Kerrobert Museum: The Grain Family
By Breena Hebron
We were lucky to have the Park Program come for a visit this week at the museum! During their tour, we attempted to highlight some important people in Kerrobert’s history, some of which include members of the Grain family.
William Grain, the oldest family member to reside in Kerrobert, came out west with the Northwest Mounted Police under James Morrow Walsh in 1874. At the time of his death at 97 years old, William Grain was the second-longest surviving member of the original Great March West. He was one of 30 men who helped establish Fort Walsh in 1875. After two years at Fort Walsh, William received an honourable discharge. William eventually married a woman named Elizabeth, and they came to Kerrobert with their family from Morden, MB, after their son Harry. Henry Thomas (Harry) Grain was a businessman and the first overseer of Kerrobert. In other words, he was unofficially our town’s first mayor! Harry Grain had a hardware shop and a tinsmith shop, which later became Greer’s Hardware. Harry married Nettie Dumville from Superb, who worked as a nurse in Kerrobert until 1928. Unfortunately, Harry was one of the Kerrobert residents who died from the flu epidemic in 1918.
William and Elizabeth’s other children were Roy, Nell, Maude and Elizabeth. Roy and Nell had come to Kerrobert with the family when they first arrived, though the other two siblings resided in Morden and Edmonton. When Maude and her husband died in the 1930s, their two children came to live with Nell in Kerrobert. Nell Grain was a piano teacher in Kerrobert and lived here for 60 years. She was also the vice-president of the music club in Kerrobert that formed in 1912, and she played the organ for church services and special events in town. Being so involved in music, her home was often one of the only spaces where her nephews and their friends were allowed to hold their band practices. When William Grain became blind, Nell took care of her father for the last 15 years of his life.
After moving to Kerrobert at a young age, Roy Grain joined the Canadian army when the First World War broke out. He was sent to France and fought at Passchendaele and Vimy Ridge, but he was wounded at Amiens and remained hospitalized in England for months after the war ended. At the outbreak of World War II, Roy again joined the army and was sent to England with the Ordnance Corps. He lived in London during the blitz. Three other members of the Grain family, nephews of Roy, also served in the Second World War. Jim Henderson and Alan Atkins served in the army overseas, and Don Atkins served in the Navy on the West Coast. Each member returned home safely by the end of the war. Roy Grain passed away in 1996 and is buried at the Kerrobert Cemetery. Nell Grain, Harry Grain, William Grain, and Elizabeth Grain are also buried at the Kerrobert Cemetery.
The Grain family was one of many who helped establish our community and make it a great place to live. Through their dedication to our community and service to our country, their lives make great examples to follow and teach our youth.
The information in this writeup was found in the Kerrobert History Book, Echoes from the Tower, and Carell Grain’s Pioneers of a Glorious Future.
The first picture is of Harry Grain. In the second picture on the right is Nell Grain. In the third picture, on the far left is Alan Atkins, and on the far right is Roy Grain.
