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Object Description

Object ID

SR-266

Title

Peggy McGregor's Oral History Interview Conducted by Warren Sommer on 24 Sep., 9 Oct., 15 Oct., 2012.

Date

24 Sep., 9 Oct., 15 Oct., 2012

Description

266.1
Track 1 – Warren introduces interviewee; Peggy gives her full name and a brief family history and talks about being born in Saskatchewan with her mother and sister.
Track 2 – Peggy talks about her parents immigrating to Edam, Saskatchewan from Scotland.
Track 3 – Peggy talks about how her father got farm land, and how her family coped after he passed away.
Track 4 – Peggy talks about how she would occupy her time during the winters. Peggy also discusses moving into town with her mother and getting a job when she was 12.
Track 5 – Peggy describes Edam when she was growing up. Peggy also talks about leaving school after grade 8 to help her mother.
Track 6 – Peggy talks about her job as a washer and the commonality of kids leaving school at grade 8.
Track 7 – Peggy discusses share-cropping with their farm, as well as the impact the Great Depression had in her town.
Track 8 – Peggy discusses the founding of Edam and the different nationalities that settled there over the years. Peggy also discusses the Protestant-Catholic relations in Edam.
Track 9 – Peggy tells of how her and her husband met and started dating.
Track 10 – Peggy talks about her and John’s wedding and early days being married.
Track 11 – Peggy talks about the effect World War II had on Edam.
Track 12 – Peggy tells of why she and John moved out to B.C. and how they packed and prepared for their move. Track cuts out at the end.
Track 13 – Peggy talks about arriving in Fort Langley and living in her sister-in-laws apartment while trying to find a house to move into.
Track 14 – Peggy talks about their search for a dairy farm to buy, and then getting a job at the Kilbury Farm instead.
Track 15 – Peggy discusses the Kelly/Kilbury Farm and John’s job as a cattleman.
Track 16 – Peggy talks about the cattle on the farm. Peggy also discusses relying on neighbours for getting into town.
Track 17 – Peggy talks about shopping in Langley Prairie. Peggy also discusses John getting a job as a Seal -Kap milkman when the Kelly Farm was sold.
Track 18 – Peggy discusses going to Sharon United Church. Peggy also discusses the difficulty of transporting 6 children in a car without seat belts.
Track 19 – Peggy discusses the changes in weather in the Fraser Valley in the past 70 years. Peggy also discusses travelling to other areas of Langley.
Track 20 – Peggy discusses Fort Langley and learning about its historical significance and bad reputation.
Track 21 – Peggy discusses the strawberry farming industry in Langley, and how it has changed over the years.

SR 266.2
Track 1 – Warren introduces Peggy; Peggy begins to talk about her and John’s social life in Langley and how they would pass the time.
Track 2 – Peggy talks about going to dances at community halls and what was entailed in these events.
Track 3 – Peggy discusses her involvement in the church and the role the church played in the community.
Track 4 – Peggy talks about Sunday as a day of rest and how it has changed over the years.
Track 5 – Peggy talks about raising her kids and keeping a strict rule over them in both their social lives and academic work.
Track 6 – Peggy discusses raising her daughters compared to her sons, as well as giving her children an allowance.
Track 7 – Peggy discusses the relationship between the Catholics and Protestants. Peggy also talks about her involvement with the Orange Lodge.
Track 8 – Peggy discusses some of the anti-Catholic sentiments within the Orange Lodge, and talks about how the Orange Lodge would raise funds.
Track 9 – Peggy discusses the lack of allergies around when she was growing up, as well as some of the different sicknesses that were common when her children were growing up.
Track 10 – Peggy discusses the divide between people with differing levels of income in Langley.
Track 11 – Peggy discusses some of the people who were considered ‘shifty’ and tells a story about her daughter encountering one such person.
Track 12 – Peggy discusses the freedom she allowed her children growing up, and some of the rules she gave them growing up.
Track 13 – Peggy discusses her concern with the railroad tracks and her children playing on them.
Track 14 – Peggy discusses the changes in morality and how it has changed over time.
Track 15 – Peggy talks about the consumption of alcohol and smoking in Langley in previous years.
Track 16 – Peggy talks about different church activities during the 60s and 70s. Peggy also talks about the municipality government getting involved in recreation.
Track 17 – Peggy talks about the schools her children went to. Peggy also talks about post-secondary education for her children.
Track 18 – Peggy discusses the impact that World War II had in Langley; Peggy discusses immigration in Langley now compared to when she first arrived.
Track 19 – Peggy discusses the different restaurants in Langley and when she and her family would visit them.

SR 266.3
Track 1 – Peggy talks about having to leave the Kilbury Farm and John getting a new job with Seal-Kap Dairy.
Track 2 – Peggy talks about moving from their home on Fraser highway to Norris road and the different families and building in the area.
Track 3 – Peggy continues talking about the different families along Glover and Norris road. Peggy talks briefly about the new overpass on Mufford and Glover.
Track 4 – Peggy talks about the commonality of people renting as opposed to owning their homes. Peggy also discusses her and John’s equity build-up over the years.
Track 5 – Peggy talks about her life on Norris road and the community the neighbourhood had.
Track 6 – Peggy discusses what people would do with their land to produce income.
Track 7 – Peggy discusses the different appliances they acquired over the years. Peggy also talks about family vacations and the infrequency of them.
Track 8 – Peggy discusses the circumstances of having to move out of their Norris road house.
Track 9 – Peggy discusses John’s job being a milkman until his retirement. Peggy also discusses her involvement in the community in her retired years.
Track 10 – Peggy discusses her children and raising them during World War II.
Track 11 – Peggy discusses the Cold War and her memories of those events.
Track 12 – Peggy talks about pop culture now compared to the 50s and 60s.
Track 13 – Peggy talks about the opportunities available for her daughters now that weren’t available to her when she was younger. Peggy also discusses parenting today compared to when her children were young.
Track 14 – Peggy talks about the changes she’s witnessed in Langley since she moved here, specifically the population growth.

People/Subject

choirs

See Also: bands, orchestras
Term Source: Sears List of Subject Headings (16th. Ed.)

Dairyland

Fort Langley (village)

Langley Central School

This building was originally Langley High School. It later became Langley Central School, before finally being Langley Central Fundamental School. It burned down in the 1990s.

Langley High School

In 1909 the first high school class was organized and held in rented quarters in Murrayville. From 1911-18, classes were held in Belmont Superior School (later Murrayville Elementary), but the school became overcrowded with elementary and high school students. The school board approached the Municipal Council, but their request for a new schol was turned down twice. The board resigned, but the next board was more successful and local contractor Owen Hughes was hired on a low bid of $11,900. The School Board temporarily found room for the overflow pupils from Murrayville in the downstairs portion of Milner Hall and by renting the Sharon Presbyterian Church Hall. In 1922, Langley High School moved from Murrayville to Milner School, where it remained until Langley High School was built on Yale Road in 1924. Langley High School opened in 1924 with two classrooms and one science room. It taught grades 9 to 12. Additional rooms were built in 1934. In roughly 1947 the new school on the current property (2005) was built, and it included Grades 11 and 12. In 1948, the old building on Fraser Highway became Langley Central Elementary, and the high school students moved to the current location (2006) at Langley SECONDARY School. In 1985 the school went from Grades 8-12.
See Also: Langley Secondary School
Term Source: History of Langley Schools" by Harry McTaggart, Maureen Pepin, and Norman Sherrit.

Langley Hotel

In 1920, John S. Donnelly opened a boarding house in Langley Prairie (this original location is unclear). By 1921, he was running the Station Hotel, a two-storey building just west of the railway station. Early in the same year it was renamed the Langley Prairie Hotel, and became the Half-Way Hotel later that year. In 1926 Conrad Traversy started running the business, and renamed it the Langley Hotel. The next year Ralph Godall and his wife took over the hotel, and on May 21, 1928, while they were away and a Mr. and Mrs. Rolph were looking after the hotel for them, a fire broke out at the rear of the hotel. Within a few minutes the whole hotel was on fire, starting the Langley Prairie Fire. The fire spread to Sam Brown's Barber Shop, Mclean's Dry Goods, the Interurban Station, and then across the road to Alf Warman's Bakery. From there it spread to the Hilton Brothers Garage, the Fraser Motors' storage shed, Wilfred DesRochers' tire sop, Fred Pollard's tinsmith shop, Jim Morris's grocery store, and Pete Prytherch's shoe repair shop. The Langley Hotel was not rebuilt on this site.

Langley Prairie

Langley Prairie became Langley City in 1955.

Murrayville Elementary School (Belmont Superior)

Murrayville Elementary School is located in the Langley School District, later School District No. 35 (Langley). A one-room school located just south of Murray's Corners was built in 1891, was known as Belmont School, and was the earliest public school in Langley. Belmont School was in use until 1911, when a new a two-room school called Belmont Superior School was built at the top of the hill on Old Yale Road (now 48th Avenue). One room was later sub-divided into three rooms, and two more rooms were added in 1913. Langley had no high school at this time, and from 1911-1922 high school classes were also held at Belmont. In 1912, the School District arranged to provide water to the school, which came from Rod Cumming's artesian well at Five Corners. In 1918 the school names were split: the elementary section became known as Murrayville Elementary and the high school part became Langley High School. In 1922 the high school moved to Milner. The original Belmont structure is now (2005) the back portion of the present Murrayville School. The row of oak trees in front were probably planted when the original Belmont School was constructed. The historic building was approved to be restored and used as apartments in 2018, called Reunion.
Term Source: BCAUL; "History of Langley Schools: Langley School District #35, 1867-2004".

Otter Elementary School

The original Otter School was built in 1896. Apparently classes had been held in another location since 1889. The school was moved to 3825 244th Street in 1913. There were numerous additions over a 50 year span dating from 1921. The school burnt to the ground in March 1976. The school's enrollment once had only 9 students before the turn of the century and now (2003) numbers 205 pupils from kindergarten through grade 7.

Radio

Argus v4.3.6.40 - Langley Centennial Museum