In October of 1891, John and Ishbel Gordon, better known as Lord and Lady Aberdeen, chartered the inaugural run of the Shuswap and Okanagan Railroad from the Main Line at Sicamous, to the bustling little town of Vernon.
It was a long, crowded, bumpy ride over the barely complete, uneven tracks, and they arrived just in time to open Vernon’s first agricultural fair being held in the Kalamalka Hotel, then under construction.
Lady Aberdeen described the scene: “The Show in itself was interesting for there were some really magnificent fruits and vegetables shown - monster cabbages and melons and pumpkins and splendid apples...Then we went down to the place where the horses and cattle were being shown at the other end of the town and there A [Lord Aberdeen] bought a team, a pair of mares and a foal for $135 - the team promptly took a first prize immediately afterwards and one of the mares with her foal got another first...”
The couple then travelled down to the Mission by sternwheeler to inspect Guisachan, a 480-acre ranch they had recently purchased. They eventually discovered, to their disappointment, that the ranch was a profitless venture, with infertile soil and no water rights.
The Aberdeens had just purchased the Coldstream Ranch from Forbes Vernon, comprising 13,000 acres with water, and 2,000 head of cattle. Its price of $241,000 was deemed by their lawyer as vastly overpriced.
However, Lady Aberdeen’s comment about the purchase at the time, still rings true today: “One is forced to the conclusion that some day the agricultural lands of B.C. will be exceedingly valuable. We are not buying for today or for ourselves, but our children. A country with such a climate will not be at a discount very long.”
Lord Aberdeen became Governor-General of Canada in 1893 and while in office both he and Ishbel made lasting contributions to Canadian society. She was the first president of the International Council of Women and established a Women’s Council in Vernon.
Her most significant achievement in Canada was establishing the Victorian Order of Nurses in 1897. This organization, dedicated to the care of invalids in their own homes, was at first mistrusted by the medical establishment, but Lady Aberdeen won its acceptance.
Today, the VON continues to be a vital part of our health care system.
The Aberdeens’ Okanagan investments were losing propositions from the start, draining capital from their Scottish estate. However, the benefits derived by the communities concerned were incalculable.
It was primarily through the Aberdeens’ ventures that the Okanagan gained world renown as one of the prime fruit-growing areas in Canada.
