Okanagan History

Thomas Ellis Penticton 1885

Thomas Ellis was the founder of Penticton; he acquired more land in 1885 than any one individual between Okanagan Lake and Skaha Lakes. Thomas Ellis divided the lots and made them available for one dollar per acre. Ellis made enough money to travel to Ireland and marry his fiancé and returned and raised a family of nine. Ellis financed Bernard Lequime to build the Penticton in service in 1890 and later purchased and used as an auxiliary boat by the CPR. James Gartell worked for Tom Ellis and settled at Trout Creek in 1887. Gartell became a successful agriculturalist and brought notoriety to the Okanagan Valley with his early exhibits of fruit in London, England. James Gartell was a native of Stratford Ontario.

Okanagan History Index

By: Elaine Harrison