R. H. GALE
Vancouver, B.C.
Godfrey, Oswald Julius (Indian Head, Sask.), Chartered Accountant, was born at Sedbergh, Yorks, England, on October 7, 1875, the son of Robert and Margaret Godfrey. His great-grandfather was Julius Cæsar Ibbetson, a leading painter of the latter years of the eighteenth century, and his grandfather was Rev. Isaac Green, known to annalists as the closest friend of the family whose most celebrated member was Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the poet. His father was a civil engineer by profession and he was educated at King Edward the Sixth’s School at Birmingham, England, and later had a thorough training in all branches of accountancy. He came to Canada in 1903, locating first at Qu’Appelle, Sask., and later founded the firm now known as Godfrey, Heathcote & Nicholl, Chartered Accountants, with offices at Indian Head, Medicine Hat and Prince Albert. Mr. Godfrey is known as an expert throughout Canada, and was President of the Dominion Association of Chartered Accountants, 1915-16, and of the Saskatchewan Institute of Chartered Accountants 1912-13-14. He was also President of the Saskatchewan Union of Municipalities for three years, 1915-16-17. On the practice and theory of his profession Mr. Godfrey has written many important treatises. His published work, “Municipal Finance and Accounting” has been especially valuable as a text book for the guidance of the growing municipalities of the West. His recreations are cricket, motoring and gardening, and he is a member of the Canada Club, Regina, and the Union Club, Indian Head. He is a member of the A.F. & A.M., and in religion an Anglican. On July 17, 1905, he married Cecile Maud, daughter of Robert Challoner, Warwick, England, and is the father of three boys and two girls.
Wright, George (Toronto), is one of the most widely known of Canadians, not merely in the hotel trade, with which he is especially identified, but in business circles generally. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, November 19, 1866, the son of William Wright of Barrhead and Elizabeth (McFayden) Wright of Islay, Scotland, and educated in the public schools of his native city. At the age of 12 he joined the British Navy, and at 19 entered the merchant marine as an ordinary seaman, serving on various seas. He came to Canada from Japan in 1887, settling at Vancouver, which remained his headquarters for six years, during which he served as steward with the C.P.R. Coast and Hotel Service. In 1893 he went to Winnipeg and was there engaged with the C.P.R., first in the news department and later with the dining car service until 1900. From 1901 to 1904 he was in charge of the C.P.R. dining station service at Brandon, Man., which he developed to a high point of efficiency; and also conducted hotels on his own account at Macleod, Alta., and Oak Lake, Man. In 1904 he purchased the Hotel Brunswick, Winnipeg, which he conducted for nearly two years; and in 1905 purchased the Walker House, Toronto, which has ever since been one of his properties. Later he acquired a large interest in the Grand Union Hotel, Toronto, and changed its name to the Carls-Rite. Mr. Wright in addition to conducting the Walker House is Secretary-Treasurer of the Hotel Carls-Rite Co., Ltd.; President of Wright-Carroll Investments, Ltd., and Vice-President of Carroll-Wilson, Ltd., Edmonton, Alta. In the last week of December, 1918, he was elected Vice-President of the American and Canadian Hotel Keepers Association of the United States and Canada for the fourth consecutive year. He is also a director of the Peterson Lake Mining Co., Ltd. Mr. Wright has of late years taken an active part in public affairs. He was the promoter of the First Municipal Year Book in Toronto. When in July of 1918 several hundred of the civic employees of Toronto went on strike he was appointed by the Ontario Government one of the Royal Commission to inquire into the grievances and settle the dispute, and was largely effective in reaching an amicable solution of the difficulty. He also served as a member of the Canada Food Board from 1917 until the close of the war, and was able, because of his great practical experience, to render the cause of food conservation signal service. In 1918 he was appointed a Member of the Hydro-Electric Commission, a most important executive office. He is a Conservative in politics and a Presbyterian in religion, and belongs to the following organizations: Canadian Red Cross (life member), Overseas Club (life), Navy League (life), St. Andrew’s Society (life), Caledonia Society (life), Y.M.C.A., Board of Trade, Scarboro Golf, Toronto Swimming Club (life), and Caer Howell Bowling Club (life). On March 3, 1897, he married Jessie Oswald, daughter of George Motion of Nelson, B.C., and has two children, Oswald George, and Jessie Ellen.
Mackie, George D., City Commissioner (Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan), was born at Perth, Scotland, on March 8, 1878, son of James and Jane Mackie. Educated at the Perth Academy and the Glasgow Technical College, Scotland, where he had a distinguished career, obtaining several degrees. Mr. Mackie was married on September 3, 1902, to the daughter of John Carnegie, of Edinburgh, Scotland. He is the father of two children, Douglas and Victor. Prior to coming to Canada, he was Engineer at Crieff, Scotland, 1900-05; Water Works Engineer of Clydebank Water Trust, Scotland, 1905-09; The Galt Engineering Company of Winnipeg, 1910-12; City Engineer at Swift Current, Saskatchewan, 1913-14, when he assumed his present position of City Commissioner of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Mr. Mackie is a Presbyterian in religion, and a member of the Prairie Club of Moose Jaw.
Payne, Francis Freeman (Nelson, B.C.), one of the best known newspaper men of British Columbia, is a native of Worcestershire, England, where he was born November 8, 1888, the son of E. R. and Helen Freeman Payne. He was educated privately and at Bromyard Residential School, and as a very young man decided to come to America, finally settling in the growing centre of Nelson, B.C., and later becoming manager of the “Daily News,” the leading publication of that town, which serves a widely extended territory. Mr. Payne is widely popular in his district and a keen, progressive young journalist. On August 2, 1910, he married Ruby Virginia, daughter of Mr. J. Irving, San Francisco, Cal.