TheColumbia Valley - Columbia Valley Pioneer

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24 • The Columbia Valley Pioneer July 6, 2007 VALLEY PIONEER Harold Forster murdered on his ranch By Dorothy Isted Special to Th e Pioneer Harold Ernest Forster was a colourful character who met his untimely death on his ranch near Wilmer in 1940, one of the valley’s few murder victims. Forster was born in Ontario in 1869. Before he was a year old, both parents died and he was raised partly by his wealthy maternal grandmother in Galt, Ontario; and partly by wealthy paternal uncles near Carlisle, England. In 1967 a newspaper article entitled “Forster of the Kootenays” was published in Th e Daily Colonist in Victoria, outlining most of what is known about him. Much of this tale was told by Forster’s widow Meda Hume Forster. Forster left a precious legacy to the valley. He gave Th e Dort Bible, a leather-bound ornate 1613 second edition King James Bible, to the local Anglican congregation earlier in the last century. Th e Bible was overlooked until 1925, when a young woman named Winn Weir discovered it while cleaning the church. It is now a cherished possession of the church, and kept under wraps. But how did it come into Forster’s possession? It has been said that Harold Forster attended Eton College, a prep school for Cambridge University, and he obtained both law and engineering degrees. Yet Eton College has no record of him having attended. Before moving to the valley Forster spent eight years in Kamloops, “during the 1890s a playboy settlement for young bloods from the Old Country with money to spend.” After obtaining Firlands Ranch in 1898 through foreclosure, Forster added bathrooms and a two-storey wing to the existing house. He also used water from a nearby spring by means of a hydraulic ram and a Pelton wheel to drive a generator which furnished the home with electricity, the fi rst electrically-lighted house in the valley. Once his 14-room home was completed, he had sets of Royal Worcester and Minton china, two sets of Georgian and Victorian silver, books and furnishings shipped out from Hamilton. Area resident Vera Wikman recalls visiting Firlands once as a young girl and being startled to see a stuff ed mountain cougar sitting on the fl oor of his big game trophy room. Harold Forster also owned the 60-foot sternwheeler S.S. Selkirk, which he is believed to have transported from Hope by a CPR fl at car. For many years he was able to operate the Selkirk up and down the river, bringing goods and friends to stay. In 1912, at the age of 43, Harold married Meda Hume, the 25year-old daughter of his ranch manager. Th ey had six children but no descendants live in the Columbia Valley. Th eir oldest granddaughter, Helen Perry of Kelowna, never met Harold, but she remembers Meda as a “typical Victorian era woman, always quite cultured. She taught us all table manners and made us sit up straight. She played the piano until she was 100 and lived to 103.” Also in 1912 Harold ran as an independent FIRLANDS—Someone member and won a seat snapped this shot (above) in the provincial legis- of a 43-year-old Harold lature. He held the post Forster shifting into drive for four years but did not before wheeling off with seek re-election. his new bride, Meda, the Stories diff er on how 25-year-old daughter of his the Hume family came hired man. to be living on Firlands Ranch. One account states At left, the garden at Fir- they were there when Forlands Ranch near Wilmer, ster acquired the property. the home Mr. Forster built However, Helen says her after moving to the Colum- grandmother Meda was bia Valley. born in Galt, Ontario and Meda’s parents were Scottish immigrants who met Harold in Ontario and accepted a job from him to run the ranch. As well as the Humes, the ranch supported an English gardener, a chore boy, a ranch hand, a carpenter and a Chinese house servant. Meda’s mother ran the home like an English country manor. Wealthy and connected friends often Continued on next page...
July 6, 2007 The Columbia Valley Pioneer • 25 FIRLANDS—Harold Forster stands on the front porch of his home at Firlands Ranch. Th e house was burned, it is believed, to cover up Forster’s murder by a Cranbrook rogue who knocked at the kitchen door asking for booze. Th e 394-year-old Dort Bible, it is presumed, would have burned in the fi re, along with the rest of his treasures, had he not donated it earlier to Invermere’s Anglican congregation. Killer never tried for murder Continued from previous page... travelled great distances from as far away as England to be entertained at Firlands. Th e property also contained a tennis court and a croquet lawn. Guests enjoyed roaming the formal gardens with footpaths and hedges, blooming with lilacs, roses and sweetpeas. Harold Forster had interests in several mines but none of them ever paid off . Another long-time area resident Jim Ashworth explains that his father Arthur was the bank manager at the time, and part of his job was to visit Firlands on a weekly basis to check on the bank’s investment. Forster’s water system had failed and he was not able to get the ranch going the way he wanted, forcing him to borrow money for his irrigation system. Always a resourceful man, Forster managed to drill right through a rock wall to bring the water into his fl umes. Meda Forster recalls her husband’s sad end. “Since there was no school nearby, lessons were taken by correspondence but eventually I had to leave the ranch during the greater part of the year while my children went to school at Penticton, and while I was away in 1940 tragedy struck. Our home, Firlands, with all our treasures, burned to the ground. My husband and his house guest, John Lundy, lost their lives in the fi re.” It was delicately put. By this time Harold Forster was an alcoholic. He and John Lundy lived and drank together, rarely leaving the kitchen, choosing to sleep there as well. A Cranbrook man happened upon the property and, being cursed with the same addiction, knocked on the door and asked for some liquor. He was told to get lost. He got his gun and shot the two men through the window. He left, but later returned with a relative and set the house on fi re to try to cover up his crime. Arthur Ashworth was supposed to visit Firlands that day, his regular day to check on things, but something kept him away. Perhaps he would have been able to help the injured men or perhaps he would have been killed himself. Th e coroner’s report stated that Harold had managed to get himself to another part of the house and it could be that the fi re killed him where the bullet hadn’t. We’ll never know, for forensics at that time were crude. Jim Ashworth, home on leave from the Air Force, recalls going to the site with Forster’s two sons, only in their twenties. Th ey wanted to see if there was anything worth recovering but all they found was the silverware in its chest, melted “to a molten mess.” Th e assailant was never tried for Harold’s death as there was not enough evidence to conclude without a doubt that he was responsible for killing him. He was found guilty of John Lundy’s murder and was hanged. And what of the Dort Bible, how did it come to our valley? Did it come through his maternal family, or through the Forsters? Or perhaps Harold won it in a poker game in Kamloops where he spent much of his youth? Grandson Gordon Yolland of Port Moody thinks it may have come from outside of the family - but this is something else we may never know. MILLENNIUM Ford Family Pricing On all 2007/2008 vehicles GREAT DISCOUNTS! BIG SAVINGS! 2008 F-350 Super Duty 6.4L V8 Power Stroke Diesel Super Cab, FX4, Off-Road Package, Shift-on-the-Fly, 4 Wheel Drive, Captain’s Chairs, Power Seat, Tow Command, 20” Wheels. Was $61,829 FAMILY PLAN PRICE $ 54,667 *All vehicles based on 48 months/20,000 km/year. All taxes extra. All rebates to dealer. 1126 Cranbrook St., Cranbrook DLR#5829 Phone: (250) 426-6645 Toll Free: 1-800-663-3839
Page 1 and 2: Vol. 4/Issue 27 Your Weekly Source
Page 3 and 4: July 6, 2007 By Brian Geis Pioneer
Page 5 and 6: July 6, 2007 Continued from Page 4
Page 7 and 8: July 6, 2007 By Harold Hazelaar Inv
Page 9 and 10: Encore WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE CO
Page 11 and 12: July 6 , 2007 Toby Th eatre • Jul
Page 13 and 14: July 6, 2007 The Columbia Valley Pi
Page 23: July 6, 2007 The Columbia Valley Pi
Page 39 and 40: July 6, 2007 FAITH He shall have do

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