INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF VETERINARY AND ANIMAL MEDICINE (ISSN:2517-7362)

Edward Finch Peck was born in Kent on 20 June 1901. He spent his early years with his family and was educated at various schools in England until 1919. He emigrated to Alberta, Canada where his parents had bought a farm, in 1920. Peck attended an Agricultural College for one year in the early 1920s. He then graduated with a veterinary degree (BVSc) from Guelph University in 1928. He married later in that year before doing short courses at Liverpool and Edinburgh Universities where he obtained a Diploma in Tropical Veterinary Medicine and was admitted as a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Taking up an appointment as a Veterinary Officer in the British Colonial Office he served in Nigeria (1931-1934), in British Somaliland (Director of Veterinary Services, 1935- 1944 and 1951-1953) and Tanganyika Territory (1944-1949): he was in Kenya for a short period in 1940-1941 when evacuated from Somaliland due to war conditions and served as Veterinary Officer to the King’s African Rifles. On retirement from the Colonial Office he worked in Devon for the UK’s Agricultural Research Council for four years (1953-1957) as a Veterinary Surgeon documenting diseases of dairy cattle. Edward worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations from 1957 to 1963 as an Agricultural Officer (Veterinary) concentrating mainly on rinderpest control with postings in Ethiopia and Cambodia. From 1963 to 1970 in his final working stint he was employed by the UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in Devon and Cornwall although he also spent time in the English Midlands during the 1967 Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak. There was unfortunately to be no quiet retirement as Edward Peck died on January 1971 leaving his body to the Bristol Medical School in the cause of anatomical studies. In addition to his veterinary work Edward was known for his plant and other natural history collections which he mainly donated to the Natural History Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.

Animal diseases; Veterinary education; One-humped camel; Anti-rinderpest vaccine; Animal trypanosomosis

In the days of empire the British had three types of “possessions”. Colonies were governed in every aspect of external affairs by Britain. Protectorates were territories that had asked for that status (although several protectorates had that condition imposed on them) whereby they were largely responsible for their own internal affairs but were subservient to Britain in defence, foreign policy and some other matters. United Nations Trust Territories, the successors after 1946 of the former League of Nations “mandates” were administered through the United Nations Trusteeship Council usually by western nations but for the good of the people of the territory: during the 1950s most places in this category saw themselves colonies and fought for early independence. In practice all three entities were staffed in both administrative and technical areas by civil servants of the external power. In the case of Britain their people, including veterinary surgeons, were employed by the British Colonial Office.

Edward Finch Peck was an eminent veterinary surgeon who worked for the British Colonial Service in three overseas “possessions” over a period of 22 years from 1931 to 1953. On retirement from those duties he worked in southwest England for two short periods and for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Kenya and Cambodia.

England: childhood and schooling

Edward Finch Peck was born at The Croft, Belvedere, Kent in southeast England on 20 June 1901, the second son and second child of Gerard Septimus Peck and Annie Holden (née Ackroyd) [1]. He was baptized one month later in All Saints church in Belvedere (Figure 1) [2]. Shortly after Edward’s birth the family moved to Westfield, 68 Chorley New Road, Bolton, Lancashire. Edward’s father was an Electrical Engineer and Managing Director of William Ryder Ltd., Engineers and Iron Foundry Operators who manufactured spindles and flyers for the weaving trade and of which he was a principal shareholder [3]¹ . During his early years Edward was at a local school (Figure 2). At the census of 1911, however, Edward aged 9 and older brother Hubert, 11, were residing at the Terra Nova Boarding School, Birkdale, a suburb of Southport in the county of Lancashire (Figure 3) [4]. Edward had been there since September 1910 and remained until July 1916 although he was absent the whole of the first term of 1916 suffering from Scarlet Fever which apparently led to a weakened heart. The two brothers were joined at Terra Nova by their two younger brothers: all four were members of the Boy Scouts. Later all four were in Lupton House (Figure 4) at Sedbergh School in North Yorkshire (Edward from September 1916 to July 1919) then, as now, a well-respected private boarding school. During much of this period the family home had moved to Highfield, Victoria Road, Markland Hill, Heaton, Bolton, Lancashire.

Important changes were, however, afoot. Father Gerard was absent from the 1911 census. He was in Canada arranging to buy a half section of prairie land, 9.28.4.4, at Oyen to the east of Calgary in Alberta Provice, from the Lands Patents Branch of the Canadian Department of the Interior. Gerard returned to England to his “day job” leaving his gardener in charge of the Canadian farm. Gerard went out to Canada again for a visit in 1914 as the farm was not doing well. He was unable to go out to Canada again until the summer of 1919 (when he made a short visit with eldest son Hubert) as the War Office insisted he stay at home to manage his business and manufacture the munitions of war. 

Towards the end of 1919 when both Gerard and Hubert had returned from Canada the whole family gathered at its home at Highfield. Gerard, Annie, eldest son Hubert, second son Edward just out of school and two younger sons home from boarding school for Christmas. Discussion centered on the family’s future. Should they emigrate to Canada to their farm at Oyen or remain at home in England? It seems they made an astonishing decision. They opted for the farming life in Canada – there was no background in farming in the benign climate of England let alone in the harsh conditions of the Canadian prairie, the infrastructure on the farm was rudimentary with a simple jerry-built house with no amenities and a walk across the frozen land to a barn 200yards away and it was now known that the farm was never likely to yield decent crops – rather than stay where they were [3].

Canada: farming and tertiary education

Eldest son Hubert and second son Edward were to go out to Canada as soon as possible. They left Liverpool on 24 February 1920 sailing on the SS Scandinavian and arrived at St John, New Brunswick was 6 March. This was the first of the very many sea voyages Edward as to make over the next 40-odd years (Table 1, Line 1). Edward Finch Peck was 18 years old, was going to Oyen, was actually a student but was intending to be a farmer [5]. There are more details on Edward’s Passenger Declaration Form: his passage had been paid for by Gerard S Peck, Esq., J.P. and he was going to stay with AE Collenge, Esq., Box 73, Oyen, who was to be his employer (Figure 5) [6]² . On arrival at Oyen Hubert worked on the farm with Edward being put to work as the cook – an inauspicious beginning to a notable career.

The boys’ mother travelled out to Canada in August 1920 to see how they were getting on. Not very well it seemed, as she summoned their father to Oyen with all haste. He arrived in late October, probably agreed with his wife and bought out the share of the farm owned by Collenge before both returned to England, leaving the boys to get on with the job of farming. In March 1921 father Peck returned to Canada with his third son and joined his two older boys at Oyen whilst mother Peck stayed in England until the fourth and youngest son completed his schooling.

As the family settled in to their new life in Canada they began to develop the farm. A house was built that came to be considered the finest in the district (Figure 6)³ . It had piped water from a well, electric power from generator for lights and accessories and a septic tank to dispose of the human waste (no more trips down the frozen garden to the long drop out there!). A windmill provided some of the needed farm power which, like much machinery, needed to be treated with caution. Edward carried the evidence of some lack of care for the rest of his life in a partially crushed left thumb and a damaged nail that caused endless aggravation (Figure 6) [3].

At the Canada census of 1921, father Gerard aged 55, brother Hubert aged 21, Edward aged 19 and Oswald aged 18 were living in the Municipality of Cereal near Medicine Hat and were already Canadian citizens. Father was a farmer and the three boys were labo(u)rers with a total income of 300 dollars. They owned a concrete house with five rooms [7].

Mrs Peck’s brother, Edward Ackroyd, a distinguished lawyer (and King’s Council) and the uncle of the four boys visited the farm sometime after the Pecks had settled in. He apparently told the parents that he considered the well-educated boys were wasting their time at the farm and there was no future for them there. As a result of this all four lads eventually attended the Olds Agricultural College which had evolved from three government demonstration farms and at that time a very small establishment (Figure 7) that offered mid-level post-secondary education. Edward was apparently an outstanding student and completed what was normally a 2-year course in a single year. Following his time at Olds College Edward started studying, on 2 October 1923, for a Bachelor of Veterinary Science (BVSc) degree at Guelph University, Toronto (he graduated as a Veterinary Surgeon in 1928) (Figure 8) although in his younger years he expressed a wish to be ordained in the church or to become a human doctor).

Sylvia Elizabeth Le Marchant, who was to become Edward’s wife, was born at 13 Westwood Road, Bolton on 6 February 1907 [8]. Her father was a Methodist Minister and during her childhood and youth she attended Milton Mount College, Worth Park, Crawley, Surrey, which was a school for the daughters of Congregationalist Church ministers that had been founded in 1871. Sylvia Elizabeth Le Marchant, of 114 Chorley New Road, Bolton, aged 19 (but having been that age for less than three weeks) and describing herself as Nurse departed from Liverpool on 26 February 1926, travelling Third Class with a passport issued on 13 August 1924 on board the SS Montcalm owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway. She had paid the fare herself, was going to the port of St John in New Brunswick on the Atlantic Coast of Canada, where she arrived on 8 March 1926. She was going to stay with a friend, a Mrs Walter Pilkington of St John’s Street, Hamilton, Ontario, whom she later refers to for no known reason as “nanny”. Sylvia was initially detained under Section 33 (of which Act?) but then released two days later on 10 March [9,10]. As the USA has long been suspicious of arrivals in North America she also has a record in their voluminous archives [11]. Apparently Sylvia had not seen Edward since his departure for Canada in February 1920, seven years previously and when she herself was only 12 years old. It is extraordinary that she held a sense of devotion to Edward throughout her adolescent years and then cross the Atlantic alone in a style not undertaken by many of her age at that time4 . In the period prior to Edward’s completion of his course at Guelph Sylvia worked at various jobs and lodged in a variety of establishment in Hamilton and Toronto [3].

In the summer of 1927 Edward made a visit to England leaving Canada in early May and returning in early October (Table 1, lines 2 and 3) [12-14]. This period would coincide with the university summer vacation. It is probable that during this visit he arranged with Liverpool University to take part in courses there after graduating from Guelph. In England he was going to stay at Pool Street, Bolton with his Uncle Edward Ackroyd. On returning to Canada he declared on the ship’s manifest on leaving England that he had come from 2 Bradshawgate, Bolton. On arrival in Canada, however, he said he had been staying with his Uncle Edward Ackroyd at 8 Morley Road in Southport, was a returning Canadian citizen, had lived in Canada since 1920, was a student at Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph and had paid his own passage.

Sylvia and Edward travelled the 1820 miles (2914 km) to Oyen after he had finished his degree course at Guelph. Edward Finch Peck and Sylvia Elizabeth Le Marchant were married at 2 p.m. in All Saints church in Oyen on 2 June 1928 (Figure 9) [15]. The service was conducted by the Rev Charles Wright, incumbent of Alsask and Oyen. The bride, whose dress was trimmed with lace and orange blossoms, was given away by her soon-to-be father-in-law Gerard Peck. The groom was supported by his brother, David Peck. The couple spent their honeymoon, during which they visited the beautiful Lake Louise, in Banff [3]. Following graduation at Guelph, Edward worked for a year in the Animal Health Branch of the Canadian Department of Agriculture doing field work, carrying out meat inspections and examining livestock and livestock products at port of entry. During this period the happy couple led a nomadic existence living in hotels (Figure 10) [3].

On 4 October 1929 Edward and Sylvia travelled from Montreal to Liverpool on the S.S. Duchess of York (with a capacity of 1570 passengers and a crew of 510 whose maiden voyage had been under seven months earlier on 22 March) (Table 1, line 4) [16]. Sylvia had lived in Canada for only three and a half years, had been married to Edward for 16 months, and never returned to the country [3].

From early December 1929 to July 1930 Edward studied at Liverpool University. That he was there for only a short period probably means that he was taking a series of courses to upgrade his Guelph degree and render him eligible to become a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (MRCVS): he achieved that status in 1930. In Liverpool he lived in digs at Flat B, 65 Huskisson Street although his permanent residential address was then 114 Chorley New Road, Bolton where Sylvia was staying. Whilst waiting to get a permanent appointment Edward worked as a locum in a veterinary practice in Appleby in Westmorland [3].

That permanent appointment arrived on 8 October 1930 when Edward received a letter over the signature Lord Passfield, Secretary of State for the Colonies, selecting him for a probationary appointment to the Colonial Service as a Veterinary Officer in Nigeria at a starting salary of £600 a year which would eventually be increased to £9205 . There was, however, a caveat. He needed to obtain the Diploma in Tropical Veterinary Medicine (DTVM) which involved attending a six month course at Edinburgh University which started in October: he managed to get registered for the one starting in the next few days. He obtained the DVTM in March 1931 at about the same time that his and Sylvia’s first child, Michael Quentin Peck, was born on 14 March 1931 at 18 Walker Street, Edinburgh [3].

Edward’s international career as a veterinary surgeon began with his first appointment to the Colonial Service on 5 May 1931 when he set off for Nigeria, less than two months after the birth of his first son (Table 2).