Turner family

Famille

Turner family

Unknown

Agnes Jane Knight was born in 1859 in Horton, Renfrew County, Ontario. Samuel James “Sam” Turner was born in 1864 in Drumquin, County Tyrone, Ireland. They married in 1886 in Chilliwack, BC. They had nine children; the eldest eight were born in Chilliwack and the youngest, Ellis, was born in Calgary, AB, where they had moved in 1902. Joseph William died as an infant (1887-1887), and Clarence, their third child, died at age three (1889-1893). The remaining children were: Samuel Edward “Ed” (1888-1961), Charles Thomas McLinden (1891-1976), John Wilmot Knight “Bill” (1894-1956), Archibald Albert “Al” (1896-1958), Ethel May Agnes (1899-1929), Clifford Carlisle “Tiny” (1902-1925), and Ellis Ross (1906-1995).

In 1920, Sam and Agnes and several of their children moved from Calgary to the Bezanson townsite in search of homestead land. Agnes died at daughter Ethel’s home in Buffalo Lakes, AB in 1927 and Sam died in 1951 in Grande Prairie.

Ed, the eldest son, remained in Calgary. He married Sarah Jane Bradley in 1925.

Charles joined the Peace Time Militia in Calgary and served from 1910 to 1914. In 1915 he was loaned to the British Imperial Army, where he served until the end of World War I. Charles was stationed in Boulogne-sur-mer, Pas de Calais, France, and billeted at the home of Théodore Arthur Dubois. While there, he met and became engaged to Jeanne Dubois, Théodore’s daughter. Charles was relocated to England, where they were married in 1916. Their son Charles (Jr.) Wilmot Samuel was born at Wimbledon in 1917. After the war, Charles and his family returned to Calgary where Agnes Jeanne Ethel “Jeanne” (1919-2006) was born. Francis Leon Arthur “Frank” (1922-2002) was born in Grande Prairie.

Bill also served in the army during World War I. He moved to California where he married Marie Finley Murdoch Hastie in 1927.
Like two of his brothers, Al served in the army during World War I. He married Fay Wills in Washington in 1925. They later moved to Portland, Oregon.

Ethel came to the Bezanson area later than her parents and was a teacher at the Somme School in the Glen Leslie District and then at the Chatham School in the Buffalo Lakes District. She married William Grearson and they settled at Buffalo Lakes. Ethel died after the birth of their third daughter in 1929.

Clifford “Tiny” was a baseball pitcher in the Sexsmith area. He tried out for the Edmonton Eskimos baseball team in 1921 but was unsuccessful. He pitched for several baseball teams in Alberta as well as the Paris Bearcats in Texas. However, the Texas heat did not agree with him. Due to illness, he left before the end of the season and he returned to Edmonton. Clifford was admitted to the hospital and died the next day of typhoid fever at the age of 23, cutting short a promising baseball career.

Ellis married Barbara Maxine Matlock in 1940 and served in World War II. He returned to the DeBolt area after the war.

Charles Turner Jr. served in World War II. Charlie was a local athlete, playing many sports, but he was especially renowned for his hockey skills, earning an inaugural spot in the Grande Prairie Hockey Hall of Fame. He and Charles Sr. ran a successful construction company, Turner & Son Building Contractors, and were responsible for the construction of many buildings in Grande Prairie, including banks, schools, and other commercial buildings.

Gwen Wilcox was born in Edmonton in 1924 and grew up in Dawson Creek, BC. Gwen completed R.N. nursing training at St. Paul’s School of Nursing in Vancouver. After nursing school, Gwen relocated to Grande Prairie to begin her nursing career. She and Charles Jr. met in 1947 at the bowling alley and were married in 1949. Their children are Clifford James (1950), John Charles (1952), Patricia Gail (1954) and Suzanne Gwendolyn (1958) all of whom were born, lived, and raised families in Grande Prairie. Charles Turner Jr. died in 1996.