Fonds F1256 - William McCardell fonds

William H. "Billy" McCardell, 1861-1944, was born in Stratford, Ontario. He came to western Canada in 1882 with a Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) construction gang. In 1883 he, his brother Tom, and Frank McCabe discovered sulpher hot springs (later called the Cave and Basin) at Banff, Alberta. He was involved in various logging and coal mining ventures in the Banff area. In 1890 he secured work at the Anthracite Mine east of Banff. In subsequent years he helped organize the Kananaskis Coal Company and held contracts to supply mine prop timber for the Bankhead Mine. He married Elizabeth Ann Spencer, 1871-1930. She was president of the Anglican Women's Guild, treasurer of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and was active in many community service groups. The McCardells had six children, William, David, Kay (McDermott), Minnie (Davidson), Martha (Corbett) and Beth (Martin).