Wells Gray

Who was Wells Gray?

Arthur Wellesley Gray was a British Columbia cabinet minister and mayor. He is particularly noted for his work creating some of British Columbia's early provincial parks and Wells Gray Provincial Park is named for him. His colleagues usually called him by his nickname, "Wells".

Gray was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, in 1876 and was considered the city’s greatest son because few native-born British Columbians before him attained cabinet posts. As a youth, he achieved distinction in lacrosse and was a member of the New Westminster Salmonbelly Club which won the world lacrosse championship in 1900. At age 30, Gray was elected alderman of New Westminster and at age 36 he became mayor, a post he held from 1913 to 1919 and again from 1927 to 1930. In 1927, he was also elected to the British Columbia Legislature in Victoria and was re-elected at the next four provincial elections with significant majorities which reflected the high esteem in which he was held by the people of New Westminster. In 1933, Premier Duff Pattullo appointed Gray Minister of Lands and in 1941, under the Coalition Government, he was given the additional duties of Minister of Municipal Affairs.