FROM THE ARCHIVES BY MARY WATSON
WHO WAS PERCY LINK: GENTLEMAN OR OUTLAW RIDER?
While I was scanning two wonderful 1930’s photo albums donated to the Archives by the
Garvey family, I came across pictures of a man named Percy Link. These pictures caught my
fancy, as he looked to be a real character and rogue. I was intrigued that one of the pictures had
the caption, “Killed in September 1937”, and wondered how he had come to be in Wasaga
Beach and how he died.
Percy Link Killed Sept 1937
Literally the day after I had scanned the pictures, I received a forwarded e-mail from the Library
from Chris and Sue Brooks who live in England and were looking for information on Sue’s great
uncle who happened to be named Percy Link and worked at a riding stable in Wasaga Beach.
What were the chances of that? Of course I sent them the pictures I had, and their response
was that it was indeed their great Uncle Percy. The following is Percy’s story as they know it.
Percy Link Age 16
Percy was from Worcester England and ran off at the age of 14 to join the fighting in WWI. His
uncle, William Link was already a soldier fighting in France, and was sent by the family to fetch
him back. At the age of 16, Percy joined the Marines and fought in Madras in the Mediterranean
where the peace treaty was signed. Apparently he was involved in amateur theatre and was
known even then as “Percy Link, the Gentleman and the Outlaw”. Percy also used the surname
of Jolly on occasion.
Our Percy came to Canada in the 1920’s and worked at the Maple Leaf Riding School and Bells
Riding School. Maple Leaf Riding School (also called Cook’s) was located behind the Catholic
Church on Shore Lane. Bell’s Riding School was located where the Dairy Queen is now. Percy
took groups of people on horseback rides along the beach and was also involved in horse
racing.
Percy Link in Cowboy Attire
Sign for Maple Leaf Riding School
The family believes Percy subsequently moved further north and married a Native American
whose brother was called “Thunder Cloud”. It is believed that he lived among the Sioux Tribe
with his wife. They have a postcard from Percy from 1937 that mentions a baby, but have no
other information on his Canadian family.
Grave of Percy Link
Percy Link in Evening Attire
In 1937, Percy decided to go to Montreal to say goodbye to two of his friends who were working
for the railway. Apparently after a rowdy day-long goodbye, he saw his friends off. Later that
day, he was fatally shot by a Montreal policeman over a dispute about a penny whistle or mouth
organ. The policeman was later caught and hanged. This picture shows Percy’s Uncle Frank
Jones standing over Percy’s grave. Unfortunately, the location of the grave was never
documented by the family, although Uncle Frank did live in Ontario at the time this picture was
taken. The family story goes that Percy’s mother never got over his death and during the nights
would see his ghost dressed in evening clothes standing by her bed.
This little story shows what an adventurous life Percy had. I find it fascinating that in all his
travels and adventures, Percy Link came to live and work in Wasaga Beach for a few years. We
have so many local characters from bygone days and it’s going to take me a long time to
chronicle them all.
If anyone remembers Percy and has stories about him, I would love to hear from you so that I
can forward the information to his family. If you have any pictures or information regarding the
five riding stables we had here, please let me know as well.
First printed in the “Wasaga Sun” on 04Feb09