Fonds med-641 - Harold S. Ireland family fonds

Harold S. Ireland was born in Wandsworth, London in March, 1881 to Ashley and Madeline Ireland. His parents emigrated to Canada with their family, Arthur, Harold, Adelino and Horace in 1888 and settled in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Harold came to Medicine Hat in 1907 and worked for A.C. Hawthorne for a time. In 1908, he then set himself up in a cleaning and pressing business on North Railway Street, opposite the CPR Station. He began modestly but his business expanded into a general store for mens wear, which he named the C.P.R. Men's Store. In ten years he was the proprietor of a flourishing business, occupying two complete stores. He eventually acquired, remodelled, and occupied the whole of the Lowe Block on North Railway Street. During World War I he equipped the local Medicine Hat battalion with machine guns. Mr. Ireland became involved in civic affairs, serving on the City Council (1915-1916, 1931) and the School Board (1917-1920). He was also a member and one-time president of the Rotary Club, and member of St. Barnabas Church. Harold died in Rochester, Minnesota in January, 1934. He was married to Edith Hamilton (1874-1966) and they had five children: Frances Isobel (Crowther) (1909-1985), Robert Arthur (1910-1973), Charles Harold (1915-1916) and Audrey Mabel (Palmer), (1919).