Author: Augustus H. Ball
Date of birth: Jan. 29, 1873
Date of death: Mar. 28, 1967
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Augustus Harry Ball was born Jan. 29, 1873 in London, England, the son of Ralph and Hannah (née WILDE or WILD) BALL. He immigrated to Canada in 1890, and graduated from Manitoba University in 1895 with a B.A. He then began lecturing in classics at Manitoba College. He obtained an M.A. and LL.B. in 1905 from the same university. He was a teacher at Fort Qu'Appelle, Assiniboia [Sask.] starting in 1897; school principal at Maple Creek, Sask. until 1901, and from 1901 to 1903 a school principal at Moose Jaw, Sask. In 1903 he was appointed inspector of schools and worked out of Yorkton, Sask. where he remained until 1911. In 1911 he was appointed assistant principal of the Regina Normal School. In 1912 he was appointed Deputy Minister of Education in Sask. where he remained until his retirement in 1932. He then moved to Victoria, B.C. where he died on Mar. 28, 1967 at age 94.
His education career was interrupted in Oct. 1916 by serving with the 249th Battalion during World War 1, leaving the service in Apr. 1918 as a captain. He was active in the Red Cross, the Belgian Children's Relief fund, the Territorial Teachers' Association, and the Boy Scouts. In 1915 he was appointed the first commissioner of Boy Scouts for Sask. and in 1921 he was decorated with the Order of the Silver Wolf for services to the Boy Scout movement.
He is written up in “The Story of Saskatchewan and Its People†by John Hawkes (1924) and “Pioneers and Prominent People of Saskatchewan†by the Canadian Publicity Co. (1924).
Augustus was married between 1896 and 1899 probably at Maple Creek, Sask. to Emily Myra Dixon of Peterborough, Ont., daughter of William and Eliza (née Dyde) Dixon. They had at least four children of whom two survived Augustus: Dorothy (Mrs. Ruddy) of Moose Jaw, Sask. and Agnes E. (Mrs. T. Addison) of North Vancouver. His widow, Emily Myra Ball, died at North Vancouver at age 95 on Feb. 19, 1974.
