William Roper Hull ^554,555

  General Notes:

www.pioneersalberta.org

Hull, William Roper
W.R. Hull came to Calgary in 1884. He was born in 1856 in England and died in 1925 at Calgary. He was married in 1907 to Emmaline Mary Banister at Calgary. She was born in England in 1864 and died at Calgary in 1953. The Banisters came to Davisburg in 1884. William and his brother J. R. were engaged in raising cattle and horses. In 1884 he trailed 1200 head of horses to Calgary via Crow's Nest Pass and again in 1886, 3000 head of cattle and 500 head of horses were brought to Alberta. He owned extensive properties, built the Grain Exchange Building and Hull Opera House. He was also a partner in the organization of the Calgary Brewing and Malting Company.

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Calgary Public Library Collections, Calgary, Alberta

Hull, William Roper (Langmore)
1202 - 6th Street SW
Built: 1902 - 1905
Demolished: 1970
1856-1925
William was born in Devonshire, England in 1856. In 1873, he and his brother John came to Canada and started a stock-raising business in British Columbia. In 1883 they set out from Kamloops, B.C. and drove 1,200 head of horses over the Crow's Nest Pass to Calgary for sale to the Mounted Police and stock raising companies. A year later the brothers bought a government supply farm near Midnapore. John returned to B.C in 1892, but William stayed in Alberta and expanded the business. Hull quickly became involved in the development of Calgary, establishing the large meat packing business which he later sold to Pat Burns. Hull built Calgary's first Opera House, the Grain Exchange Building, the Alberta, Victoria and Albion Blocks. The Hull's owned several ranches in the area including the 6,000 acre Oxley Ranch at Willow Creek. When William married Emmeline Mary Bannister Ellis in 1903, he sold the ranch near Midnapore and built a mansion he called "Langmore." Located on twenty-two city lots in one of Calgary's exclusive districts, the home became the site of many garden parties and social events. The couple had no children.
At the time of Hull's death April 4, 1925, he was head of the firm W. R. Hull Limited, Ranching, Financing and Insurance Agents. Emmeline was an enthusiastic member of the Colonel Macleod Chapter of the I.O.D.E. and through her efforts, the Chapter erected the base of the South African War Memorial in Central Park. When Mrs. Hull died March 11, 1953 the estate was valued at over $5 million. Much of it was willed to charity, including the funds to build the William Roper Hull Home. (now Child and Family Services)

  Noted events in his life were:

• Occupation: Stockraiser, 1881, Yale County, B.C. ⁵⁵⁵

William married Emmeline Mary Banister, daughter of Albert Edward Banister V.S., J.P. and Helen Mary Weston, in Oct 1903.⁵⁵⁴ (Emmeline Mary Banister was born on 18 Jul 1866 in Bridport, Dorset, England ^{551,552,553,554} and died on 11 Mar 1953 in Calgary, Alberta ⁵⁵⁴.)