Joseph “Josh” Wayper

A resident of Hespeler for forty years, Josh Wayper was a marksman of uncanny ability. He was proprietor of the Queen’s Hotel in which his numerous trophies and stuffed animals were on display for the public to see.

He was co-founder of the Hespeler Gun Club which was formed in 1883 and was active for many years. In 1896, the Hespeler four man team led by Wayper won the Ontario Championship, breaking 94 out of 100 clay pigeons.

In 1901 Wayper was champion wing-shot of Canada, killing 199 out of 200 live pigeons to equal the World’s Record for this type of competition. In trapshooting, Wayper was three times Canadian champion. He also won the championship gold medal for Ontario several times.

On one occasion he was a member of the Canadian team which went to England for the Bisley competition. In the course of his career, Wayper won a great many lesser events as well.