Wells Gray
Arthur Wellesley Gray (1876 – 7 May 1944) 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". Early life Gray was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, in 1876. 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. Career 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. 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. In 1938, with the assistance of British Columbia's Chief Forester, Ernest Callaway Manning, Gray began to enact legislation creating provincial parks. Tweedsmuir Park was first, located in the