In 1948, Percy and Winnifred “Winnie” Wilsdon from Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, purchased an 80-acre dairy farm in Winfield from Wilton R. Powley. Wilton had owned the farm, named Three Brook Ranch, since 1912. It was recognized as one of the most productive dairy farms in the valley, featuring pedigree Guernsey and Jersey cows.
Photo: Percy and Winnie Wilsdon, 1948. Courtesy of Jill Siebert.
Peter, Richard and David Wilsdon, the three oldest sons of Percy and Winnifred, were the first to leave England to operate the farm. Their sister, Jill, recalls how Ida and Al Vecchio took David under their wing, providing him with dinner every night. Jill said, “Soon, all three of the boys were regulars at Al’s Café. It was very satisfying for my mom to know that they were getting at least one good meal a day.”
The rest of the Wilsdon family, including children Bill, Jill, and George, moved to Canada from England in mid-June 1948. They crossed the Atlantic on the RMS Aquitania, arrived at Pier 91 in Halifax, and then traveled by train to British Columbia. It took them a week by boat and almost another week by train. They arrived in Kamloops over the July long weekend.
Upon their arrival in Kamloops, their furniture had not yet arrived, so they stayed a few days with friends in Okanagan Mission before moving into their new, sparsely furnished home. Jill remembers sleeping on the floor alongside Bill and George for a few days, saying, “We didn’t care; it was exciting to be in a new place.”
Photo: Wilsdon Family House (colourized), 1948. Courtesy of Jill Siebert.
Percy Wilsdon (b. 1889 – d. 1961) was a veteran of the First World War. He served as a Lieutenant in the British Army, Corps of Royal Engineers, from 1914 to 1920. He was wounded during the war and lived with a bullet lodged under his shoulder blade for the rest of his life. In 1921, he married Winnifred Kemp, who was 20 years old, in Kensington, London, England.
With his family’s support, Percy ran a very successful dairy farm. His pedigree dairy cows were regularly recognized as top producers of milk and butter fat by the Okanagan Cow Testing Association, which published testing results monthly in the Vernon and Kelowna newspapers.
Jill fondly recalls life on the farm in Winfield. She stated, “We never had a shortage. We had great neighbors next door. We were always playing ball in the pastures when we didn’t have to milk cows.”
Every morning, Bill and Jill would send the cows under the railway tracks to the range to graze, then call them back at night. “There was an old man who lived by himself on the range who taught us about rattlesnakes,” Jill said. “He showed us a complete rattlesnake skin with the rattles still attached, so we knew to run away if we ever saw or heard one.”
In 1949, Percy and Winnie agreed to sell seven acres of their farm to School District No. 23 for the future Winfield Junior High School (now École George Elliot Secondary and École H S Grenda Middle School). The sale price was $4,000, and a condition of the sale was that the Wilsdons could continue to cultivate the land and collect the crops until construction began. They also requested that the School District fence off Wood’s Creek (now called Vernon Creek), which formed one boundary of the property.
Jill remembers growing up on the farm as a very fulfilling experience where she made lifelong friends like Mona Edmonds and Rosemary (Wentworth) Carter. She remarked, “Sometimes, I would say we wished we didn’t have so many chores to do, because you’d rather be elsewhere, but I was very happy. I had a good time there. I truly did.”
The Wilsdon farmhouse, milk shed, and hay barn still stand at the north end of Konschuh Road in Winfield.
By Jill (Wilsdon) Siebert and Scott Forfar