Remembering our roots ~ Lorraine Farran

By John Godsman Times Contributor

Lorraine’s maiden name was Laurence, and her family originated in England in the 1800s. Her grandfather William was born in England, while her grandmother Kitty was born in Germany. They were married in Sussex, England prior to the start of the Second World War. Her father Harvey Laurence and mother Freida (Procter) Laurence, were both born there, and married in 1930.
Lorraine was born in St. Alban’s, Hertfordshire in 1934, and spent most of the war years there, before being moved to a boarding school in Cheshire in 1944. She started nursing training in 1952, but was unable to complete the training, because at a height of only 4 feet 11 inches, she was too short to be able to look after patients in non-mechanical hospital beds.
In 1956, Lorraine travelled to Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia on vacation. The friends she stayed with owned the local radio station in Lusaka, and a man named Kit Farran had just completed a cattle drive with over 880 head of shorthorn cattle from the Congo to Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), and the radio station wanted him to complete a series of broadcasts telling listeners his story of the cattle drive.
The native cattle, known as Angoli or Ankoli, were quite bony, thin and tough, which meant they were unlikely to be affected by the many diseases affecting African or European cattle.
In preparation for the broadcast, Farran visited the station owner’s house, where he met Lorraine. They returned to England later that year and were married at St. Albans in December 1956.
On their return to Africa, Kit continued his work as a livestock officer for the British government at Lusaka. Their eldest son, Stephen was born there in 1958, and Kevin was born in Mongu, Barotseland in 1960. (The Farran’s now have five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren – nine boys and one girl.) In the mid-1960s, the Rhodesian troubles started and white people were advised to leave the country. The Farran family moved back to England, then to Canada in 1965, settling in Strathmore where they purchased the Strathmore Standard, located at the corner of 2nd Avenue and 2nd Street.
While Kit ran the newspaper, Lorraine became a unit clerk in the new hospital which had opened in 1985. Her job included sterilizing equipment in the trauma and maternity rooms. Bob and Jan Giles purchased the newspaper from them in 1973, allowing Kit and Lorraine to move to their dairy farm, located just north of the agricultural grounds. Regretfully, Kit passed from cancer in 1994.
Lorraine started working at the Wheatland County Food Bank in 1997 and is still involved there today. She is a staunch member of the Anglican Church and The Seasons of Thyme choir.
Changes: When they arrived in Strathmore in 1965, there was only one school – Samuel Crowther (present day location of Sacred Heart Academy and Holy Cross Collegiate), which originally opened on March 24, 1952.