Iron Ridge Secondary Campus Mural

Arthur D. Gregson, Entomologist

Arthur Douglas Gregson, an Englishman from Kent, developed an interest in natural history, and at the age of 15 he won the school prize for the best collection of moths and butterflies. He was one of the first colonial settlers to the Blackfalds area. He came here because of his diagnosis of tuberculosis, and his doctor's orders of a climate change from England as essential to his survival.

Gregson sailed to Montreal, and then travelled by rail, arriving in Calgary in the summer of 1890, then came north and homesteaded in the area near what is now called Burbank, SW of Blackfalds. He learned to hunt and trap, doing very well, as beaver, muskrat, coyote, fox, martin, mink, and lynx were in abundance in the area. His brother Percy Gregson joined him in Canada in 1891.

An interesting and unusual side line to Gregson's trapping was the curious way of supplementing income. They would collect the fleas off the animals obtained from trap lines by laying a white sheet on the body. The fleas would hop off the pelt onto the sheet, making it easier for the human eye to see them. They would scoop them into bottles, preserved in alcohol, and ship them off for sale to the Rothschilds, the well-known banking family of London, England, who were also avid naturalists. Arthur Gregson knew the Rothchilds from his apprentice years in the stock exchange in London, before coming to Alberta.

The Blackfalds & Area Historical Society has copies of original letters, now in the Natural History Museum, London collection, written by both Percy and Arthur Gregson to the Rothschilds in England. One letter from 1899, with a Northwest Entomological Society letterhead, is from Percy Gregson, negotiating prices and offering different specimens of insects for sale.

Another letter, written by Arthur Gregson to the Rothschilds, ask for more flea bottles and for a cheque for the black swallowtail butterfly he had sent previously. The reply letter is thanking the Rothschilds for the cheque and the flea tubes sent. Arthur Gregson was told he was one of their best flea collectors in the world, having sent them over 87 individual fleas of 12 species, several of which were new to the scientific community.

Arthur Gregson was appointed a Justice of the Peace for the Northwest Territories on January 26, 1897 at Waghorn, Alberta (Blackfalds' first name) by Charles Herbert Mackintosh, the Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories from 1893 to 1898.

It is of note that one of the first natural history museums in western Canada was located in Percy Gregson's home in Blackfalds, on Broadway Avenue. He was the founding president of the Northwest Territorial Entomological Society, formed in March of 1898 at his first house a few miles SE of Blackfalds. Arthur Gregson was the secretary-treasurer. Percy also served as the librarian and curator. The society objective was to list the classification of the flora and fauna of the Northwest Territories. Percy was appointed the local Inspector of Noxious Weeds for the area. Several society name changes occurred in the following years. Percy delivered several talks, addressing the members at annual meetings and other gatherings at local points in Central Alberta.

On February 18, 1902 at the annual meeting held in the Alexandra Hall in Calgary, Percy Gregson and Frederick H. Wolley-Dod gave entomological lectures accompanied by magic lantern slides, which the large crowd appreciated and enjoyed. He held meetings in his home in Blackfalds and his flower gardens surrounding his home were often the host of picnics and were reputed to be outstanding. Percy remained President until 1905 when Dr. Henry George took over, and in 1906 the society was renamed the Alberta Natural History Society at a meeting in Innisfail. This society eventually evolved into the Red Deer River Naturalists.

The Gregson family members that came to Blackfalds were integral in the growth and development of the area. Following Arthur, older brother Percy B. Gregson arrived at Blackfalds in 1891, first homesteading the NW18-39-26-W4 before moving into Blackfalds where he was a solicitor and notary public for the village. He served as the first parish warden for St. Jude's Anglican Church in 1902. He was a Justice of the Peace and the local Weed Inspector. He was the first village secretary of Blackfalds, secretary/treasurer for the Blackfalds Butter and Cheese Manufacturing Association Ltd., as well as secretary for both the Blackfalds and Blindman School Districts. He was the editor of the short-lived local newspaper called the Blackfalds Mercury. He returned to England in 1907, where his wife resided. Several other members of the Gregson family came in 1905.

Arthur Gregson wanted to retire to a warmer climate before he turned 60, so in 1923 he moved his family to Vancouver Island, settling on seven acres by a creek, between Courtenay and Comox, where he built a house. He continued mink farming, which he had tried back in Alberta. He bought a motor boat and fished for food, both for his family and the mink. He was always inventing, exploring, or experimenting with something, keeping his interests and adventure filled life from ever being dull. He developed a small natural history museum there, and the visitors log book shows that friends new and old came to visit. He passed away at the age of 72 years, on July 16, 1936. His son, John Douglas Gregson "Jack", became an entomologist of world renown as a tick expert.