A FORMER Huddersfield student has written the family history of a Canadian millionaire.

Peter Carlyle-Gordge, formerly of Fartown Green Road, Fartown, has written a book entitled Lady Mary of Mossley Hill.

It charts the family history of Larry Wilson, who grew up in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, but lived most of his life in Winnipeg, Canada.

He trained as an actor and dancer in New York and was the millionaire publisher of west Canadian business magazine Trade and Commerce.

Before he died at his luxury home in Mexico in 2002 he bought the Capitol Theatre in Moose Jaw for $350,000 and gave it to the city.

After an $8.3m renovation, the new theatre, art gallery and rehearsal complex opened last month.

Before he died, Wilson asked for a book to be written about his family.

The executor of his estate, Brent McVean, was a friend of Mr Carlyle-Gordge and asked him to write the book.

Mr Carlyle-Gordge, who went to Huddersfield New College and Manchester University, is a freelance writer who moved to Winnipeg 30 years ago.

His mother, Evelyn, still lives in Huddersfield and his brother, David, lives at Highburton.

He has a sister, Elizabeth, in Ely, Cambridgeshire, and another sister, Marie, in Toronto, Canada.

The title of Mr Carlyle- Gordge's book is in honour of Wilson's mother, Mae.

Mae Wilson, nicknamed Lady Mary, grew up in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, before emigrating to Canada in 1916. She ran a dance studio in Moose Jaw and passed on her artistic interests to her six children.

She died in 1999, aged 103, and the Capitol Theatre has been renamed the Mae Wilson Theatre in her honour.

Mr Carlyle-Gordge, who was awarded the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal in 2003 for services to Canada, went to the theatre's opening ceremony.

He presented copies of his book to the Wilson family and the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, Dr Lynda Haverstock.

Most of the copies of his book have been given to the new cultural centre, with profits going towards its expenses.

Copies of the book will also be given to the six annual recipients of Larry Wilson Scholarships.

He left more than $500,000 for arts scholarships for young people in Saskatchewan.