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| Via Century Homes |
As part of Historic Calgary Week, July 27 to August 6, the Century Homes Calgary project celebrates the large number of homes built during Calgary's first building boom in 1912. Homeowners and residents were encouraged to unearth the stories behind their houses and display them on lawn signs. The participating homes are posted on the website to allow citizens to take self-guided walking tours of communities with century old homes.
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| Circa 1975 |
In honour of the celebration, I set out to uncover the history of our house. When we purchased the house in 2005, we received a photocopy of the original land title from 1910. We have always found it exciting to have a copy of the beautifully caligraphed land title so when I started my research, I figured it was a good place to start.
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| Land Title |
The original land title from 1910 states that C. Montrose and Florence
B. Wright purchased the lot from the Canadian Pacific Railway Company for $200,
as well as the lot to the east. Although I have not been able to determine for certain if they actually lived
in the house, they were definitely an intriguing couple.
Clare Montrose Wright studied divinity at Victoria College in Toronto.
Florence (Kinrade) Wright had been an aspiring vaudeville stage
performer in Hamilton, ON until February 25, 1909 when her sister, Ethel
Kinrade, was murdered in the family home.
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Ethel Kinrade via Hamilton Spec
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Florence and Ethel had been the only ones
home at the time and Florence claimed that a “tramp” had come to the door demanding
money. When Florence went to get the money, the tramp shot Ethel. When Florence
returned, she quickly handed him the money and fled out the back door. A man that
met Florence’s vague description was never found and eventually suspicion
landed on Florence herself. Florence stood trial, an event that made the news
clear across North America, but there was insufficient evidence for a
conviction.
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| Montreal Gazette, March 13, 1909 |
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| Niagara Falls Gazette, March 11, 1909 |
Following in trail, the couple married on June 28, 1909 in New York and
moved to Calgary. Montrose gave up his plans to pursue the ministry and ended
up practicing law.
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| New York Times, June 30, 1909 |
Montrose died in 1918. After Montrose’s death, Florence returned to the
stage, gaining moderate success, and eventually moved to California where she
died in 1977.
The life and trial of Florence was immortalized in a book titled
“Beautiful Lies” by Edward Byrne and a play in 2007 titled "Beautiful Lady, Tell Me..."written by Shirley Barrie.
I captured the story on our lawn sign along with photographs of the house through out the years.
I captured the story on our lawn sign along with photographs of the house through out the years.
The next step in my research will be to get the rest of historical land title from the Registry Office. I am excited to uncover what other stories our house has to tell.
Amy
