Grey Owl (Archie Belaney)

CONTENTS

Life in Blacklands
Angele Egwuna
Marie Girard
Ivy Holmes
Anahareo
Writing and Lecturing
Yvonne Perrier
Revellation
Posthumous Recognition of Grey Owl
Further Reading
Some Grey Owl Videos
Illustrated London News
Miscellaneous
Obituaries

Life in Blacklands

In the last few years, following the recognition of how important the species is for regulating the waterways and their benefit to land management, there has been an exciting come-back of beavers in the UK, mainly through efforts of conservationists (as well as some illegal releases). Not only are beavers of great benefit to us and the environment, more benefit comes from beavers having been pronounced a protected native species.

Why am I talking about beavers instead of Blacklands? Well, it's because we had our very own famous beaver conservationist born here in Blacklands: a man you may or may not have heard of. It's a man called Grey Owl. A man who first claimed fame in Canada, where he was a fur trapper and a guide, but later claimed worldwide fame through his books about the beaver and its importance in the wilderness.

Grey Owl did indeed become world-famous, but he is equally famous for the revelation after his death, that he wasn't actually who he had said he was. The man everyone knew as the native American 'half-breed' [a term he used to describe himself, not meant as derogatory], it turned out 'Grey Owl' was actually born Archibald Stansfield Belaney (18th September 1888) at 32 St James's Road, on the edge of the original Blacklands Estate, a house now marked with a plaque and a statue of an owl on the roof over the lower window. I love passing it and thinking of its history:

32 St James Road,
where Archie was born

The mystery was why he took on the name he was known by. Partly, it was a means of escapism from his early childhood. He didn't have much of a role model in his parents... 

Archibald's father, George Furmage Belaney, was the son of a wealthy widow of independent means, and had a reputation as a waster. As a young man, looking for a new life, his father had travelled to America and met the woman he wanted to marry. Unfortunately, she died young, so he married her younger sister, Kathleen Verona Vox, or Kitty, who was but a child, half his age and only 16 when she gave birth to her second son. Her first son, Archibald's brother, Hugh Cockburn Belaney, was born a year earlier in Deal, Kent.

Luckily, Archibald (or Archie, as he was called) had family keeping an eye out for him. When he was but an infant, he was whisked away from his drunken father and very young mother by his London-born Grandmother, Julianna, now widowed, and his two aunts, both born in Devon: Julia Ada Belaney (Aunt Ada) and Janey Carrie Belaney (Aunt Carrie). Between the three of them, they took him under their wings.

But they didn't take him far. By the time of the 1891 census, when Archie was only two, he had already been removed by his grandmother and aunts to 52 St Helen's Road. For some reason, his twenty-nine-year-old Aunt Carrie - named Janet on the form - was mistakenly recorded as his mother. Meanwhile, his parents were actually back in Deal, Kent, with Archibald's three-and-a-half-year-old brother.

2-yr-old Archie's home
52 St Helen's Road, Hastings

Ten years later, in the 1901 census, Archie was recorded as being with his grandmother and aunts in Highbury Villa, St James's Road, a house overlooking the house where he was born (the house next to the twitten, or path (Braycastle Reach), between Quarry Road and St Mary's Road).

 

Highbury Villa, where young Archie lived

(According to some sources, he also spent some time 36 St Mary's Terrace, but I can't find out when.)

Brought up by these well-meaning relatives (while his father took off back to America) Archie was a bit of a loner who connected better with animals and nature, and had yearnings to live as a native American indian. A childhood friend later revealed he had often played at being one one.

Archie was good at writing and languages, but not so good at other school subjects, so he left school at 15 to work as a clerk in a lumberyard near St Helen's Wood (one of his favourite places to play growing up). After two years of this, the desire to follow his heart to North America was so great, he persuaded his family to allow him to go.

And so, like his father, he jumped on a boat and left England behind.

This was one of the turning points of his life.

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Angele Egwuna

But it wasn't to America he went. He took the ship, the SS Canada, from Portsmouth to Nova Scotia, where he learned how to be a good hunter, trapper and guide.  His ability for languages also came in handy in learning to speak to the local native people, and he was quickly accepted by them. 

Angele Egwuna (standing 2nd from left)
and her family, Bear Island

The chief called Archie 'Little Owl' because of the way he would sit quietly, and watch, and listen.  Perhaps because of his closeness to the Chief's family, he fell for the Chief's daughter, Angele Egwuna, and married her in 1910. She became mother to two of his four children: Agnes (1911) and Flora (1926).

Angele Egwuna 1913
(married Grey Owl 1910)

Archie (25) (front right)
hanging out with friends (1913)

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Marie Girard

It wasn't long, though, before Archie got 'itchy feet' and left his wife, with the expectation he would return. He didn't. He was a bit of a drinker, a bit of a character and a bit of a wastrel, very much like his father. But he also had charm, and soon became involved with a Métis woman called Marie Girard. He stayed with her from 1912 to 1914 in Canada and found, on return from the war, that she had given birth to a son, Johnny Jero, 1915 before dying soon after from TB. From some accounts, he got on well with Marie and went out in the bush with her, and, for a while at least, she stopped some of his more excessive behaviour. But...

Archie's wanderlust didn't allow him to settle down. He joined the Canadian army, and went off to war.

Archibald Belaney,13th Montreal Battalion,
Canadian Army (1915)

His army occupation was perfect for him. His hunting eye made him especially good as the marksman, or sniper, he was recorded as. Unfortunately, while at war, he was injured by shrapnel in his foot and ironically ended up back in Hastings to recover, in the Canadian Hospital (previously, I believe, the workhouse in Frederick Road) very close to his family's home:

Canadian Hospital, Frederick Road, Hastings

 
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Ivy Holmes

It was while he was there that he made contact with his grandmother and aunts again. Through them, he also renewed his friendship with his childhood friend, Florence Ivy Mary Holmes (born in Chicago). He obviously hadn't told the family about his first wife, Angele, or his second relationship, Marie, and his children with these two women, because two weeks before even he was laid up in the hospital, he was married, again, in Battle, even while still married to his first wife.

The 1917 marriage certificate gives the following particulars:— " Bridegroom — Archibald Stansfield Belaney, full age, bachelor, soldier, of Hollington. Father—George Belaney. deceased, architect." "Bride—Florence Ivy Mary Holmes, full age, spinster, of Hollington Father—Robert John Holmes, deceased, doctor."

His childhood friend, now an acclaimed dancer with the stage name of Ivy Holmes, had once hung out at the Belaney family home because she loved their collie dogs (She later remembered Archie showing her his collection of live animals, such as snakes and frogs, upstairs in his bedroom). It was she who told how they had often played at being Indians together, his interest in the natives of Canada and America already apparent.

Archie's Second Wife, Ivy Holmes

Archie's marriage to Ivy was highly approved of by his Grandmother and aunts. They thought the two of them made a good match. They wouldn't have thought so if he had revealed how he was already married to Angele back in Canada, which he didn't do until after he returned to Canada and, many months later, sent Ivy a letter. Yet, even then, Ivy didn't file for a decree of nullity of the marriage (divorce) until five years later in 1922. When she did, it was on the grounds of abandonment, though some sources say it was on the grounds of bigamy.

Archie injured in WW1

It appears Archie had returned to his first wife, Angele, once more. For a while, at least. But not for long. He, again, got itchy feet. And, again, off he went hunting and trapping, leaving his wife with their second child. Basically, until this point, he had had at least three partners, deserted three children, and had a reputation for being 'in the thick of a brawl'. Like his father, his heavy drinking often got him into trouble.

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Anahareo

But this changed when he met his next wife, Gertrude Bernard (20), who he called Anahareo (and who wrote books under that name). Their relationship was blessed in a ceremony conducted by Chief Nias Papate at Lac Simon in 1926, and they remained together as companions for ten years.

Anahareo (aka Gertrude Bernard)

In the same way as the gold rush had drawn so many to make their fortune further south, the fur trade in the north drew many a man to make his fortune from slaying animals for their skins. Archie, or Grey Owl, was so enamoured by Anahareo that, rather than leaving her behind as he would normally do, he took her on the next hunting trip with him. 

On this particular trip, Archie had good hunting, as he normally did, but he became very aware of the depletion of animals. The populations of some animals had almost disappeared in places. This affected him, but what affected him more was something that changed the rest of his life. It was a day when he had killed a particular beaver for its fur...

As he and Anahareo were leaving in the canoe after he had killed the beaver, they heard the crying of beaver kittens. Archie's first thought was to 'put them out of their misery', so they didn't have the slow death of starvation without their mother, but his wife persuaded him to take the babies home with them. The adoption of those two little beaver kittens was what changed his whole way of thinking about wildlife. That and how Anahareo talked Archie into writing about the wilderness for articles and books.

 

Anahareo (Gertrude Bernard) on,
the left and Archie, by their cabin

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Writing and Lecturing

Articles and books which found a wide readership in the English-speaking world. He wrote many books about his life in the wilderness, about animals and how the beavers were reducing. He wrote under the name of Grey Owl, and his enthusiasm, charm and his ability to turn a tale had people wanting to listen to what he said. He travelled and gave speeches, raising awareness of the animals' plight. He was such popular that his shows were often sold out. I found a flyer for one of his talks in The White Rock:

Flyer for Grey Owl at White Rock, Hastings

There are many old black and white videos of Grey Owl, some of which can be found on YouTube, showing him at his home by the lake with the beavers (see a list of 'Some Grey Owl Videos' below) He became well known as a speaker, an advocate for the beavers and other wild creatures, so much so that there would often be long queues to hear him, and many would be disappointed because there was no room for them to get in. He had caught the world's attention.

Grey Owl outside his cabin by the lake

One of the fascinating things Grey Owl might talk about was how closely he lived with nature at his log cabin in Canada by Ajawaan Lake. He and Anahareo not only lived close to the beavers, they actually lived with the beavers. The beaver kittens he had hand-reared made a home within his cabin, stacking up logs and twigs to make a lodge against one of the inside walls. Grey Owl and Anhereo made a special entry so the furry little creatures could easily come and go, and the industrious animals would be coming and going right beside the couple as they sat at the dinner table. 

Stories of the animals continued to fascinate his audience and light their imaginations. They clamoured for more and couldn't get enough of this enigmatic man. Films were made at the lodge, and Archie did world tours (you can catch up with many of the details here), but the world tours and all the lectures and speaking engagements took it out of Archie. For three years, from 1935-38, he did so many lectures that it wore him out and often made him ill. 

His partner, Anahareo, didn't tour with him, however. She was still young and adventurous, drawn to travel as he had also once been, while all Archie wanted to do was write. Anhereo tired of his spending so much time on his books and articles and no time for her. He also didn't have the good health he had before the war, because of recurring lung problems due to the inhalation of mustard gas during WWI.

So, away Anahareo went, alone, on prospecting trips. Apparently, she didn't even leave Dawn (b.1932), their daughter, with Archie, but left her with a family in Prince Albert. Anahereo made many such prospecting trips, some very long. The last of them was a whole year long, a year during which Archie wrote her letters expressing how he envied her trip and that she was able to travel, while also expressing unhappiness that her trips cost more than they could afford.

Anahereo and Grey Owl stopping to eat

Anahereo and Archie were life-partners for a couple of years more (10 years altogether), and she even made the 'Indian outfit' for his upcoming tour of Britain in 1935-6. She left him some time toward the end of 1936.

Archie wasn't alone for long.

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Yvonne Perrier

He had met another woman, Yvonne Perrier (he called Silver Moon), in March of the same year, and married her in December 1936, a mere month or so after Anahereo left.

Yvonne Perrier, Grey Owl's third wife,
[taken from a rare, fuzzy picture of
Grey Owl with Yvonne]

Yvonne accompanied him on the following tours, and many agreed this was good for him. While he was with her, he was more disciplined and curbed his excessive drinking. Unfortunately, that didn't stop him from getting worn out.

The final tours of the next couple of years were proclaimed his greatest lecture tours, starting in England. On December 10th 1937, he even did a special performance for King George VI at Buckingham Palace, whereafter he met the King. Apparently, he had a huge influence on the 11-year-old Princess Elizabeth (David Attenborough was equally impressed and inspired by Grey Owl). 

From there, he went on to do a heavy North American tour with many venues, holding his last lecture on March 29th 1938, after which he returned to Beaver Lodge alone, because Yvonne was in hospital with exhaustion, which Grey Owl was also suffering severely from. Three days after his return, he called for help and was flown to the same hospital as Yvonne - the Prince Albert- where he later quietly died.

Grey Owl signs off

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Revellation

At that point, all hell broke loose! A paper called the North Bay 'Nugget', which had known Grey Owl was an 'imposter' for three years, did an expose which rocked the world. Some tried to disprove what the Nugget claimed, that Grey Owl was not a 'half-breed' with a Scottish father and Apache mother, but was, in fact, an Englishman called Archibald Belaney, born in Hastings, who had absolutely no Apache or any other Native Indian blood in his veins. They were unsuccessful, because, as we know, it was true.

This created such a hoo-ha, because so many records had him as being of Indian descent, and so many felt duped by his deception. Even his will, made within the last couple of years of his life, recorded him as Archibald McNiel, the false name of his Scottish father. 

Personally, I say, no matter what his name or ancestry, and no matter the wobbly start to his life, he raised the profile and importance of conservation worldwide, and for that we should remember him with thanks for raising the profile of working with the planet and keeping a balance in nature. Blacklands can be proud of him!

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 Posthumous Recognition of Grey Owl

*Archie Belaney's life is play by Pierce Brosnon in Richard Attenburghs film "Grey Owl" (1999)

*A plaque has been erected in Hastings Country Park.

*A twitten next to the road where he was born (Going across the top of St James' Road, from Quarry Road to Saint Mary's Road, called Grey Owls Reach.

Grey Owl Plaque in Hastings Country Park

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Some Further Reading:

Grey Owl (Wikipedia)

Grey Owl, Hastings Museum and Art Gallery

Correspondence relating to the publication of Adventures of Sajo and her beaver people by Grey Owl (National Archives)

Grey Owl and his life in Temagami, Mackey, Doug

Grey Owl's Hastings

From the Land of the Shadows: the making of 'Grey Owl', Smith, Donald B.

Dictionary of Canadian Biography: Benaney, Archibald Stansfield; 2013–2024 University of Toronto/Université Laval

Bulletin No. 28,; The Grey Owl Society, Hastings; 2009 [Edited Betty Taylor]

Florence Ivy Mary Holmes: Early Life, Wikipedia

Divorce Court File: 4930. Appellant: Florence Ivy Mary Belaney otherwise Florence Ivy Mary Holmes. Respondent: Archibald Stansfield Belaney. Type: Wife's petition for/of nullity; [1921]; National Archives, Kew,

Archie McNeil's Will Prince Albert Daily Herald, By Fred Payton -July 28, 2022

The 1930s eco-warrior who inspired David Attenborough and The Queen, only to be unmasked as a hoaxer and 'pretendian' — but his message still rings true, Martin Fone, Country File, 3rd August 2024

(Portraits of Archibald Belaney) 

A list of Grey Owl's names (Wikipedia)

Temagami’s Lady Evelyn River From Top To Bottom: Introduction and a Bit of History

Posted on 2020-09-28 by true_north [image of Angele Egwuna and her family on Bear Island]

Blazing Her Own Trail: Anahareo’s Rejection of Euro-Canadian Stereotypes (pgs 287-311) by Kristin L. Gleeson

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Some Grey Owl Videos:

**My YouTube Grey Owl Playlist where the videos below and many more videos about Grey Owl are gathered for your convenience.

Canada: Saskatchewan - Grey Owl and the Beavers of Prince Albert National Park;by Anne Martin

The Story of Grey Owl - Saving the Beaver From Extinction by The Woodland Escape

Canadian Cameo, Grey Owl's Little Brother (1932) by Library and Archives Canada

Grey Owl`s srange quest 1936 documentary stromgull

The Trail: Men Against the Snow - Silent [Reconstructed] 1937 Canadianfilm

The Trail: Men Against the River - Silent [Reconstructed] 1937 Canadianfilm

Grey Owl's Neighbours 1933 Canadianfilm

Strange Doings in Beaverland 1932 Canadianfilm

The Path of Grey Owl (Destination Ontario)

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Illustrated London News

"A Canadian 'St. Francis': The Beaver's Friend—'Grey Owl' and His 'Little Brothers' of the Wild."Illustrated London News, 22 Aug. 1931, p. 278-279. The Illustrated London News Historical Archive, 1842-2003, Accessed 1 May 2024.

Owl, Grey, and C. K. A. "All Things Both Great and Small." Illustrated London News, 26 Dec. 1931, p. 1046. The Illustrated London News Historical Archive, 1842-2003, Accessed 1 May 2024.

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Miscellaneous

Summary Family Tree of
Grey Owl (Archibald Belaney)

• "Grey Owl", the Modern Hiawatha, impostor & conservationist, born at 32 St James's Road, Hastings, Sussex, 18/9/1888, son of George Furmage Belaney (b. 1857) & Kittie (b. Kathleen) Morris/Cox/Scott-Brown

• 1891 census: 

52 St Helen's Road 

Juliana Belaney widow 53 b London Putney

Julia C Belaney (daughter) 31 b Devon Crossmead

Janey A Belaney (daughter) 29 b Devon Crossmead

Archibald S Belaney (Grandson) 2 b Sussex Hastings

• 1901 census:

Highbury Villa, St James Road

Juliana Belaney widow 75, Living own means, b London Putney

Julia C Belaney (daughter), Living own means, 38 b Devonshire

Janey A Belaney (daughter), Living own means, 36 b Devonshire

Archibald S Belaney (Grandson) 12 b Sussex Hastings

• Moved to Highbury Villa, St James Road, when 11 years old, overlooking, and almost opposite to, where he was born in Number 32

• commemorative plaque on house at 36 St. Mary's Terrace, where he grew up with his grandmother and aunts (? not found)

• "Due to his undissolved marriage to his first wife, Angele Egwuna, the couple could not marry under Canadian law, but the chief of the Lac Simon Band of Indians declared them husband and wife" [The Many Faces of Archie Balaney, Grey Owl']  Refs: J 77/1762/4930 National Archives.co.uk

• Date: 1900

[Around 1900,  Florence became friends with the aunts of her future husband, Archibald Belaney, in Hastings, due to a shared interest in purebred Collie dogs.[4] (Belaney was raised by his two aunts and grandmother, his father and mother having been deemed unfit for parenthood by the family.[1]: 12 ) Florence and Ivy began visiting the Belaney family during school holidays at their home, Highbury Villa on St. James' Road. "Archie liked Ivy and tried to impress her. Thinking she would be interested, he showed her how he fed frogs to his snakes."[1]: 22  She recalled playing at being Indians with Archie: "I was his squaw 'Dancing Moonbeam', he was 'Big Chief Thunderbinder'".[5]

Belaney would stay with the Holmes family at their home in Hammersmith while exploring the city. He and his aunt Ada also stayed with them on the way to Liverpool, where, on 29 March 1906, he boarded the SS Canada for Halifax, Nova Scotia. That was the last Ivy saw of him till after the war.[1]:

Date:1922

Divorce Court File: 4930. Appellant: Florence Ivy Mary Belaney otherwise Florence Ivy Mary Holmes. Respondent: Archibald Stansfield Belaney. Type: Wife's petition for/of nullity [wn].

• Archibald Belaney died April 13 1938, Prince Albert Census Division, Saskatchewan, Canada (burial Prince Albert National Park, North Battleford Census Division, Saskatchewan, Canada. At the time, his wife is recorded as Angelee Belaney and his daughter as Shirley Dawn Belaney(AKA Dawn))

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Obituaries

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