Murrayville School Parents' Day.

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salishan Place by the River currently maintains a collection of over 9000 photographs, 2000 archival documents, 9000 objects, 500 works of art, and 300 oral history recordings. This collection, spanning hundreds of years, is a wonderful window on the past and present life of our community.

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Object Description

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Object Name

Photograph

Object ID

2018.034.016

Title

Murrayville School Parents' Day.

Date

1943.

Description

Black and white photograph of the Murrayville School Parents Day. The school is visible in the background behind a few trees, and there is a long row of women standing in front of it. In front of them are two women seated at a tea table which is covered with a lace tablecloth, likely embroidered, and has tea pots and cups on it. The two women at the tea table are Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Porter, but it is unclear who is on the left and who is on the right. In the back row is "Mrs. Clark's mother, [a few unknown, unclear how many], Mrs. Gertrude Clark, Mrs. Roberts (a substitute teacher), me [Hazel Harrower], and Joyce Maynes." There are several women standing in the back row and it is unclear who is whom from the description.

People/Subject

Harrower, Hazel (née Harding)

Hazel Harding was born in 1921. She came to Langley with her parents, Joseph (Joe) and Lily Harding, and her brother Bernie in 1937, from La Fleche, Saskatchewan when the Depression drove them to move. They settled on what was then called Winchester Road in Murrayville and began a small dairy farm. She finished high school by doing part of junior high by correspondence and finishing senior matriculation courses at Abbotsford. She went to normal school in Vancouver at age eighteen, and some of her classmates included Les MacDonald (the judge) and Norman Sherritt (the principal). She went to school to become a teacher, receiving a teacher's specialist certificate, even attending summer school in Victoria to get 15 credits. She taught at County Line School, where she remembered having four Japanese students that were taken in 1941 to the Hastings Park internment camp and moved east. She late taught at Murrayville School. She married Robert (Bob) Harrower in July 1946 at Sharon United Church, after he returned from overseas where he had served in the Royal Canadian Air Force (R.C.A.F.) as a navigator during World War II. Hazel and Bob had met the very first Sunday Hazel was in Langley in 1937; they were introduced by Ron Cockett, who was the choir leader at church, and Hazel was in the choir. Before marriage, Hazel worked as a teacher for six years: three at County Line School, and three at Murrayville Elementary. She left teaching after her marriage. She and Bob continued to farm until 1957, when Bob began to work for the customs service. The couple had three children: Jim, Lillian, and Rob (d. 1981).
Term Source: Oral history interview with Hazel Harrower; Langley Advance article "Pioneer Mourned" May 15 1996; handwritten document, "Mrs. Robert Harrower," in Harrower family reference folder.

Murrayville Elementary School (Belmont Superior)

Murrayville Elementary School is located in the Langley School District, later School District No. 35 (Langley). A one-room school located just south of Murray's Corners was built in 1891, was known as Belmont School, and was the earliest public school in Langley. Belmont School was in use until 1911, when a new a two-room school called Belmont Superior School was built at the top of the hill on Old Yale Road (now 48th Avenue). One room was later sub-divided into three rooms, and two more rooms were added in 1913. Langley had no high school at this time, and from 1911-1922 high school classes were also held at Belmont. In 1912, the School District arranged to provide water to the school, which came from Rod Cumming's artesian well at Five Corners. In 1918 the school names were split: the elementary section became known as Murrayville Elementary and the high school part became Langley High School. In 1922 the high school moved to Milner. The original Belmont structure is now (2005) the back portion of the present Murrayville School. The row of oak trees in front were probably planted when the original Belmont School was constructed. The historic building was approved to be restored and used as apartments in 2018, called Reunion.
Term Source: BCAUL; "History of Langley Schools: Langley School District #35, 1867-2004".

Porter, Nellie (nee Powell)

Eleanor (Nellie) March 2, 1894-February 19, 1974. Married to P.Y. Porter. Nellie Powell was born in Hereford, England in about 1894. She came to Canada with her family when she was seven years old. She attended school in Langley, where she met a boy named Philip Young Porter. She was in the first class to graduate form Belmont High School. She married P.Y. Porter on June 11, 1913, at the First Presbyterian Church in Vancouver, and they honeymooned in Seattle. Nellie and Philip lived above the store and over the years they had five children: Laverne, Maxine, Joyce, Eldon and Arlene. Nellie was know for her good humour and was an active member of a number of institutions. She was very involved with Sharon United Church, serving as the president of the Women's Association and on the Board of Stewards for many years. She was also involved in the Board of Langley Memorial Hospital, Canadian Legion, and the Order of the Eastern Star. Nellie died in 1974 at 80 years of age.
Term Source: HPC Record (HPC-332/1103)

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