StettlerLocal.com April 22, 2022 @ 2:45pm
By the time Harry Theodore Harding had come to Stettler in late 1905/early 1906, he had already had a rather impressive career.
H.T. Harding was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, in October 1849. He was a graduate of Kings’ College in 1870. Before being admitted to the bar in 1875, he would article in the law office of W.H Blanchard and then work for the law office of James McDonald, who was a prominent politician in Nova Scotia.
Mr. Harding spent the early days of his practice in Maitland, Nova Scotia. During his eight years there, he organized the Maitland Marine Insurance Company, where he held the position of secretary & treasurer. However, things were changing in the shipping industry, and the change from wooden ships to modern steel vessels would soon end that once successful company.
After the company was closed, H.T moved his practice to Truro, where he helped organize the electric light company. He also began to acquire a considerable interest in the mining industry in Guysborough County, which is known for rich gold deposits. His investment portfolio eventually led him to move again, relocating his practice to Sherbrooke.
In 1905, Mr. Harding sold his mining interests (many of which he sold below the original value) and moved to Alberta, to practice in the newly opened townsite of Stettler. Early on, Mr. Harding would serve as the town’s Solicitor and held the position until resigning from the post in 1909. Mr. Harding practiced law in Stettler alongside Mr. A.A. McGillivray.
During his time in Stettler, the Trader’s Bank and similar organizations often retained Harding’s law firm. After retiring from the legal profession, Harding would take up the court clerk position at the Stettler courthouse until changes in the judicial districts phased that position out.
Mr. Harding married Anna Robinson Fisk in 1876. The two of them had four children: Henry Fiske, Louis, Eloise, and George Theodore. History records Henry Harding as the first teacher at Ewing School around 1906.
H.T. Harding passed away on January 8th, 1933, at the age of 83, after a short stay in the Stettler Hospital. He was predeceased by his wife Anna.
Carson Ellis, Local Historian
Our Town Stettler