Reginald Withers Shaw



Uncle Dudley
Reginald Withers Shaw, more affectionately known as Uncle Dudley, came to Fort St. John to trap and worked for the Revillon Frères for a time before settling in Hudson's Hope in 1912. During a stint working as a cook, Reginald acquired the name "Deadly." He referred to some cooking done at a camp he visited as a 'deadly mess' when consulted as to its quality. He consistently used the adjective 'deadly' when anyone else would use 'awful' or 'terrible' or the like so he was nick-named "Deadly." That is what he was called when he went to Hudson's Hope but as new settlers came, his name gradually changed to "Dudley" as that is what they thought they heard. Who would believe that such a quiet little man would carry the name of Deadly? In later years, he was known as Uncle Dudley by some of the children and that is the name he used when he signed his weekly news column sent in to the Alaska Highway News in Fort St. John. He always signed off, in speech and in writing, with a heartfelt, "Cheerio!"



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This page was last modified 08/07/96.