G. L. Bellingham Won Way From Clerkship in Land Dept.

Assistant Land Commissioner—A Man to Whom Accuracy is Next to Godliness—Has Earned Continuous Promotion Through 18 Years.

By B. A. EVERITT, Associate Editor

Mr. G. L. Bellingham, assistant to the land commissioner, hails from Wales but he has been so long in Canada and has for so many years dealt with H.B.C. farm lands that he knows his adopted country possibly better than his native soil. Mr. Bellingham is so intimately in touch with the Company's widespread land holdings that he can almost tell one the value, topography, the soil and the tonnage of wild hay on any H.B.C. parcel out of several thousand dotted over the prairie maps.

Likes to See a "Square Deal" All Round

Mr. Bellingham is keen, active and earnest, with a typical British temperament, which often reminds one that he is a fighting man all through—prepared to hold his own in any transaction. Those who know him best admire his faculty for getting at the "root of things" quickly and his insistence on absolute justice being meted out to all concerned.

Insists on Clear Understanding

Any arrangement made with Mr. Bellingham could not possibly be misunderstood or confused. His mastery of details and clearcut registering of all salient points—always followed by a careful recapitulation—makes issues unforgettable, whether the occasion be the sale of a section of land or the arrangement of a curling match. He is as careful in even the most unimportant dealings as if making a legal contract.

Mr. Bellingham was born at Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales, June 17th, 1875. Educated in London and North of England, he entered a Lancashire stockbroker's office in 1889, where he remained for two years. For ten years, subsequently, he was in the employ of the town council, resigning the position of assistant secretary in 1902, to embark for Canada.

Has a Try at Tilling the Soil

The desire to get "back to the land" had got a strong hold upon him, and Canada's great West presented the most alluring prospects to the young and adventurous agriculturist.

One week of the farm's hard labor sufficed. Mr. Bellingham's illusions of the joy of currying the prairies as a means of enticing wealth broke and died as the proverbial bubble. His first farm job was either too "hefty" for Mr. Bellingham or he was not powerful enough for it.

Joined H.B.C. as Clerk in 1902

In Winnipeg, May 16th, 1902, he applied for and obtained a junior position in the Company's land department, of which Mr. Montague Aldous was chief clerk and Mr. C. C. Chipman, Commissioner.

Faithful Effort Gains Promotions

Mr. Bellingham applied himself earnestly to learning all there was to know about land and H.B.C. methods of doing business. He was assigned one duty after another and, as his good work came to the notice of his superiors, "graduated" from each new position to a better one. To-day, he is assistant to the land commissioner, Mr. H. F. Harman.

When the Company's Edmonton townsite sale of 1912 was inaugurated, Mr. Bellingham was chosen to take charge of the Edmonton branch, in which capacity he remained until June, 1916, being then recalled to Winnipeg to deputize for the assistant land commissioner during the latter's absence in France.