HENRY BEDFORD.
Photograph
 


	Henry Bedford of Moose Jaw, a retired locomotive engineer, farmer
and stock buyer, was born in Elm, Parish of Monkfryston, Yorkshire,
England, on March 6, 1847.  His parents, Thomas and Ann (Gibson)
Bedford, were born and always lived in England. They had nine chil-
dren, five of whom are living, but our subject, Henry Bedford, is the sec-
ond child in order of birth and the only one in Canada. Thomas Bedford
was a cattle and hog dealer by occupation and also ran a small farm. He
and his wife were communicants of the Anglican church, in which faith
their children were reared.
	Henry Bedford was educated in the national schools of England and
at the age of fifteen started to work, wielding a shovel. When he was
sixteen he found employment as an engine wiper on an English railroad
and a year later began firing. Eventually he worked up to the position
of locomotive engineer and ran an engine in his native land for fifteen
years.  In 1883 the young engineer came out to Canada, arriving in
Winnipeg on the 23d of April. From July to November of that year hE
worked on a dump, driving a team of mules, and afterward he washed
boilers for a time. At last, in 1884, he was able to secure a position as an
engineer on a switch engine and a year or so later began to make regula~
runs on a train. He came to Moose Jaw to live in 1886 and ran an engine
out of this city until 1903, when he retired from the railroad.
	Before he stopped his work as an engineer Mr. Bedford had begun
buying stock, so it was but natural that he should turn to this business
as a means of employing his time. As a boy he had learned something of
stock buying from his father, hence he was not venturing into a totally
unfamiliar business and he possessed the ability to make a distinct suc-
cess of this undertaking. He owns a section and a half of excellent farm
land and gives some of his attention to the management of this farm.
Mr. Bedford has a high financial rating in Moose Jaw, for besides his
agricultural property he has enough capital to do a brisk business in mak-
ing loans. As he had but five hundred dollars when he came out here a
little more than forty years ago, he is entitled to all the credit for his
present position as a business man and financier.  He has accumulated
his money by careful saving and by wise investments has increased his
resources a little at a time, until his competence of today may be said to
represent a lifetime of hard work.
	Before he left England-in 1872-Mr. Bedford was united in marriage
to Miss Mary Jane Bell, who died in 1884, leaving two sons: Frank, of
Wood Mountain, who is now on a ranch; and W. H., a fireman on the
Canadian Pacific Railway.  In 1886 Mr. Bedford was married to Miss
Hannah Thompson of Chesley, Ontario. To this union one child was born,
Charles Norman of Moose Jaw, a crew boss on the Canadian Pacific line.
Mrs. Hannah (Thompson) Bedford passed away in July, 1904. Mr. Henry
Bedford was married to Miss Anna Moffett in March, 1908, and they are
the parents of two sons: Grant Gibson, a lad of thirteen; and David
Lloyd Robert. Mrs. Bedford was born in Little Bras d'Or, Cape Breton
Island, and taught school in Nova Scotia for some twelve years before
her marriage. She is a member of the Baptist church and takes part in
the work of its women's societies.  Mr. Bedford has the distinction of
being one of the oldest members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive En
gineers. His political allegiance is given the Conservative party and for
a short time he served on the city council of Moose Jaw. He has always
stood for what was best in the matter of civic development and endeavored
to make his influence on the life of his community a constructive and
helpful one.



Bibliography follows: