teffy Beck died in Oakland, California, 9 Dec 1927.
Nicholas married Jeanne Cecile Tilley on 10 Apr 1928 in Vancouver, B.C.
Nicholas Beck died on 14 May 1928 in Seattle, WA. He is buried in Edmonton.

Bell, Edward
AR-MS-155 · Person · [ca. 1892]-[before 1992]

Edward Bell arrived in Edmonton from Ontario in September 1912. He began work as a teacher in Strathcona at the Bennett School and by the spring of 1913, Ed Bell was the principal of the school. Mr. Bell resigned in February 1914 and moved to the Griffin Creek District, north of Peace River. By 1963, Edward Bell was in Victoria, B.C. It is not known what happened to Edward Bell after moving to Victoria.

Bell, Gordon Cecil Douglas
AR-MS-228 · Person · [19--?] - n.d.

Gordon Cecil Douglas Bell was a Pilot Officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He received a Distinguished Flying Medal for an action on May 17, 1942, piloting a Blenheim light bomber in an attack on the German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. He was commissioned a Pilot Officer, September 30, 1942, effective May 1, 1942.

Bell, Sophie Nicholson
AR-MS-126 · Person · 1887-[ca.1950]

Sophie Nicholson was born in 1887 to Mary and Gilbert Nicholson in Quebec. Sometime after 1901 the family is in Edmonton. Sophie Nicholson married David T. Bell in 1912 in Edmonton. They had two children, Mary Virginia and Sarah Eileen. David Bell worked as a mechanic for the city. Sophie Bell was a member of the Edmonton Library Board from 1927-1930.
David T. Bell died 27 Sep 1935 in Edmonton and he is buried in the Edmonton Municipal Cemetery. Sophie Nicholson Bell died in Edmonton ca. 1950.