Born in North Vancouver on January 20, 1914, Jeffery Harbottle was the son of Thomas and Jane Harbottle. Jeff attended school in North Vancouver and graduated from North Vancouver High in 1932 and went to work delivering milk for the family business. After a period in the military during and after the war, Jeff worked in a variety of jobs, usually self-employed, until his retirement in 1984 (see work list below for more details.) Jeffery never married and had no children. He died on April 4th, 2009 at the age of 95.
Jeff’s interests revolved around mechanical equipment all his life. In 1963, Jeff Harbottle purchased and restored a 1932 Plymouth PB rumble seat coupe. He participated in many car shows and vintage automobile club events until he sold the car in 1998. In 1971 Jeffery Harbottle and Rob Hamilton purchased the M.V. Reliant, a wooden tugboat, and operated it until they sold it in 1987 when it became too much for Jeff, then retired, to handle.
When he sold the M.V. Reliant Jeff requested that should the engine ever be replaced that he would be allowed to have the old L6 Union engine, as he felt that the engine was a piece of history that would be otherwise lost. Shortly after the sale the Reliant was repowered and the 11 tonne engine was taken apart and removed from the tug in pieces. Jeff received all the pieces and spent the next 9 years rebuilding the engine and returning it to full working condition. In 1996 the engine was donated to the NVMA and designated as a cultural heritage object.
In 1991 Jeff acquired a Diamond T 1-ton pickup truck previously owned by his family’s dairy business, originally purchased in 1938. Over the next eight years Jeff restored the vehicle to its original state, complete with the original dairy logo and paint job. Jeffery donated this vehicle to the NVMA in 2004.
Jeffery Harbottle Work History:
1932-1940, Milk truck Driver.
1941-1943, Military Deferment, Industrial First Aid camp, heavy machinery operator.
1943-1944, Timekeeper, Rail Rd. Dispatcher.
1944-1946, Canadian Army.
1947-1950, Fisherman, West Coast Trawler.
1951, Francis Millard Packing Co. Ltd.
1952-1961, Owner-operator, Rock Point Logging, Ltd.
1962-1970, Owner, Coast Crossarms Ltd.
1971-1972, Manager of Salmon Arm Planing Mills Ltd.
1974-1984, Landlord of Commercial Buildings.
1984, Retired.
published
This series contains materials related to the North Vancouver company “Grizzly Trucks Limited” and their flagship truck “The Grizzly.”
[File] Grizzly Trucks Promotional Material