An Illustrated History of Baker, Grant, Malheur and Harney Counties, 1902
published by Western Historical Publishing Company

William G. Ayre

Mr. Ayre was born at Tiverton, Devonshire, England, on April 29, 1856, his parents being Thomas and Mary E. Apperley (Garnsey) Ayre, the former a native of Devonshire and the latter of Somerset. Tiverton is very notable on account of its having been for many years represented in the house of Parliament by Viscount Palmerston, the eminent English statesman, and from its being the located of the celebrated Blundell's grammar school.

Our subject attended this institution seven or eight years, then wen to a higher institution of learning and became a thorough Latin and Greek scholar. In 1884 he crossed the ocean to America, but instead of trying to utilize his education, he engaged in the very lucrative wool growing industry, with the result that he is now the most extensive sheep man in the county, and one of the largest in the state of Oregon. His residence and center of operations is located one mile west of Express, where he has a very elegant home. He is president of the Express Telegraph and Telephone Company.

In politics Mr. Ayre is a very strong Republican and a firm believer in protection, but he is too independent a man to be firmly tied to any party and always claims the right for himself to think independently on every proposition affecting the public weal.

The father of our subject is dead, but his mother still lives near the hold home in England, which has been established for some centuries.

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