ERIC LAFFERTY HARVIE O.C. (1967), C.D., Q.C.,1892-1975

Calgary Lawyer, Oil Man, & Philanthropist
A city builder like no other By Brenda McCafferty, LASA Archivist

When it comes to city builders  no other Calgarian compares to lawyer Eric Lafferty Harvie. He is best remembered for his philanthropic gifts enriching the lives of Calgarians. Some of the landmarks he is accredited with establishing or helping to establish:

• Calgary Zoo & Dorothy Harvie gardens
• The Devonian Foundation (formerly the Harvie Foundation) has funded numerous public parks, ensuring their historical preservation
• Glenbow Museum & Archives
• Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park (Cochrane)
• Heritage Park
• Luxton Museum (Buffalo Nations Museum)

On an industrial level Harvie is remembered for unleashing Calgary’s (and Alberta’s) economic prosperity by way of the oil and gas discoveries made on his land holdings in Turner Valley, Leduc, and Redwater. On the national level, Harvie was a founding officer of the Canada Council, a major funder of art initiatives across Canada. In 1962 Harvie was made an honorary chief of the Blackfoot Nation, and in 1967 he was made an officer of the Order of Canada.

Background:

Eric L. Harvie was born on April 2, 1892, in Orillia, Ontario. His mother Cicely (nee Lafferty) came from a family of twelve children (eight boys & four girls), four of whom settled in Calgary. Cicely  was the sister of three early Calgary lawyers & doctors: Tom Lafferty, Alan Marshall Lafferty, and James D. Lafferty who served as Calgary’s fifth Mayor. Cicely’s sister Janet was married to Calgary lawyer James Short, K.C.

Sometime between 1915 and 1918 Cicely persuaded her husband (Eric’s father William Mcleod Harvey) to change the spelling of their surname from “Harvey” to “Harvie” as reflected in Harvie’s Law Society records at LASA.[i]

On September 29, 1919, following WWI, Eric Harvie married Dorothy Jean Southam – the granddaughter of William Southam, publishing giant of Ontario and founder of the Southam chain of newspapers. Calgarians today appreciate Dorothy and her eye for beauty comes alive when visiting the garden and conservatory bearing her name on St. Georges Island, home of the Calgary Zoo. Also, the Devonian gardens located in downtown Calgary are a winter oasis we all appreciate. Eric and Dorothy had three children: M. Joy, Donald, and F. Neil.

Student-at-law & the Early University of Calgary Law School:

Prior to his arrival in Calgary, Harvie attended Osgoode Hall in Toronto. He arrived in Calgary at age 19 during the winter of 1911 and a few months later was admitted to the Law Society of Alberta (LSA) as a matriculant student-at-law based on his status at the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Between 1912 and 1914, Harvie articled at the Short, Ross, Selwood, Shaw, & Mayhood law firm and was fully admitted to the LSA on July 13, 1915 . During this period, Harvie attended law lectures at the Calgary courthouse during the short-lived University of Calgary Law School operating as a University of Alberta satellite. A number of archival photographs from these early years depict year end Calgary law student picnics and sport day events held at Bowness Park.

Military Career:

During WWI, Harvie served with the 15^th Light Horse Regiment. He received a commission in the 56^th Battalion as a lieutenant and was transferred to the 49^th Battalion. He was wounded at the Somme in 1916, and after his convalescence Harvie was assigned to the Royal Flying Corps, where he finished the war as a Captain. His military service gave him a life-long interest in the military. Between the wars he was a member of the Alberta Military Institute and during WWII, Harvie helped organize and command the Calgary Mounted Constabulary, a unit comprised of home front veterans whose duties included patrolling the Glenmore reservoir on horseback. In 1948, Harvie was named an Honourary Colonel of the Calgary Highlanders.[iii] In his lifetime Harvie amassed one of the most extensive military history collections in Canada including guns, arms, weapons, and military uniforms.

Turner Valley, Leduc (1947), & Redwater (1948) Oil Boom:

Calgary became a major city, its growth fueled by the massive oil discoveries that put Canada on the map as a petroleum-producing nation. The 1947 discovery at Leduc No. 1 by Imperial Oil turned Alberta from a have not province to a have and greatly expanded Calgary’s economy and population. The Imperial oil strike in Leduc was the first really significant oil discovery in Canada. For the lawyers of Calgary, the oil boom opened up a new area of specialization. American oil companies opened branch offices and utilized local legal help. Thanks to Turner Valley, the legal community of the city had a great deal of experience with land titles, leases, and farm-out agreements. [iv]

Harvie had been active for years in Turner Valley along with other notable Calgary oilmen: Robert Brown, George Bell, Sam Nickle, and the McMahon brothers (George & Frank) who were all engaged in oil exploration, risking their financial futures on enormous gambles.

Apart from the land owned by the CPR, the Hudson’s Bay Company, and the British Dominion Land Settlement Company, the majority of mineral rights in Alberta resided with the crown. In 1943, British Dominion Land Settlement Company who had purchased its land and mineral rights from the CPR, owed back taxes for the half million acres belonging to the company.  Harvie, straining his financial resources to the limit, purchased the British Dominions Land Settlement Co  mineral rights for $10,000 in exchange for taking over the amount owing in taxes. After securing the mineral rights, Harvie formed Western Leaseholds, Ltd, and Western Minerals, Ltd. Not long after, Imperial Oil, who was amid a huge exploration effort, purchased options on Harvie’s 500,000 acreage and in 1947 and 1948, oil was discovered on several of Harvie’s leases in Leduc and Redwater.

Following the massive discovery of oil, Harvie’s personal fortune was estimated to be one hundred million dollars by the late fifties. [v] Overnight Harvie became extremely wealthy. Described by Time Magazine as the “the biggest individual fortune made in Alberta oil.” The wealth never compromised his integrity and he donated it back to the people of Alberta by way of his philanthropy. He was known to be a humble and private person, who lived life in an understated fashion.

The Eclectic Collector:

Eric L. Harvie was an avid collector of things – some 140,000 things that wound up in the Glenbow Museum. Some of the oddities he collected include: a collection of moths, birds’ eggs, stuffed animals, and a pair of bloomers once worn by Queen Victoria. His taste for idiosyncrasies made him an endearing legend.

We are indebted to Harvie for amassing the Western heritage collection of library books and archival records documenting the history of the southern Alberta pioneers who settled the area. These records make up the crux of the Glenbow Archives and Library collections now housed at the University of Calgary. In the 1950’s and 1960’s Harvie made a concerted effort to collect objects, artwork, archival papers, and photographs related to pioneer settlers, and to First Nations culture when very few people were doing it. He was one of the first to realize how important preserving this history was.[vi]

The Devonian Foundation:

The Harvie Foundation was incorporated in 1955 as a charitable vehicle for the family of Eric L. Harvie. The first of its projects was the establishment of the Glenbow Foundation to manage Eric Harvie’s Western Canadian collecting interests. After he donated the Glenbow Foundations collections to the people of Alberta in 1966, Eric Harvie created the Riveredge Foundation to continue his collecting interests. In 1969, the Harvie Foundation sponsored the Candev Foundation (formerly the Ace Foundation) and established the Centennial caravan to display his collections to the people of rural Alberta. In 1973, the name of the Harvie Foundation was changed to the Devonian Foundation when it was taken over by son Donald S. Harvie. [vii]

Law Practise:

Harvie practiced law with a few different partners, including Clinton J. Ford, one time City Solicitor (1913-1922) who later became Chief Justice of Alberta (1957-1961). For many years, the firm was known as Ford, Harvie, & Miller.

Between 1933 and 1940, Eric L. Harvie was a sole practitioner. His clients included the Calgary Herald and CFAC Radio. His was a small law practice specializing in corporate and commercial law, estates, and some real estate. He had also begun dabbling in the oil business putting deals together for others but also engaging in his own exploration. In 1939 Harvie was made a King’s Counsel.

Partner George Crawford, Q.C.:

George Crawford, a University of Alberta law graduate (class of 1938) was hired by Harvie in 1940 and thereafter became inextricably intertwined with Eric Harvie’s business affairs. Much of the history comprised in this post was taken from an oral history interview conducted in 1996.^[viii]  In 1942, Harvie and Crawford formed a partnership with E.D. (Ted) Arnold, K.C. and the firm operated as Harvie, Arnold & Crawford from 1946 to 1950.

The adjoining law office of Macleod, Riley, McDermid & Dixon law firm occupied the top floor (6^th) of the Canada Life Building (later known as the Hollinsworth Building), situated on the south-west corner of 8^th Avenue and 2^nd Street SW. Harvie, Arnold & Crawford were also on the 6^th floor and amalgamated with the Macleod law firm in 1950. It was discussed having E.L. Harvie in the partnership but he agreed his name should only appear on the letterhead as counsel and not in the partnership name. In 1951, Arnold and Harvie parted ways and Crawford forged out with Arnold leaving Neil D. McDermid and Harold Riley at the Macleod Dixon law firm to oversee Harvie’s oil patch legal work. His days as a lawyer were over and he spent his remaining years as an oil man and a philanthropist.[ix]

Prior to its demolition in 1981, The Hollinsworth building was found to contain a treasure trove of early lawyer and law firm records discovered abandoned in storage and rescued from destruction in its final weeks thanks to swift action taken by the Glenbow Archives staff. Many of these early law firm records were later transferred to LASA for safe keeping in 1992:

• Goodall & Cairns (1895-1943)
• William C. Robertson, of Clarke, Carson & Macleod law firm (1908-1947)
• Farthing & Tavender (1910-1962)
• MacDonald, Cheeseman, Moore, and Atkinson (1910-1969)
• McLaws, Redman, Lougheed, and Cairns law firm (1911-1936)
• Norman M. Plummer (1928-1944)
• McGuire & Sinclair (1943-1956

Other valuable law firm records recovered were retained as complimentary holdings by the Glenbow Archives.

Bibliography

Dempsey, Hugh, ‘Treasures of the Glenbow Museum’, Calgary, 1991.

Diehl, Fred M. ‘The family that Gave it all Back : Entrepreneurs in Philanthropy, the Devonian Foundation.’ Calgary : The Foundation, 1989.

Diehl, Fred M. ‘A Gentleman from a Fading Age : Eric Lafferty Harvie.’ Calgary : The Foundation, 1989.

Eric Harvie records at the Glenbow-Alberta Institute:

• Eric Lafferty Harvie fonds
• Devonian Group of Charitable Foundations fonds
• Neil S. Harvie fonds
• Harvie Foundation fonds
• Western Leaseholds Limited fonds
• Western Minerals Limited fonds
• Glenbow Investments Limited fonds
• Glenbow Foundation fonds

Gray, Earle, ‘The Great Canadian Oil Patch: The Petroleum Era From Birth to Peak’ Edmonton: June Warren Publishing Ltd. , 1970, pp. 166-

LASA Accession numbers 97-021, 2001-033, & 2002-015, oral history interviews with George Crawford, 1996 & 2001.

LASA, Law Society of Alberta, member file of Eric Harvie, fonds 05, file 317

Mittelstadt, David, Administrative sketch of Parlee McLaws law firm, 2002

Mittelstadt, David, ‘The Macleod Dixon Century: 1912-2012’. Calgary: Norton Rose, 2012.

University of Calgary Archives, Eric Harvie photographs: https://searcharchives.ucalgary.ca/eric-harvie-fonds [accessed April 16, 2025]

[i] LASA, Law Society of Alberta, member file of Eric Harvie, fonds 05, file 317

[ii] LASA Accession #2003-031, donated by Sally Gallinari, daughter of J.J. O’Connor.

[iii] Mittelstadt, David, Administrative sketch of Parlee McLaws law firm, 2002

[iv] Mittelstadt, David, Administrative sketch of Parlee McLaws law firm, 2002

[v] Gray, Earle, ‘The Great Canadian Oil Patch’, Toronto: Maclean-Hunter, 1970. pp. 223, 225-228

[vi] See Glenbow Archives blog post (29 July 2019) at: https://www.glenbow.org/blog/eric-harvie/ [Accessed 2 April 2025].

[vii] See the Glenbow Archives Devonian Group of Charitable Foundations fonds at the University of Calgary. Description taken from administrative history.

[viii] George Crawford oral history interviews conducted in 1996 & 2001. See LASA Accession Numbers 97-021, 2001-015, and 2002-033.

[ix] Mittelstadt, David, ‘The Macleod Dixon Century: 1912-2012’. Calgary: Norton Rose, 2012.

[x] Mittelstadt, David, ‘The Macleod Dixon Century: 1912-2012’. Calgary: Norton Rose, 2012.