Even though Alexander Rutherford had resigned as Premier by the time he moved into his stately home by the University of Alberta, that didn?t hinder the social activities of his family. As historian Lisa Mort-Putland explains, his daughter Hazel blossomed in the early years of Rutherford House:

Hazel was a bright spirit. She moved in when she was seventeen. And we know that she?d been quite ill. She?d had typhoid in 1910, and she?d spent a fair bit of time at home. And she then began to spread her wings a little and went off to university.

And then very quickly in 1915, when the war broke out, her life changed as she gave up her university career and decided that she should stay home to look after Dr. and Mrs. Rutherford. In doing that, however, she also set her eyes on a young lawyer who was articling with her father, named Mr. Stanley McCuaig. And she took a liking to him more than he took a liking to her. So she decided that she would pick him up everyday and drive him to work. And one day, after giving him a rather large smile, he returned the favour. And after a number of years of courtship, they were married in 1919 and had four children.

Now known as Hazel McCuaig, she stayed close to her parents, moving with her new husband into a home just behind her beloved Rutherford House.

Hazel became a prominent part of the social scene in Edmonton throughout the decades, from the 1920?s on. She and her husband were founding members of the Alberta Law Society, and they became involved with the university and with sororities and foundations and charities. And she really took up her father?s work, had a passion for libraries and reading, and really became a wonderful member of Edmonton and was passionate about it and lived here ?til the day she died.

Hazel Elizabeth Rutherford McCuaig lived a long and productive life. She was a great benefactor to Rutherford House when it was renovated as a museum in the 1970?s. And she was ninety-nine years old when she passed away in 1992.

On the Heritage Trail, I?m Cheryl Croucher.