Fonds F1136 - George Lee Warner fonds

George Lee Warner, 1875-1953, was born in England. In 1899 he travelled to New Zealand where he met Margaret Carnegie Ogilvie in Wanganui. Margaret, who was originally from Scotland, would later become his wife. George subsequently worked as a jackaroo at Darling Downs, Australia, then in 1903 moved to Canada and settled in Alberta. With a loan from his father he bought a farm near Innisfail. In 1905 he married Margaret and they had two sons, George "Sonny" and Edgar "Boysie". In 1910 George's cousin, Lady Agatha Gurney, arrived from England with her husband, Sir Eustace Gurney. They bought nearby land and together with the Lee Warners formed the Spring Coulee Ranche, a mixed farming operation with a specialty in horse breeding. The Gurneys provided capital but soon returned to England, leaving George to run the ranch. In 1919 the ranch was sold and the Lee Warners moved to Sooke, British Columbia.