The Saskatchewan Farmer Who Got A Sick Day From The Queen

A small brush with history

When I delve into local history, it often focuses on the men and women who called a community home, with some interesting local tidbits thrown in. Sometimes though, a unique connection emerges and creates an interesting link to world history.

Such was the case for Peter McLaren.

Born in Dundee, Scotland on May 20, 1877, Peter McLaren attended school until the age of ten when he began working for his father. As a young man, he decided to join the Royal Scots Guards and he received the honour of guarding Buckingham Palace.

It was there that one day that he came down with a cough. Having a coughing fit while standing guard, Queen Victoria herself approached him after hearing his cough and ordered him to be sent home so he could rest.

A small connection, but a connection nonetheless to one of the most famous women in history.

McLaren’s life was no less interesting after that encounter. When the Boer War erupted, he left with his brother to serve. He continued to be a member of the Scots Guard Reserve Army even after he moved to Canada in 1906. It was not until Jan. 20, 1910 that he stopped being a member of the reserve.

Working for the railway in Manitoba upon his arrival, McLaren filed for a homestead in the Eston area on June 6, 1906. He tended bar in Maple Creek over that winter, he eventually made his way to Gull Lake, Saskatchewan.

On April 22, 1910, Elizabeth Wren arrived in Swift Current with her sister, and were greeted by Peter at the train station. Peter and Elizabeth had known each other in England, and both worked hard to save for her eventually immigrate to Canada.

The couple had been apart for four years by this point. Married immediately after their arrival, they went to the hotel and rented a room. Only one room was available, so Elizabeth and her sister shared a room while Peter and his friend Jim Baxter played cards in the lobby all night.

In October of 1910, McLaren sold his restaurant and that same month he filed a homestead near town. Building a frame house, Elizabeth and Peter moved in on March 28, 1911. The couple divided their time between Gull Lake and their homestead. When their new house was built, they moved their old shack house to the homestead to serve as a coal shed.

Peter was heavily involved in local politics, serving as the Reeve of Gull Lake from 1928 to 1935. He was also the chairman of the Valley Centre Rural Telephone Company in 1939. McLaren was also a member of the Elks, Orange Lodge and Masons. He loved curling and travelled with his own rocks to bonspiels from Gull Lake to Regina and everywhere in-between.

With his interest in politics, McLaren was appointed as a homestead inspector in 1912.

On July 10, 1912, a warrant was issued for his arrest. Nothing is known of why he was being pursued but the headline at the time said, “The Government Will Punish All Election Crooks”. For two weeks, special police looked for McLaren and he hid under the floorboards of the house when the home was searched. He came out of hiding briefly to cast his vote in the election and went back into the shadows. After the election, there was apparently no need for the warrant anymore and he was never arrested. From that moment on, he never supported the Conservative Party and would only support the Liberals.

Elizabeth and Peter would have three children. James was born on Jan. 12, 1911, John was born Nov. 12, 1911 and died one month later and Grace, born in 1922.

Elizabeth would die on Nov. 6, 1941, followed by Peter on Oct. 14, 1953.