Nationality Canadian Name F. Auld | Spouse(s) Elizabeth Smith Died 1967 | |
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Full Name Francis Hedley Auld Born 1881 near Covehead, Prince Edward Island Known for Deputy Minister of Agriculture Children David Gordon Auld (1912), Walter Murray Auld (1916), Frank Mantle Auld (1918) Parent(s) David Higgins Auld m. Elizabeth Cairns | ||
Francis Hedley Auld, LL.D., OBE (1881–1967) was a Canadian agricultural scientist who served as Saskatchewan's Deputy Minister of Agriculture from 1916-1946.
Contents
Auld was instrumental in increasing the province's farm production during his career in the civil service. He was also appointed Secretary for the Better Farming Commission (1920) and Secretary of the Royal Commission on Grain (1928).
Biography
Auld was born in Prince Edward Island andattended Prince of Wales College at Charlottetown. Upon graduation in 1899, he taught public school briefly.
In 1902, aged 21, he moved to western Canada, intending to settle in Edmonton, Alberta. He visited his brother who taught in Abernethy, and met the Honourable W. R. Motherwell. A general store job did not last long, as Motherwell secured employment for him in the provincial government's Dairy Branch.
Auld was the first Director of Extension at the University of Saskatchewan (1910–1912). On 31 January 1911 Auld met with 42 women in Regina, and the Saskatchewan Homemakers clubs were initiated. These clubs provided networking on homemaking, temperance issues, gardening, health, and poultry raising.
Auld returned to the province's civil service in1914, rejoining the Provincial Department of Agriculture. In 1916, Auld became Deputy Minister of Agriculture, serving until 1946. He was elected to the University of Saskatchewan Senate in 1944. F. H. Auld was a member of the Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists in 1946. He became the fifth Chancellor of the University of Saskatchewan. From 1950 to 1951 F.H. Auld was Grand Lodge of Saskatchewan, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons Past Grand Masters. Until 1966, Auld was a member of the Board of Governors of St. Andrew's College.
Quotation
My personal opinion is that too many farmers are depending entirely upon grain farming. It is, of course, also true that present prices for live stock are rather discouraging, but it is my opinion also that the safest and surest means of successful farming is by diversifying to the greatest possible extent. A few cows, a few pigs, some hens with a variety of crops necessary to provide a good variety of feed for these various classes of live stock will provide the greatest measure of safety...(F.H. Auld to Thomas Rennie, East Anglia, Sask. December 3, 1920
Saskatchewan Archival Papers
The book A Capsule History Settling and Abandoning the Prairie Dry Belt by David C. Jones states that there are few records chronicling the drought years which began in Alberta in the 1920s. The papers held in Saskatchewan Archives, of Deputy Minister of Agriculture F.H. Auld and other Saskatchewan ministers, helps to understand municipal and village disintegration, and debt relief programs for a succession of crop failures.
Publications
Other awards
In 1936, an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree was bestowed upon F. H. Auld. He was initiated as a Fellow of the Agricultural Institute of Canada. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) which is a British order of chivalry was bestowed upon F.H. Auld in 1946. In 1973 he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Agriculture Hall of Fame.
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