George and Kate Margerison, with children Gilbert and Dorothy, arrived in Edmonton from Leeds, Yorkshire, England, in the spring of 1904.
They came to Canada on the advice of my mother's doctor who had recommended a drier climate for her.
They purchased a small L-shaped house, on the riverbank in Edmonton not far from the former Royal North West Mounted Police Barracks.
The first winter was mild and sunny and Mother's health improved considerably.
I was born in the spring of 1905. My dad became a partner with J. Paul in the Palm Cigar Store, Poolroom and Bowling Alleys.
The winter of 1906 and 1907 was the worst winter ever experienced in this part of the country, but we all survived. In the spring mother took a trip back to England.
My brother and sister stayed with friends at Conjuring Creek. Mother's doctor was so pleased with the state of her health that he decided to send two of his sons to Alberta.
By this time we had moved to a bungalow on Fifth Street, between Peace and MacKenzie Avenues, owned by Harry Shaw, who manufactured cigars which my father sold in his store.
We attended McKay Avenue School and All Saints Church and Sunday School. They were happy days. Saturdays we got our weekly allowance; we spent five cents for a movie and five cents bought a bag of candy or a big bag of peanuts. The rest went into our banks to be used for birthday and Christmas presents.
My mother often rented a horse and buggy, from a livery stable. She always got the same horse, Holly by name. He was a big horse, very gentle and well trained; consequently, we all became very fond of him.
Through business contacts my father knew many of the early settlers of the Wabamun District. In 1911, my parents decided to spend July and August at "Old Wabamun" where they rented a house from the Laights.
We arrived, by train, at the townsite-to-be. The only building in sight was a small stopping place, owned by the Fogelstroms. We were picked up there, by a neighbour with a team and democrat, for the three mile ride to our home for the summer.
Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Root and sons, Clarence, Giles and Earl, were our closest neighbours.
In 1913, we moved to Wabamun, this time to stay. My dad was employed as a bartender at the hotel and had been there for several weeks. We had to stay at the hotel as the house that we were promised was not ready. Our furniture was stored in a building owned by Walker Short.
In July of 1913, my mother was appointed telephone agent. My brother Gilbert was operator.
In 1916, my dad went overseas to be gone for three years.
With mother working on a commission basis and receiving half of my dad's army pay, about fifteen dollars per month, money was in short supply. We had a large garden, kept chickens, ate wild rabbits and sometimes pigeon pie. Some of the soldier's wives got help from the Patriotic Fund.
Gilbert went to Edson and became an apprentice machinist at the Railway Shops.
In early 1916, we moved to Mrs. Boswell's house. Then in the fall of 1918 to Alberta Government Telephones property.
In February, 1919, my dad came home. He was never really well and was in and out of hospital for years.
Dorothy and Kenneth Dunn were married shortly after dad came home. They lived on the W.C. Dunn's sheep farm one mile north. They had two children, Marian and Harold. In 1927, they moved to Edmonton, leaving Marian with us as they both went to work.
In 1928, when Muttarts tore down the large hotel building, my parents purchased lumber, windows and doors and had a house built immediately east of the Telephone Department property. In 1931, Mother resigned as telephone agent and my parents moved into their own home.
Gilbert passed away of pneumonia in January at Mountain Park, aged thirty-two.
My dad had a boat livery in the summer months while in the winter he did a lot of reed work such as trays of all sizes, work baskets, lamps, teapot stands, waste baskets and many other things. He had learned this trade while in hospital and taught my mother. He also made furniture while at the hospital.
I became telephone agent in 1931. This was the early stages of the great depression and people were deciding they could do without telephones and many had theirs taken out. The Head Office informed me that my salary was to be cut from fifty dollars a month to thirty dollars. Working hours were 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; six days a week, and two hours on Sunday. Out of this amount I supplied heat and light for the office. They didn't charge rent for my living quarters or I could not have managed.
The school board offered me the job of secretary-treasurer, which paid a little over a hundred dollars a year, and I accepted.
Marian and Harold went to Edmonton in 1933 but always spent school holidays out here, with my parents and myself.
In the spring of 1936 the Doctor informed us that my dad was suffering from Angina Pectoris, and on April 14, a few days after his sixty-sixth birthday, he had a severe attack and passed away.
Mother continued to live in her own house. She always had a lovely flower garden and kept busy in many ways. She sometimes relieved me on the switchboard, although she never really liked operating. She also helped with the records that had to be kept.
In 1952, at eighty years of age, she had to have a mastectomy and five years later cobalt treatments as the cancer had spread to her spine and hips. The treatments relieved the pain. On August 19, 1959, she passed away in St. Joseph's Hospital. My parents were both buried in the Wabamun Cemetery.