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Given at both the 2006 grand opening ceremony for the garden and for Historic Calgary Week August 2006...My name is George William
Peacock, the George is from my Grandfather Peacock and the William is from my
Grandfather Reader. I am called Bill. I am the oldest surviving grandson of
William Roland and Rose Martha Reader. They called me Billy. I have been asked to speak
on behalf of the Grandchildren. Six of the eight are here today. We think of our
two cousins William Roland (Roly) and Harry Anthony (Tony) Reader who are no
longer with us. It is unfortunate that Roly cannot give this talk today, as he
was very much like his Grandfather in many ways. THANKS to the many people
who have worked on the Garden over the years to bring us to today’s event.
If I mention names I would inevitably leave someone out, so thanks to
everyone who contributed, from us, our children, our parents and especially our
Grandparents. FAMILY REACTION WOW! THANKS
TO MANY, MANY PEOPLE! We are overwhelmed by scope
of this project, humbled, deeply honoured and very proud to be related to this
wonderful man, William Roland Reader. We his grandchildren were
born between 1929 and 1938, so we were from 3 to 13 years old when he died. Our
memories are therefore those of young children. The restoration has brought
the family together with wonderful trips down Memory Lane and we have discovered
a whole segment of our family we did not know existed, the Wrights who are our
Grandmother, Rose Martha’s family. We have gotten to know
relatives better. They are an interesting bunch. A simplified family tree is
on display in the house. There are many anecdotes
that keep popping up as we talk about the House and Garden. It was a special
place for all of us. Thank you for restoring it so well. Who
Was William Roland Reader? We know very little about
his early life until he married Rose Martha Wright in 1900.
He was born in Kent England in
1874. His father was a gardener. He became orphaned and was raised by an Aunt.
He was hired by Pat Burns in 1908 to be the gardener for the ranch headquarters,
which Mr. Burns was building just south of Midnapore. The Readers, William, his
wife Rose, son Harry aged 6 and daughter Doris aged 4, immigrated to Canada to
fulfill this commitment. Mr. Reader worked for Mr.
Burns until 1910 when he established a nursery and landscaping business in his
new home at 222 10th Ave. NE. He did work on the EP ranch and became
friendly with the Prince of Wales. In 1913 Mr. Reader was
appointed the Park Superintendent of the City of Calgary and the family moved to
the new Superintendent’s residence on a barren bank of the north slope of the
Union Cemetery. Mr. Reader’s transition of this slope over 39 years has
recently been restored to the beautiful gardens we can all enjoy today. Grandad loved plants and
gardening, and was very intrigued with the challenges presented by the climate
in Calgary. The position as parks superintendent gave him an opportunity to
explore the possibilities, which he foresaw. He had a dream of beautiful gardens
throughout the city. He also designed parks and diligently sought parcels of
land, which could be developed. Many small corner parks like the one at Elbow
Drive and 5th Street West were not only obtained but were also made
into gardens with paths benches and both annual and perennial plants and shrubs.
These were maintained by the parks department or by agreement with local
residents. I remember the boulevard
program in which trees and grass were planted and maintenance was given to the
local residents. City trucks came to water newly planted trees. The trees along Memorial
Drive, which were planted to honour, those who served in the First World War,
created a lovely walk along the northerly bank of the Bow River. The park on St.
Georges Island became the Zoo was developed into a Natural History park. I was
fascinated by the construction of the dinosaur statues. This became my favorite
area. Tom Baines was the zookeeper and I fed lion cubs, deer fawns and other
baby animals with a baby bottle. I
remember that the bridge between the Island and the north shore washed out one
spring during runoff. A very large nursery
greenhouse complex was developed on the flatter area lying south of the
intersection of 25th Ave. and 4th Street east on both sides of the entrance to
the Union Cemetery. The Parks Department offices were also in this location. The
plants for all the parks, both large and small, came from this nursery. He must have been very
persuasive to obtain the large parks budget to carry out his dreams. Calgary
became a beautiful city. A smaller greenhouse and
potting shed and many cold frames were also built on the slope to the east of
the House for his use in developing plants for the Calgary Climate many of which
were planted in ‘The Garden.’ While visiting the Garden
after the opening my sisters and I were talking to the Staff of the restaurant
and my sister remembered that she had Nana Readers recipe box and offered to
look for recipes for the kitchen to use. On her return to Victoria she looked in
the box and discovered a recipe written on the back of one of Mr. Reader’s
business cards from 1910-1912 when he operated his own business. I have a copy
of it here. As you see from the Card he
was secretary of the Calgary Horticultural Society at that time and I believe
was an active member most of his life. Part of our visits to the Stampede was
seeing the Parks Department and the Horticultural Society Exhibits. I remember
pathways, streams and ponds and beautiful floral displays. He became a member of the
Alpine Club and spent many days hiking and studying and photographing the alpine
scenery, flora and fauna. He collected seeds and plants from the local area and
particularly the mountains and foothills near Calgary and propagated, pollinated
and cultivated many plants. He also corresponded
extensively throughout the world for information and seeds to help with his
development of plants for Calgary Gardens. This included vegetables and fruits
as well as flowers and shrubs. He wrote a gardening column
in the paper with advice on when, where, what and how to plant and maintain
gardens. He prepared slide shows for
talks about gardens and gardening which he gave whenever asked. I guess he was a
super publicity agent for his beloved gardens and Calgary. Industrial and Commercial
Buildings received gardening advice from my Grandfather. I remember watching the
progress of the Gardens and Fish Hatchery at the Calgary Brewery and attending
meetings he had with Mr. Cross. He worked on the Cascade of
Time Gardens in Banff at the end of the main street around what was the Park
Office. ANECDOTES My mother, Doris, and her
brother Harry grew up in the Garden and my folks wedding picture is on the
display plaque beside the gazebo on the lawn. Many people had their wedding
pictures taken in the garden including many members of our family. My Parents and I lived in
house my first three years until 1935 when we moved to 1140 15thAve SW. From
then until 1943 we spent many hours at the house and in the Garden both as
family gatherings and as individuals. Grandaddy. He was quiet and patient. I
don’t remember the sound of his voice but Irene remembers his accent as
English maybe cockney. He woke early every morning and in the warmer months went
out to work in the garden or the greenhouse beside the garage. During winter I
would find him in his office working on pictures or correspondence or his lists.
He loved his garden and spent many hours in it. We have brought the cowbell,
which Nana (Granny) used to call him for meals. I used to join him when I woke.
I remember mother telling me that when I was three I could identify many plants
by both Latin and Common names. He taught me how to plant
seeds, care for them, transplant seedlings, pollinate, plant flowers and weed a
rock garden. I have his special trowel for this. I have made a replica to
leave here. The gardens were inspected every day. He smoked a pipe and would
blow smoke on bugs, which were eating his plants. I could use derris dust. I remember his sketches of
plants. Nana was the color person as he was red-green color-blind. His cameras - the box type,
the reflex, then the Leica, and colored slides. He had his own darkroom in the
cupboard of his office in the house. He took pictures of people, of scenery, and
especially of plants and flowers. Some
of his earlier Lanternslides are at the Glenbow Museum but they have no means of
projecting them. His 35mm photos were edited, and catalogued, then were mounted
between two sheets of glass and carefully taped. An identifying description and
a number was hand written on each in India ink. The slides were kept in wooden
boxes of one hundred slides each complete with indexes. I helped him with the
mounting and taping. The slides I am using today are his as mounted. His City office, down by the
Gate, was another special place. I remember his neat precise record keeping. I
watched with fascination as Mr. King drew plans of parks and gardens for the
City. The City nursery and greenhouses were located behind the office where my
friend Mr. Climo was in charge. There was a vegetable garden
on the northeast edge of the nursery with all kinds of vegetables. Brown grocery
bags filled with asparagus as a late spring supper, pepper cress sandwiches on
Hovis bread, and many varieties of peas, carrots, beans, vegetable marrow,
squash, parsnips, potatoes and many salad fixings There was a berry patch and
Nana and mother made red currant, black currant, gooseberry, strawberry,
raspberry, boysenberry, chokecherry, saskatoon and rhubarb and combinations of
them, into jams, pies, tarts and turnovers. We were taught how to pick
and harvest fruit and vegetables when we grew older. Our parents also had big gardens at our homes. The summer I
was 16 I stayed home when the family went to the Lake and Nana came to look
after me. Most suppers included four or five fresh vegetables from the Garden.
Was I Spoiled! Fridays were City parks
inspection days and before I went to school I would travel with him on these
tours. My earliest recollection was a 1936 Nash Sedan with two spare tires
mounted in the front fenders and an especially made wooden trunk on a fold down
rack on the back. In 1940 he got a Dodge sedan. Mother told me about their drive
to the Coast in a 1916 Dodge with a brass front when they had one of several
visits to the experimental farm at Summerland. They even drove to a
horticultural convention in California. The experimental farm in Olds was also a
favorite trip. The summer before he died he
took me on hikes in the foothills looking for plants. I had my own pack-board
with small rubber-lined pockets. His rule in picking any thing wild was you only
took one of five. This also applied to picking wild flowers for bouquets. Mum
told me soon after they arrived in Calgary, Granddaddy became very ill from
mosquito bites. After that mosquitoes didn’t bother him.
When we lived at 1140-15th
Ave then 1130-16th Ave., Saturday was Nana Day. The Grandparents
would arrive Saturday morning, put Elaine, BettyRose, Ralph and me in their car,
and take us somewhere; a picnic, a trip to the zoo, a drive to Bowness Park, an
adventure. We would all get into the back seat but Grandaddy would not start the
car until the doors were locked. He never reminded us or said anything. He just
sat there. We had fruit for a snack, usually bananas. Hence: “Nana Day”. I
remember him peeling apples with his penknife so the skin was in one long piece
almost exactly ¼- inch wide. On Sundays and Holidays we
often went for drives to see fields of native flowers, the crocuses around the
TB Sanitarium above Bowness Park, fields of shooting stars south of Calgary,
fields of dandelions in bloom. We watched minnows at Bragg Creek and cricket
games at Riley Park, and went to St Georges Island and the Zoo. We would check the turf at
Mewata stadium the day before and the day after a Stampeders Game. I think he
told me that the crew raked the turf to collect the noses knocked off during the
Game. We were always made aware of
the beauty available if you only stopped and looked. He loved detail and would
get down and study the minute. We learned to sit quietly and watch bees
collecting pollen, watch butterflies and dragonflies and various wasps,
caterpillars and all the living creatures found in a garden and learn their
functions in nature. Both families spent most
holidays at the house. Our father’s parents also lived in Calgary so we would
often have two dinners, one at each grandparent’s, on holidays. Grandaddy gave Roly and me
Mecano set upgrades for Christmas. Starting with the number zero and going up
each year. During Stampede week we
stayed at the house and watched the fireworks and the chuckwagon races from the
upstairs veranda. During the day we could see some of the activities from the
lower veranda or from the path by Laddie’s run. Laddie’s run was the fenced
area north of the house down to the road in which we picked saskatoons and
chokecherries. Ralph remembers the
peppercress sandwiches we had for lunch in the kitchen. I remember picking it
from the damp areas on the east side of the path to Nana’s Garden near Mr.
Brockington’s spot. Laddies Nana had several collie dogs
over the years all of them called “Laddie”. We played with the current
Laddie on the lawn and in the house. We would lie by the fire with Laddie. The
dogs were always Nana’s. Rules of the garden ·
No Running except on the Lawn ·
Walk on rocks; there are plants
between them. ·
Only enter Nana’s garden with her
permission. (It was her special place. We were quiet there.) ·
Don’t touch the plants unless
absolutely necessary. ·
Don’t pick flowers or leaves.
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Friends of the Reader Rock
Garden Society