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~ ~ Basil Gardom
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Basil Gardom was one of the first local
policemen in the town of Enderby. He first came to Enderby in 1893 when he homesteaded in
the Deep Creek area. He enlisted in the Boer War. After the war he joined the police force
in the fall of 1903. He returned to Enderby where he was provincial constable from 1903 to
1909.
Gardom was remembered as the provincial constable who solved the case of the Dakes Jewelry
fire in 1909, as well as a domestic quarrel:
"One Saturday night, at 10 o'clock several pistol shots were heard,
accompanied by the outcry of a women, and warnings from men. Gardom was quickly on the
scene to see a man running away. Officer Gordom contained the man and later found out that
he had shot a man and a woman and was found with a .38 caliber weapon. The man was locked
up. Basil returned to the scene and found a woman with an arm injury and a man with a
wrist wound. The funny thing about the incident is that there were 5 or 6 shots fired and
the man, who was in jail, was only missing two bullets from his gun, and both wounds were
made with a different caliber weapon. The story goes that one man got jealous of the
couple and a gunfight occurred, but it is a mystery of what really happened."
Gardom moved to Vancouver in 1909.
Davin Larson
ALF School 1989