Lloydminster has had quite a few leaders in its 100-plus years of existence. Many have sat in front leading the charge for the often-confusing Border City.
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While Dr. W.W. Amos was the first overseer of the city in 1903 and figures like George Exton Lloyd were regarded as early leaders, the first mayor of Lloyd wouldn’t come about until 1930. Not that the village and town of Lloydminster didn’t have mayors, it’s just that as an amalgamated city our first happened when we joined together once again.
That man, Harold Huxley, is the subject of my research and interest of the last week. He was born in Shropshire, England, in 1881. He came to Lloyd with the Barr Colonists alongside his brothers Leonard and Frank.
Huxley served as councillor for years for the Town of Lloydminster. He eventually reached the top seat in 1917, serving until 1920. He would be mayor again from 1925-29 and served as the first mayor of the newly united Lloydminster. He held that post for a year from 1930-31 and served as councillor until his death in 1932.
I’ve seen some conflicting documents of the exact years he was on council, but I’ll go with what I personally uncovered.
Huxley was a well-respected businessman. I’m not quite sure what he really did, but I found mentions of him being in the insurance business and he was also an auctioneer. Most notably, he was involved with almost everything under the sun in Lloydminster.
He belonged to community organizations like the masons, Oddfellow, orange fraternities, rotary, Elks Lodge and was a founding member of the Lloydminster Exhibition Association. He was inducted in the Lloydminster Agricultural Hall of Fame on July 12, 1985.
He grew to be very respected for his tireless efforts during the influenza epidemic in the late 1910’s. Huxley was also instrumental in the eventual amalgamation of the two Lloydminsters.
In his personal life, Huxley married Florence Thomas. Together they had two children, Charles and Reginald. It is worth noting that in my research I found that Reginald’s first name was Harold. Many sources I found called him Reginald, which would not be uncommon to go by a middle name rather than a first name.
Thomas passed away a month after her second child was born. Huxley didn’t stay single for long, marrying Jessie Wood. They would have two daughters together, Kathleen and Audrey.
And that’s the story of the first mayor of Lloydminster, Harold Huxley.
Content warning: senitive mental health topics discussed below.
Well, at least that’s where I’d like the story to end. Maybe to peel back the curtain a little bit, I like to find stories of people that have contributed greatly to Lloydminster and make that the focus. But some people’s stories have one moment that they will likely always be remembered for, good or bad.
In the case of Huxley, it was unfortunately the end of his life.
One night Huxley left home, headed to his office. He informed his family he would be there writing letters. Well, he hadn’t been heard from and early in the morning a call was made to get someone to go check on him. Eventually RCMP showed up and they found Huxley in the back room of the office. Through the blinds they were able to peer him and see him lying next to a shotgun.
Eventually the coroner deemed his death a suicide. Claims were made that he was having business troubles and the worry and stress sent him into a moment of temporary insanity, leading to his demise.
Of note, Huxley had four children and his second wife was battling a long illness and confined to a wheelchair. I don’t know why he did what he did, but I’m sure it wasn’t something that suddenly came up in a moment of insanity, which was the reported cause at the time.
When I set out to research and write about Huxley, I knew he was the first mayor of Lloyd and was involved in the community. For me, I’ll always remember him as a man devoted to his city and friends.
I think the way he was described in papers of the time tell the story of who, and how he was. They depicted him as one who was unselfish in his service. He was generous-hearted and a devoted husband and father, and both church and state were enriched thanks to this service. This is how I’ll remember Huxley, setting the standard for leadership excellence in the Border City.
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