Fonds F0557 - Frank Collicutt fonds

Frank Herbert Collicutt, 1877-1964, was born in New Brunswick. He came to Alberta with his family in 1889 and was educated in Calgary. In 1898 he purchased land near Crossfield on which he established the Willow Springs Ranch. In 1901 he married Margaret Murdoch, 1880-1969, also originally from New Brunswick. They had five children, George Murdoch, 1902-1934, Frank, 1904-1904, Alice (Weir), 1908-2003, Jean Catherine (Hood) and Margaret (Blight). He raised cattle and also worked as a cattle buyer. From 1904 to 1912 he bought cattle for P. Burns, meat packers. In 1912 he sold his own grade cattle to Burns and purchased 120 head of purebred Herefords. Over the next 30 years he turned the herd into the largest, and one of the best, herds of registered Herefords in North America. He also raised horses. In 1946 he sold Willow Springs and retired to Calgary. In 1951 he was one of the first five members inducted into the Alberta Agriculture Hall of Fame. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Alberta in 1955. For further information see Harold W. Riley's article "Frank Collicutt, the Purebred Hereford King of Canada" in Canadian Cattlemen. -- vol. 4, no.2 (September 1941), p. 55, 58.