Then in 1914, war broke out in Europe. I returned to England and joined the army. Although I was 50 years old, I saw action at Gallipoli (ga-LIP-o-lee) in Turkey, and I was wounded there. I left the army with the rank of captain. I then paid to have a small hospital set up in Egypt as a place for soldiers to recover. My wife, Alice, and her companion, Miss Katie Stuart, were a big help in running the hospital. At the end of the war, we were happy to return home to Canada. I was glad that Katie’s brother, Geordie, joined us on the estate as my accountant.

Fintry Prospers

In the years that followed, the estate grew steadily. All along, I had been buying more property in the area, and now I started to add buildings. I had a large house built for the estate manager. It was called the White House. A two-story log cabin called The Chalet was built for the gardener. I later built another large house on the estate. We called it Burnside because it was located near a creek. Burn is the Scottish word for creek. As well as houses, we had all the barns and sheds needed for a busy farm. We had a wharf on the lake. We even had our own telephone system with seven phones.