William Godlonton

William (Bill) Godlonton was born in Calgary in 1908, the youngest son of a pioneer family who had moved from England in 1884 to ranch in the Calgary area. In 1922, he left home to work as a ranch and farm hand and later attended the Olds School of Agriculture, graduating in 1940. In 1941, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Artillery, receiving his discharge in 1946 with the rank of Captain. After the war he worked for the Quaker Oats Company as agricultural Feed Serviceman and then with the Livestock Insect Laboratory at the Lethbridge Research Station. He took up ranching, first as a foreman with the Albeta Ranch at Pincher Creek and then as the manager of the Vee Bar Vee Ranch at Wardlow, Alberta. He later became foreman and then manager at the famous McIntyre Ranch in Southern Alberta, remaining there for twenty years before retiring in 1975.

Shortly before retiring from ranch work, Bill Godlonton enrolled in an evening course in sculpture taught by the well-known Alberta bronze artist Cornelius Martens. With his training from Martens combined with his ranching background he was naturally drawn into Western-themed bronze sculpture, which he pursued with great zeal until his death in 1979. He found a great deal of pleasure and success in his new vocation and his work has subsequently been shown widely throughout the province.