Royal Commonwealth Society : Part of potato field on property of Mr. John Gorden, M.P. for Brighton, at Edmonton, Alberta. Acres yielded 1486 bushels

Byron-May Company

Royal Commonwealth Society

<p style='text-align: justify;'>Percy Byron worked as partner in the photograph studio, Byron Company, New York, founded by his father Joseph Byron (1847-1923). In 1906, he moved to Edmonton, Alberta, to become a homesteader and rancher, joining his sister Florence May and her husband Gustave. He established a photographic business in Edmonton and a year later his brother-in-law joined the firm, which was named The Byron-May Company. The firm flourished and by 1913 employed thirteen people. The economic consequences of the First World War damaged its prospects, however, and Byron returned to the New York company in 1917, taking it over after his father’s death in 1923.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Five figures standing beside a recently earthed potato patch. The man at the left of the group is probably John Gorden.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>See Janus record <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0115%2FY306861A%2F21'>here</a></p>