Fonds F1547 - Cecil Rice-Jones fonds

Ivor Edward Cecil Rice-Jones, 1881-1972, was born in Somerset, England, and emigrated to Medicine Hat, Alberta in 1897. He worked on ranches in the Cypress Hills, and then enlisted in Strathcona's Horse at Maple Creek, Saskatchewan in February 1900. He fought in the South African War and was discharged in 1901. He returned to Maple Creek and started a small ranch.

In 1909 he homesteaded in the Veteran area of Alberta and became active in the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA), organizing locals and acting as secretary of the Veteran UFA. In 1913 he was elected to the UFA's central board of directors, and in 1915 moved to Calgary and became president and general manager of the Alberta Farmers' Cooperative Elevator Company. He moved to Winnipeg in 1919 and became vice-president and manager for the western division of the United Grain Growers Ltd. He was on the UGG's board of directors until 1928. He served as a Winnipeg alderman, 1930-1936, and was Manitoba civil service commissioner, 1937-1947.

He and his wife, Emily Bigland, whom he married in 1902, had seven children, Arthur E., 1912-1989, May (Leitch), Kae (Parr), Beth (McMahen), Isobel (Manning), Dave and Cecil Clifford, 1904-?. Cecil and Emily retired to Victoria in 1947.