The Blogging from A to Z Challenge is to post everyday (except Sunday) in the month of April 2020 starting with the letter A and going all the way to Z. My theme is...
Ancestor Occupations
NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICE
George Seale was born in 1857 in Granby, Quebec the son of Edward Seale and Elizabeth Payne. He is my third cousin 2ce removed, both tracing back to John Knight Seale and Eliza King in Ireland.
The North West Mounted Police was established in 1873 to bring Canadian authority to the North West Territories (now Alberta and Saskatchewan). Applicants had to be unmarried between the ages of 18 and 40, of good character, and able to read, write and ride. Pay was 75 cents a day for sub-constables and $1 a day for constables.
George wrote a letter dated 13 April 1877 offering his services to the North West Mounted Police. He states he attended a short course at the "B" Battery School and obtained a 2nd Class Certificate.
George was given passage from Montreal to Toronto where he signed his contract of engagement for a three year term on 5 June 1877.
George also signed an Oath of Allegiance and an Oath of Office. He was assigned Regimental number 105 and stationed at Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan, under Inspector J M Walsh.
After serving a three year term, on 5 June 1880 Constable George Seale was officially discharged at Fort Walsh with a land grant of 160 acres. He decided to homestead in Birtle, Manitoba.
George died May 1934 at the age of 77.
That's a pretty good photo of him! :D
ReplyDeleteThe Multicolored Diary
I got lucky, it was in a book about the town he lived in! Great, eh?
DeleteOur police had to get permission to marry back in the day and have the prospective spouse “cleared”. I wonder if that happened in Canada as well. I’ve not long finished reading Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache books set in Quebec and loved them.
ReplyDeleteMy father-in-law was in the RCMP and they couldn’t marry until a certain rank. They also had to know how to ride, and he was in the famous musical ride at times. I have a photo of him horse jumping over a picnic table where two friends were sitting haha!
DeleteI only started reading Louise Penny’s books this year... I need to catch up. Also the Kathy Reichs series of books are waaaay different from her TV show Bones. The books mostly take place in and around Montreal. One book, Spider Bones, takes place partly in Hemmingford, village where I lived, and she got it down pat haha! I bought that book for my mother when it cane out.
And yes, the photo is great...very Wild Bill Hicock.
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