South Peace Historical Society

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    • About Dorthea Horton
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  • Table of Contents

    • Part 1: First Nations of the Peace River Region
    • Part 2: The Fur Trade Era
    • Part 3: Transportation and Communication
    • Part 4: Old Timers and the Price of Land
    • Part 5: Dawson Creek: The Story of the Community
    • Part 6: Mysteries, Adventures and Indian Legends
    • Part 7: Arts, Crafts and Recreation
    • Part 8: Agriculture
    • Part 9: Church Histories
    • Part 10: Schools
    • Part 11: Health Care
    • Part 12: Industries and Enterprises
    • Part 13: Policing the Peace
    • Part 14: Pouce Coupe, Rolla, and Other South Peace Communities
    • Part 15: Chetwynd and the Fort St. John Area
    • Part 16: The Alberta Peace
    • Part 17: Natural History of the Peace River Region
    • Part 18: Interviews with Old Timers
    • Part 19: Remembering Our Veterans

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08-051: Mr. Harry Giles, Journalist

By Dorthea Calverley
Mr. Harry Giles was an almost unrecognized, but important journalist of the Peace Country in general, and of the British Columbia Peace in particular. From 1930 until his death in the 1960’s, most of the news stories in the Alberta and British Columbia daily papers were submitted by Mr. Giles. As well, he contributed to government reports, newsmagazines and other publications.

Mr. Giles came to the Peace country in the early 1930’s as an agent for Lister Lighting Systems when it was necessary for villages and large farms to generate their own electricity.

He soon moved to the new Dawson Creek, impressed by the possibilities of the Peace River Block after some selling trips had taken him into all the accessible districts, during which he drove the first car to Hudson’s Hope. During those trips he met all of the outstanding agriculturists and businessmen. Throughout his life he and his wife Marjorie maintained an active interest in the Farmers’ and Women’s Institutes and he was frequently called upon for reports.

His writing was the more valuable for being unspectacular and factual, based on personal knowledge and participation. Editorials were always slanted in an optimistic way but they were nevertheless realistic concerning problems. News reports were factual as they were in the old tradition, and never, never tended towards the sensational. Because of his scrupulous adherence to the old rule that a newspaperman should not express what he felt but only what he saw Harry Giles was seldom personally credited for his contribution to the growth of the Peace River Country.

« 08-050: Ted Bartsch – Remembering the Gundy Ranch

08-052: Milestones in the History of Peace River Town »

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