John Hextall
Encyclopedia
John Hextall was a landowner who founded the community of Bowness, now part of Calgary
, Canada
.
, London
, England, the fourth child of a wealthy silk merchant. After training as a solicitor, he married Alice Delphine Dunn in 1884 and the couple had three children, Alice Violet, Maud Eleanor and Leonard John. In 1908, perhaps for health reasons, Hextall brought his family to Calgary
, Canada
, where at first he began ranching with a partner, Frank Shackle.
. The purchase price was “$94,000 and no more”.
At this time, thanks to the recently arrived Canadian Pacific Railway
, Calgary
was a fast-growing community of 44,000 with a booming real estate market. Hextall quickly saw the possibility of developing his ranch into a garden suburb for the wealthy who would be able to live in country homes along the banks of the river in close proximity to the city. He subdivided part of his land, built a bridge, and got the City of Calgary to run its streetcar line across the bridge into his development, which he called Bowness Estates. In return, he donated two islands on the Bow to the City, for use as a park.
Despite an aggressive advertising campaign, and many improvements to the property, including a golf club, Bowness Estates never took off. First there was a slump in the economy, then the first world war broke out.
Hextall died on April 19, 1914 and is buried in the Union Cemetery in Calgary. The area he had subdivided eventually became the village, then the town of Bowness, which grew rapidly after the second world war and was annexed by the City of Calgary in 1963. The bridge he built in 1911 still stands. Used now for pedestrian and bicycle traffic it was officially named the John Hextall Bridge in 1986.
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Early life
John Hextall was born in 1861 at Canonbury House in IslingtonIslington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England, the fourth child of a wealthy silk merchant. After training as a solicitor, he married Alice Delphine Dunn in 1884 and the couple had three children, Alice Violet, Maud Eleanor and Leonard John. In 1908, perhaps for health reasons, Hextall brought his family to Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, where at first he began ranching with a partner, Frank Shackle.
Bowness Estates
In 1908, Hextall bought the Bowness Ranche (not to be confused with the Bow Valley Ranche), a tract of land of 2481.65 acres situated a few miles west of Calgary on the banks of the Bow RiverBow River
The Bow River is a river in the Canadian province of Alberta. It is a tributary of the South Saskatchewan River, and is considered the headwater of the Nelson River....
. The purchase price was “$94,000 and no more”.
At this time, thanks to the recently arrived Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
, Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
was a fast-growing community of 44,000 with a booming real estate market. Hextall quickly saw the possibility of developing his ranch into a garden suburb for the wealthy who would be able to live in country homes along the banks of the river in close proximity to the city. He subdivided part of his land, built a bridge, and got the City of Calgary to run its streetcar line across the bridge into his development, which he called Bowness Estates. In return, he donated two islands on the Bow to the City, for use as a park.
Despite an aggressive advertising campaign, and many improvements to the property, including a golf club, Bowness Estates never took off. First there was a slump in the economy, then the first world war broke out.
Hextall died on April 19, 1914 and is buried in the Union Cemetery in Calgary. The area he had subdivided eventually became the village, then the town of Bowness, which grew rapidly after the second world war and was annexed by the City of Calgary in 1963. The bridge he built in 1911 still stands. Used now for pedestrian and bicycle traffic it was officially named the John Hextall Bridge in 1986.