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 Hull,
William Roper (Langmore)
1202 - 6th Street SW
Built: 1902 - 1905
Demolished: 1970
1856-1925
William was born in Devonshire, England in 1856. In 1873, he and his
brother John came to Canada and started a stock-raising business in
British Columbia. In 1883 they set out from Kamloops, B.C. and drove 1,200
head of horses over the Crow's Nest Pass to Calgary for sale to the
Mounted Police and stock raising companies. A year later the brothers
bought a government supply farm near Midnapore. John returned to B.C in
1892, but William stayed in Alberta and expanded the business. Hull
quickly became involved in the development of Calgary, establishing the
large meat packing business which he later sold to Pat Burns. Hull built
Calgary's first Opera House, the Grain Exchange Building, the Alberta,
Victoria and Albion Blocks. The Hull's owned several ranches in the area
including the 6,000 acre Oxley Ranch at Willow Creek. When William married
Emmeline Mary Bannister Ellis in 1903, he sold the ranch near Midnapore
and built a mansion he called "Langmore." Located on twenty-two
city lots in one of Calgary’s exclusive districts, the home became the
site of many garden parties and social events. The couple had no children.
At the time of Hull's death April
4, 1925, he was head of the firm W. R. Hull Limited, Ranching, Financing
and Insurance Agents. Emmeline was an enthusiastic member of the Colonel
Macleod Chapter of the I.O.D.E. and through her efforts, the Chapter
erected the base of the South African War Memorial in Central Park. When
Mrs. Hull died March 11, 1953 the estate was valued at over $5 million.
Much of it was willed to charity, including the funds to build the William
Roper Hull Home. (now Child and Family Services)
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