Viewing Object

Farm started by the J. W. Berry family on Old Yale Road, Murrayville.
See Also: Berry House (and Barn)

Harry (W.H.) Berry opened his store at 23210 Fraser Highway in 1930. Before this, he had run another store on Old Yale Road, but moved to this location when Fraser Highway became part of the Trans-Canada Highway system. Much of the local community survived the Depression due to Berry's extension of credit. Berry's nephew Jack Maitland began working in the store in 1946, and managed it until 1980. He and then partner Ernie Morelli sold and turned the management over to Kyung Il Chun. During the 1980s (and up until at least 2012) the store was run as "Ye Olde Country General Store."

Harold "Harry" Sterne Berry was born in Langley on 17 August, 1901 to John Walter Berry and Lydia Bowman. He married Vera Evelyn Laking (1902-1979) on 19 October, 1922, in Vancouver. They had 6 children, including Gordon (Chub), Helen, Ted, Dick, Bill and Jean. Harold died on 4 December, 1980. Harry Berry was a farmer on Belmont Dairy Farm, and lived in only two houses his whole life.

In 1976 the museum interviewed Harold and John Coulter Berry. The interview can be found at SR-008 and SR-009.

John "Jack" Coulter Berry was born on 5 February, 1905. He married twice: in 1938 to Beulah Swann, who died in 1938, and later to Helen Moore. He took his masters degree in agriculture at UBC in 1937 and his Ph. D. at Iowa State College in 1939, becoming a professor of Animal Husbandry at UBC and one of Canada's leading agriculturalists.

John Coulter Berry was interviewed with Harold Sterne Berry in 1976. The interview can be found at SR-008.

John Walter Berry was born on December 18, 1869 in Bruce County, Ontario to parents William Berry and Susanah (Sterne) Berry. In 1890 he married Lydia Bowman of Mannheim, Ontario. They had 7 children: Edith (b. 1891), Edward (b. 1894), William (b. 1900), Harold (b. 1901), Anne (b. 1903), John (b. 1905), and Thomas (b. 1910). John moved his family to Langley in 1897 to help long-time friend David Moss Coulter open a general store. The pair opened two stores, one in Murrayville (managed by Berry) and one in Fort Langley (managed by Coulter). In 1904 John sold his store to Hugh A. MacDonald. During the time he owned the store, John purchased a 135 acre price of land and went on to build a successful dairy farm (Belmont). In 1910 he helped form the Fraser Valley Milk Producers Association. John was a prominent Langley citizen. He served as Municipal Clerk in the Township of Langley from 1899-1909, as Chairman of the Langley School Board from 1912-1936, and as MLA for the Delta Riding (which consisted of Delta, Surrey and Langley) from 1928-1932. He also served as an auctioneer and valuator. John died at his home on Old Yale Road after a lengthy illness on September 5, 1943 at the age of 74. He is buried in the Murrayville Cemetery.

See Also: Coulter & Berry Store
Term Source: The Langley Story, pg. 249 (Waite) ; From Prairie to City, p. 85 (Sommer).

Lydia Berry (nee Bowman) was born in Ontario on 7 October, 1867. She married John Walter Berry in 1890, and they had seven children: two sons died during World War I. She died on April 20, 1948.
Term Source: Comparison of 1990 and counting, pg5 (MacKinnon), and HPC Record (BERRY-1), The Langley Story pg.

Vera Evelyn Laking was born in New Westminster on 24 February, 1902. She married Harold Sterne Berry on October 17, 1922. They had six children: Helen Evelyn, William John, Richard Sterne, Gordon Harry, Jean Anne, and Edward Laking. Vera died on August 11, 1979.

Vera and Harry were interviewed by the museum in 1976. Their interviews can be found at SR-009 and SR-008.

Hugh Davidson and Robert Riddell opened the first general store at Murrays' Corners in 1888.

Hugh Davidson was born in 1864 or 1865 in Ontario. He came to Langley in 1888 and at the age of 24 he and Robert Riddell opened one of the first stores in the area in 1889. He sold the store and went to work for Rithet Wholesalers in 1894. By 1905 he was farming on the Salmon River flats. He was one of the first farms to have Ayrshire cattle in the province. He later went to work for Hastings Shingle Mill in Vancouver. He married Margaret Jane McKee on March 11, 1898. They had 3 children: a son who died young, John, and a daughter. Hugh died on May 17, 1950.

On June 18, 1913, a group of farmers gathered in New Westminster and signed a charter for a dairy marketing co-operative. 90% of farmers in the region signed on to be members and purchased shares, however the inception of the group operations was delayed due to World War I. The group formed the Lower Mainland Milk and Cream Shippers Association as one of its first acts. The FVMPA worked as a bargaining agency between distributers and dairy farmers.

In 1923, a monthly bulletin called Butter-Fat was started. Its objectives were "[t]o pull together through the columns of this medium. To keep in closer communication by means of frequent meetings of locals. To produce the Best Product; thus this association will move more solidly and successfully forward to greater success."

In 1919, the association bought out fluid milk dealers and began their own distribution. By the end of the year, they had purchased two plants. On May 1, 1919 the FVMPA bought the Standard Milk Dairy Company and entered the retail milk trade. At this time, the association entered into a partnership with Guy Clarke and the company became Fraser Valley Dairies Limited. The partnership ended in 1923 when Guy Clarke was bought out.

A utility plant in Sardis was completed in June 1925. Equipment was brought in from the Chilliwack Creamery and they made butter, cheese and casein.

In 1931, 11 fluid milk distributing companies from Vancouver formed the Associated Dairies. In 1943, FVMPA bought the stock and became the sole owner. Dairyland fluid milk division was created.