Niddrie of the North-West: Memoirs of a Pioneer Canadian Missionary

David W. Leonard is the project historian (Northern Alberta) in the
Historic Sites and Archives Service, Alberta Community Development. He
is the author of Delayed Frontier: The Peace River Country to 1909 and
co-author of The Lure of the Peace River Coun

One of many Methodist missionaries of Scottish descent to serve in
Western Canada during the latter part of the 19th century was John W.
Niddrie. In 1938, at age 74, he started an autobiography that would
eventually be taken up by his niece, Annie; his great-grandniece,
Dorothy Chalmers; and Dorothy’s husband, the notable Alberta historian
and educator, John W. Chalmers. Due to failing health, the Chalmers were
unable to complete the project, and so it was taken up by their son,
John J. Chalmers, an education consultant in Edmonton. The result is a
conglomerate of material by and about Niddrie, including biographical
information, a series of stories and articles written by Niddrie, the
reminiscence of Annie, and a series of letters sent by Niddrie to
various government and church officials.

John W. Niddrie was born in Oban, Scotland, in 1863 and first traveled
to Western Canada in 1885 to work on the CPR in British Columbia. After
a short stint as a railway worker, he received training as a Methodist
missionary, and it was in this capacity that he was back in Western
Canada in 1889 to minister the Gospel and teach school on the Stony
Reserve at Morley, just west of Calgary. He would serve at Morley for
over 20 years, and then move on to Oxford House, north of Lake Winnipeg,
where he would serve another five. In 1915, he moved to Berens River in
northern Manitoba. Here, he would eventually ease into retirement,
having never married, and start to compile his memoirs; before they were
completed, he passed away in 1940.

Shortly after the project passed into the hands of the younger
Chalmers, a series of Niddrie’s letters was discovered at the Glenbow
Archives in Calgary. The discovery led to a decision to include these
and other related material in this multifaceted biography. Much editing
was required, but the upshot provides considerable insight into
conditions in Western Canada at the turn of the 20th century, especially
on the Morley Reserve. Niddrie had the knack of many Methodist
missionaries of noting fine details of everyday life on the Canadian
prairies, which many outside observers tended to neglect in favor of
more eye-catching events. Some will object to the unevenness of the
whole, but few historians will discount the work for its information
value, especially about the Morley Reserve. The work’s value is
enhanced by the inclusion of many appropriate historical images.
Regrettably, there is no index.