Serie 1 - Ross Family

Ross, Harold Osbourne 1890-1917
Ross, Winnifred Thompson 1886-1974
Thompson, Jeane Alberta Ross 1914-1977

Harold O. Ross was born 24 Feb 1890 to Isabella Parsons and Albert Ross in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England. Harold, along with his parents and sister Dorothy, immigrated to Canada in 1905, settling in Brandon, Manitoba. Then Harold joined the 19th Alberta Dragoons in Calgary and then the 11th C.A.S.C. (Canadian Army Service Corps).

Winnifred Thompson was born 1 Aug 1886 to Zelia Taylor and George Thompson in Germania, Ontario, which is in the Muskoka area, near Bracebridge. In 1904 she graduated from business college and went west looking for adventure, landing work in grain marketing with the Winnipeg Grain Exchange.

By 1909, Winnifred and Harold had met and were courting while she was in Winnipeg and he was in Calgary.

In 1911 Harold O. Ross married Winnifred Thompson in Calgary. They had one daughter, Jeane Alberta. The family settled in Edmonton, where Harold worked as a clerk in the Survey Branch of the Public Works Department for the Province of Alberta. He was working for the Province at the time when both the Alberta Legislature Building and the High Level Bridge were being built. The couple first lived at 2261 First St. (now known as 101 Street), then 630 Eighth Street (now known as 108 Street). In 1913, they had a house built in the then-newly-developing Windsor Park area in Edmonton at 8404 – 118 Street. Their daughter was born in the house a year later.

Harold joined the 222nd Batt. Canadian Expeditionary Force in January 1916 as a Lieutenant, enlisting in Brandon, Manitoba. He sailed to Europe in November 1916 aboard the ‘Olympic’. The Battalion was merged into the 44th Battalion (Manitoba Regt.) C.E.F. in France. At this point, Winnifred and Jeane were living in Bracebridge, Ontario.

Harold Osbourne Ross was killed in action in France on 9 May 1917.

After her husband’s death, Winnifred and Jeane returned to Alberta, settling on a farm in Millet, just south of Edmonton. Winnifred owned and ran the farm with her brothers, Wilfred and Keith Thompson. They were soon joined by brothers Hector and Carl. The Ross-Thompson farm began as a mixed farm, eventually becoming a dairy farm operation that lasted for decades until being sold in 1967.

Winnifred was very active in the local community with interests in agriculture and rural schooling. She served in the United Farm Women for over 25 years in various roles, including provincial director, provincial vice-president and provincial president. Winnifred was appointed to the Board of Governors of the University of Alberta in 1948 and served until 1954. She was also active in the Alberta Federation of Agriculture, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, the Alberta Council on Child and Family Welfare, and the Board of Industrial Relations. Winnifred was elected to the Agriculture Hall of Fame in October 1974.

Winnifred Thompson Ross died 21 Dec 1974 in Millet.

Jeane Alberta Ross was born in 1914 to Winnifred Thompson and Harold O. Ross in Edmonton. When her father went to war in 1916, Jeane and her mother moved to Bracebridge, Ontario. After her father’s death in May 1917, they returned to Alberta settling on a farm in Millet, with Jean’s uncles Wilfred and Keith.

Jeane started elementary school in Millet in 1921, and later attended Strathcona High School. She went to the Normal School in Edmonton and then taught at the Coal Lake School for one year. Jeane then went to the University of Alberta and received a degree in Commerce. She worked for the Alberta Wheat Pool in Calgary and the Examinations Branch in the Department of Education in Edmonton.

Prior to World War II, Jeane went east, likely to Ontario. While there, Jeane married Capt. V.A. Thompson and they had one son, John. After World War II, Jeane and her son returned to Millet. They lived on the Ross-Thompson farm and Jeane remained on the farm until it was sold in 1967.

Jeane was very active in the Millet community, including the Millet Red Cross, Millet Library Board and the United Farm Women’s Association. Jeane was also involved with other organizations, including the Federation of Alberta Naturalists, The Human Society, Friends of the Devonian Botanical Gardens, and the Historical Society of Alberta.

Jeane Ross Thompson died 24 Jan 1977 in Millet, Alberta.