WILLIAM GRAYSON, K. C.
 


	William Grayson, K. C., is the oldest barrister engaged in the active
practice of law in the province of Saskatchewan. He opened an office in
Moose Jaw in 1883 and in the intervening forty years has taken a promi-
nent part in the legal and civic activities of this city.  The consensus
of public opinion accords him a high rank among the leading citizens of
Moose Jaw and Saskatchewan as befitting a man who has spent a life-
time in the upbuilding of this section of the Canadian west.  William
Grayson was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1856, the son of the late
Michael and Ann (Kirk) Grayson, and came to London, Ontario, with
his parents in his early youth. There the father was active in business
circles for many years as a lumber merchant, but in 1900 he gave up his
interests there and with his wife took up his residence in Moose Jaw,
where they both died some years ago.  They were consistent members
of the Methodist church throughout the course of their long lives, and
Michael Grayson was a strong Liberal in his political connections. Wil-
liam Grayson was their firstborn, the oldest of a family of five, one of
whom is deceased.
	William Grayson continued the education begun in the common
schools of Yorkshire in the London (Ontario) grammar schools, follow-
ing which he turned to the reading of law in preparation for his bar ex-
aminations. These were successfully passed in due time and he received
his call to the bar in 1883. The young barrister began his legal career
in Winnipeg, but ere long moved out to Moose Jaw, where he "hung up
his shingle."  Here his efforts met with merited success and soon he
had made for himself a recognized place in the community.  His legal
ability was fittingly recognized in 1904 by the appointment to the post
of Crown Prosecutor, which he held until 1912 and in 1913 he received
an appointment as King's Counsel. In addition he held the office of public
administrator of the Moose Jaw district for over twenty years.
	When he first came west as a young man Mr. Grayson determined
to cast in his lot with this region for better or for worse and has subse-
quently enjoyed the material rewards that come to those who expend
their efforts in the development of a new and a rich country. He has
extensive farming interests in his district, which is one of the best agri-
cultural regions of western Canada, and has invested heavily in city prop-
erty in Moose Jaw which is now regarded as real estate of the first class,
including several business blocks which yield large revenues. Further-
more, he is a director of the Saskatchewan Loan & Insurance Com-
pany and of the Executors & Administrators Company.
	Mr. Grayson is a loyal supporter of the Liberal party, but he has
never gone in for politics and has held only such offices as bear a direct
relation to the civic welfare. He has been a member of the board for
the public schools of Moose Jaw and for thirty years sat on the board
for the Collegiate Institute, during twenty of which he was chairman of
the joint board for the public schools and Collegiate Institute. In 1903
he served a term as mayor of Moose Jaw.
	In 1885 Mr. Grayson was married to Miss Ellen Babb, who was
born in Mitchell, Ontario, and is the daughter of Thomas Babb, a pioneer
merchant of that place.  Mr. Babb ran a store in Mitchell before the
days of the railroad, when he had to haul his stock of goods from Hamil-
ton, a hundred miles away. It was his custom to drive into the city with
a load of charcoal and take back his goods on the return trip.  Eight
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Grayson: William Murrey, a
farmer living near Moose Jaw; Jean, the wife of M. J. Torrence, a finan-
cial agent of Toronto; Ethel Kirk, who now lives at home; Charles Doug-
las, a barrister, associated with his father in this city; Vera, the wife of
Lester McTeggart, a barrister of Moose Jaw; Margaret V., a graduate
of Stout Institute of Home Economics of Menominee, Wisconsin; Fred-
erick Russel, a veteran of the Great war, who was in the air service for
a short time, although he was but eighteen years old; and Thomas How-
ard, a student in the Moose Jaw Collegiate Institute.  Miss Ethel K.
Grayson is a graduate of the Toronto University, with the B. A. and M. A.
degrees and has taught in several colleges. She is a writer by profession
and the author of short stories which appear in the magazines from time
to time.  Charles, the son who is now helping his father in the legal
work, was educated in the local Collegiate Institute and Toronto Uni-
versity. During the Great war he was a captain in the Two Hundred
and Twenty-ninth Battalion. Much of his time in the service was taken
up with domestic service, in connection with which he had charge of the
work at Camp Hughes.

	Mr. Grayson is a trustee of the Methodist church, of which his family
are members. He belongs to the Prairie Club and to the Benchers Law
Society of Saskatchewan. His hobby is the study of art and his is one
of the best collections of pictures in the northwest. Moose Jaw is for-
tunate in having among her citizens a man with the means and the taste
to collect pictures and objects d'art, for in any new community the em-
phasis laid on cultural attainments is slight at first and too often the
younger generation is reared with little appreciation of the finer things
of art, music and literature. Thus the potential influence of a private
gallery in such a place is far greater than it would be in the east, where
the public galleries and institutional collections overshadow most private
efforts along this line. As Mr. Grayson has accumulated a fortune by
his own unaided efforts, having made his way in the world without finan-
cial assistance since he was a very young man, he has proven himself to
be a barrister and business man of superior abilities. To his attainments
along professional lines he has added a valuable public service to his com-
munity in various official capacities and has maintained a breadth of
interest in intellectual affairs that stamp him as a gentleman of culture
and refinement.


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