Canadian agriculturalist and journalist
William Donald Albright
(August 5, 1881 – April 29, 1946) was a Canadian
agriculturalist
and
journalist
.
[1]
In 1954, Albright was named a
Person of National Historic Significance
by the Canadian government.
Biography
[
edit
]
William Donald Albright was born on August 5, 1881, at
South Cayuga
,
Ontario
. In 1903, Albright graduated from the
Ontario Agricultural College
.
[1]
That same year he became the assistant
editor
of
The Maritime Farmer
, a farming
periodical
based in
New Brunswick
.
[1]
[2]
Leaving the
Farmer
in 1905, Albright subsequently became employed as an associate editor at the
Farmer's Advocate
, another agricultural publication.
[1]
In 1908 he married Eva Belle Lossing, from
Oxford County, Ontario
.
[3]
In 1913, Albright and his wife left Ontario to
homestead
in the
Peace River
area of northwestern
Alberta
, near the town of
Beaverlodge
, in the vicinity of
Grande Prairie
.
[1]
Albright quickly became impressed with the agricultural potential of the region, and soon had agricultural experiments set up on his own land, with a contract to work part-time for the
Central Experimental Farm
in
Ottawa, Ontario
. In 1917, the government rented 20 acres (8.1 ha) of his land to establish an official
experimental substation
and paid him to operate it on a part-time basis. He became superintendent of the substation in 1919.
[1]
[3]
By 1940 his entire farm was designated an experimental substation. In 1941, his Beaverlodge experiment substation was redesignated a full-scale experiment station,
[3]
the northernmost of its type in
Canada
,
[4]
and Albright became its director.
[1]
[3]
He was to hold that position until 1945.
[1]
Albright's professional activities as an agricultural researcher included testing what could potentially be lucrative
cereal crops
as well as new farming practices. Albright was also entrusted with the promotion of
animal husbandry
and the planting of
ornamental plants
in the Alberta farming community, and spent much time travelling throughout the region promoting the idea that it was possible to maintain a good
standard of living
in the lowlands of the Peace River region.
[1]
He and his wife, who were the parents of three children, also collected material on the region's history by conducting and compiling interviews.
[3]
Albright died on April 29, 1946, at
Haney, British Columbia
. In 1954, he was named a
Person of National Historic Significance
by the Canadian government.
[1]
References
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edit
]