Documenting mill scenes and reunion events.

Showing scenes of Kelowna, photos of artifacts, former employees, and contemporary mill operations at S.M. Simpson Ltd. Successor.

1999 reunion.

1999 reunion. Includes index and some negatives.

1999 reunion. Includes negatives and index.

1999 reunion.

File consists of early photographs of precursors to S.M. Simpson, Ltd., predominantly ca. 1910 - 1939, with occasional outliers dating as recently as the 1950s. Featured in this collection are depictions of The Kelowna Sawmill (KSM), which was moved to the Lakeshore site from Okanagan Mission about 1892, and owned by various historic figures local to Kelowna. KSM burned down several times, and was eventually sold to S.M. Simpson in 1942. Much of the mill burned to the ground in 1944, and while the land was still owned by KSM, the company was owned by S.M. Simpson. Many of the photos in the collection date from those early years. Additionally, there are numerous photos of portable sawmills that were located in Ellison and Winfield, but which didn't form part of S.M. Simpson Ltd., although they were often owned solely, or in partnership, by S.M. Simpson.

Administrative history
The Simpson family fonds is primarily a compilation of the images and records of three corporate entities, (Kelowna Sawmill Ltd., S.M. Simpson Ltd., S & K Ltd.) as well as the records and images of S. M. Simpson’s sole proprietorship between 1913 – 1924, prior to the incorporation of S. M. Simpson Ltd.

The Kelowna Sawmill dates from 1892 when it was first established by Bernard Lequime, who subsequently sold it to David Lloyd-Jones in 1901. Lloyd-Jones had a variety of business partners during the time he owned the sawmill. In 1942, Stanley M. Simpson, the owner of S. M. Simpson Ltd., purchased and operated the Kelowna Sawmill until it was destroyed by fire in 1944. The corporate Kelowna Sawmill Ltd. was maintained and became the retail arm of S. M. Simpson Ltd. until 1956, when retail operations ceased.
Stanley M. Simpson arrived in Kelowna in 1913 and operated a sole proprietorship for the next eleven years (1913-1924) until incorporating S. M. Simpson Ltd. in 1924. During those early years, Simpson operated his business in two different downtown locations, as well as running, or partnering in various portable sawmills throughout the area. His sash and door factory on Abbott Street, manufactured and sold windows and doors, custom furniture, and wooden fruit boxes for the expanding Okanagan fruit and vegetable industry. The business operated out of this location until 1948.
Needing a reliable and accessible source of logs, Stanley Simpson bought land at Manhattan Beach along the lakeshore, in Kelowna’s North End. In 1930, he began constructing a sawmill and box factory and three years later, added a veneer plant to the site.

The Province of British Columbia created Forest Management licenses in 1951, when S. M. Simpson Ltd. was awarded Tree Farm License #9. Needing to diversity, S. M. Simpson Ltd. created S&K Ltd. to add a plywood manufacturing facility to the Manhattan site. It began operations in 1957.

In the following years S. M. Simpson Ltd. purchased other sawmills and logging operations, including Trautman Garraway in Peachland (1955), Peachland Sawmill & Box (1955), McLean Sawmills (1957), Lumby Timber Co (1959), Ferguson Brothers Lumber (1962), Stave Lumber (1962) Eagle Pass Lumber (1963), R&L Lumber (1964).
Stanley Simpson died in 1959. Horace B. Simpson, Stanley’s son, managed S. M. Simpson Ltd. until 1965 when the company was sold to Crown Zellerbach, Canada. A branch operation of the U.S. company, this was the first of a succession of owners, and though the Simpson name was attached to the operations for several years, the family was no longer involved.

In 1965, H.B. Simpson sold S.M.S. Ltd and its several associates and subsidiaries to the Canadian instance of Crown Zellerbach Corporation: Crown Zellerbach Canada. It continued operating as the S.M. Simpson Division of Crown Zellerbach Canada for several years until the name was changed to simply Crown Zellerbach Canada. In 1969, Crown Zellerbach purchased several more sawmills in the region, including Armstrong Sawmills operations in Armstrong, Enderby, Vernon and Falkland, as well as Ponderosa Pine Lumber Co. in 1970.

In 1981 Crown Zellerbach Canada was purchased by Fletcher Challenge Canada Ltd. and the entity’s name was changed to Crown Forest, and in 1987 the name changed again to Fletcher Challenge Canada Ltd. The company was then subsequently purchased by Riverside Forest Products in 1992. In 2004 Riverside Forest Products was purchased by Tolko Industries Ltd. which operated until 2020.

Scope and content
The sous fonds includes records generated by Stanley Merriam Simpson both before and after the corporate life of S.M. Simpson Ltd., and additionally documents a suite of succeeding companies that assumed the business operations and assets established by S.M. Simpson.

The sous fonds consists of a photographic record that documents the wood processing entity established by S.M. Simpson across iterations of corporate ownership, as well as business records relating to substantial operations, labour relations, safety programs, legal proceedings, and administration.

The sous fonds consists of a photographic record that documents the wood processing entity established by S.M. Simpson across iterations of corporate ownership, as well as business records relating to substantial operations, labour relations, safety programs, legal proceedings, and administration.

The series consists of records generated during the What’s On, What’s On Magazine, Kootenay Weekly Express, and The Express newspaper production from November 1988 until its end in February 2011.
Series includes an extensive collection of photographic records and textual documents such as collages, pamphlets, letters, business cards, and notes.

The series consists of What’s On, What’s On Magazine, Kootenay Weekly Express, and The Express newspapers starting in November 1988 until its end in February 2011. The newspaper covers events in the city of Nelson, B.C., and was published and owned by Nelson Becker throughout its run.

Series consists of records pertaining to the writings and works done by Bill Collings, along with some personal records. Series includes records such as copies of articles and presentations written by Bill Collings. Series also includes a photograph of Bill Collings, as well as a manuscript and self-published book written by Bill Collings’ father, Tom Collings. Abbreviated as WRITINGS in the file list.

Series consists of materials collected by Bill Collings that pertain to the wine and wine-making industry. Series includes records such as research materials, meeting minutes, and regulation files. Series also contains a framed print. Abbreviated as COLLECTED in the file list.

The collection consists of video capture of Redlich Pond between the years 2007 and 2018, showing changes to its appearance and biodiversity over time, and one appeal to action in the form of a letter.

Series consists of original still and moving photography attributed to Doug Cox from the 1970s through 2008 in support of his career as author and historian. Frequently, Cox’s images form a time-lapse continuation of the older photographs he collected for research purposes. There are many reprisals of people, buildings, landscapes, and subjects first treated in his acquired research collections. In addition to this, Cox documents many of his interview subjects photographically, and this series in large part complements his corpus of recorded interviews/oral histories and collected manuscripts.
The VHS tapes include recordings of Penticton infrastructure such as the sanitary landfill, water purification plant, recycling depot, as well as the closure of Nickel Plate Mine’s last day of operation in 1996.

The series consists of textual works by Doug Cox, occasionally edited by Joyce Cox. Includes curricular materials developed for the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation, short compositions, historical drafts, biographical drafts, proofs for works destined for publication, and materials prepared as a regular column for the Western Producer. Includes 6 scrapbooks of clippings from the Western News Advertiser covering a recurring column contributed by Doug Cox.

Series consists of Doug Cox’s collecting activity carried out in support of his writing. Points of origin are predominantly the southern interior of British Columbia. Collections acquired are primarily composed of photographic material, secondarily of textual material, with interviews and associated transcripts created to correspond with the main locations and activities of the collection. Contents depict and describe a variety of scenes and settings, primarily concerning industry and infrastructure, family life, city scenes, and landscapes during the first half of the twentieth century. Many photocopies of images exist with annotations by original donor identifying human subjects, their relationships, and their locations.

Subseries consists of photographs collected by Doug Cox in service to his historical research and writing. Materials derive from a wide variety of origin and subject contexts, which are resolved at the file and item level.

Subseries consists of a collection of documents covering the inception and development of Apex Mountain Resort near Penticton, BC. Includes form letters to Apex members, reports, and some financial statements. Also included is a collection of promotional brochures from the 1970s – 1990s.

An additional sequence of photographs related to Apex Mountain can also be found in series 1.3-1 (Historical Photograph Collection) at the item range 1.3-1/00766 – 1.3-1/00813.

Reverend A.H. Cameron arrived in Keremeos in 1906 and established a Presbyterian church where he presided as its first minister for many years. He captured a large number of pictures during his tenure, leaving a photographic record of local affairs. Subseries consists of photographs attributed to him.

Biographical sketch
Lillian Estabrooks (née Gibson), occasionally known as Bill or Billy Gibson, or Billy Estabrooks (b. 1902-08-01 in Almada, SK, d. 2003-08-17 in Penticton, BC) grew up in Keremeos. She and husband Richard (Dick) Estabrooks had three children. In 1981 under the pen name Bill Gibson she collaborated with Doug Cox to publish Under The K: Memories of Growing Up in Keremeos. Lillian Estabrooks was also a regular contributor to the Okanagan Historical Society annual reports.

Scope and content
Subseries consists of materials with provenance attributed to Lillian Estabrooks. Subseries is predominantly composed of photographs taken, collected, or otherwise attributed to Lillian Estabrooks, primarily during the years 1913-1920. Subseries also includes collected manuscripts, family trees, and notes, and one interview by Doug Cox with “Billy Estabrooks.”

George Allen Aerial Photography was a photo studio based in Vancouver, BC. Subseries consists of photographs by George Allen Photos Ltd., 4609 Main Street, Vancouver BC.

Biographical sketch
Joseph Gleason Harris (b. 1910-07-06, d.1994-12-26) arrived in Penticton in 1917. At age 16 he was invited by Frank Richter, Jr., to the Richter Ranch in Keremeos, from which point he visited the Cathedral Mountains for the first time. Later, in 1939, Joe Harris and Herb Clark of Keremeos launched a pack horse business which would take tourists to visit the Cathedrals. In 1944 he entered the ranching industry and in 1946 took over what was previously Ralph Overton’s ranch. This site was later home to Apex Mountain Guest Ranch. 1946 also saw the launch of a heavy equipment business.
Joe Harris and Margaret “Peggy” Burgess married April 4, 1945 and they made their home in Penticton. Together they raised seven children.
Joe Harris also was heavily involved in civic service. Harris served as the chairman of the Central Welfare Committee for fifteen years throughout the 1930s and 1940s. From 1950-1957, Harris also served as an Alderman on the Penticton City Council. Harris was a member of the Penticton Hospital Board for sixteen years and initiated a local volunteer search and rescue group. Harris participated in many local rescues himself.
Harris was also instrumental in local heritage initiatives and worked as the curator of the R.N. Atkinson (Penticton) Museum from 1973-1984. His deep knowledge of the history of the area poised him to deliver educational lectures to various organizations and to serve as president of the Penticton branch of the Okanagan Historical Society for five years.
Harris was an avid photographer, and won many awards. His photographic record documents local places and events throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.
Harris was a close associate and valuable historical source for Doug Cox during his writing career.

Scope and content
Subseries consists of original photographs taken by Joe Harris as well as some pieces collected by Joe Harris and then subsequently transferred to the custody of Doug Cox. Predominant photographic coverage relates to the Cathedral Mountains, south of Keremeos, BC, during the 1930s. Includes a sequence of interviews with Joe Harris, and some associated transcripts.

Biographical sketch
Valentine Carmichael Haynes (21 December, 1875 – 1963?) was the first of many white settlers to be born in Osoyoos. He worked as a rancher all his life and was highly skilled in this area. Haynes married Elizabeth Runnels (d. 1942), niece of Nespelem George, a Chief with described kinship to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. Runnels was an artist and an interpreter. One daughter, Alice, married a Thompson.

Scope and content
Subseries consists of documentation of Valentine Haynes and his family, as well as the Okanagan Cattle Company, of which Haynes was founder, all in the approximate area of Osoyoos, BC. Photographs depict ranching scenes, landscapes, and family life; textual materials include banking records, biographical sketches, Okanagan Cattle Company records, and genealogical information.

Biographical sketch
Frank Hunter (b. 1909, d. ?) was born in Garneil, Montana, and immigrated with his parents to Saskatchewan as an infant. As a young man he ventured into the Peace River country of northern British Columbia. He married his wife, Doreen Hunter, in 1951 in Baldonnel, BC. They had two children.
Frank Hunter worked as a farmer upon his arrival in the Peace, and later on as a railroad surveyor and served as a school trustee during the 1950s.

Scope and content
Subseries consists of Hunter family photographs captured from about 1927 through the 1940s, as well as supporting textual reference materials. Photographs were taken by a Kodak Brownie box camera. Photographs depict images of landscapes, infrastructure (bridges and railroads), agriculture, rodeo, and pioneer family life in the Peace River region of British Columbia. Also includes a small subset of 35mm negative strips and 15 x 13 cm photographic prints dated to 1992, taken by Sandy Baker, and documenting the same geographical area.

Subseries consists of collected materials with pertinence to the mining industry in the late 19th and early 20th century in the Kootenay, Boundary, and Similkameen regions of British Columbia.
Includes collected photographs, clippings, government publications, maps (mineral claims) and textual records.

Subseries consists of a photographic and oral history record of Penticton civic life from approximately 1910 through the mid-1970s, with predominant coverage during the middle decades of the twentieth century. Materials relate to sports, cultural events, landmarks and buildings, industry, transportation & infrastructure, and agriculture. Many of the photographs can likely be attributed to the Penticton Herald, but provenance is not confirmed in all cases.

Subseries consists of an acquisition by Doug Cox of a Collection of photographic negatives from the newspaper The Penticton Herald.
Coverage includes themes such as the cultural events, sports, rodeo, telecommunications, buildings and community infrastructure, aviation, industry, disasters.

Subseries consists of materials compiled in service of Cox’s book, Ranching Now, Then and Way Back When.

Biographical sketches
The Tweddle and Richter families of the Similkameen and South Okanagan are linked primarily by Florence Elizabeth Loudon. Loudon was married first to F.X. Richter; after Richter’s death, she remarried Haliburton Tweddle.
Richter: Francis Xavier Richter (1837-1910) was born in Freidland, Bohemia on November 5, 1837. In 1864 arrived in the Okanagan/Similkameen area to start cattle ranching. He and Lucy Simla (1846-1903, also notated as Lucy simla Acat, also notated as Lucy Sʔímlaʔxʷ), a member of what is now the Okanagan First Nation of Vernon, BC, were married in 1867 or 1868. They had 5 sons: Charles (1869-1949), William (1872-1922), Joseph (1874-1971), Edward (1876-1971), and John “Hans” Richter (1877-1961).
Prior to the death of Lucy Simla, F.X. Richter married Florence Elizabeth Loudon (1877 – 1959) in 1894 and subsequently fathered six more children: Betty, Freida, Frances, Helen, Kathleen, Francis X. Richter, Jr. F.X. Richter’s and Lucy Simla’s oldest son, Charles, married Florence Loudon’s sister, Ada, in 1900.
Richter has been described as being responsible for starting the fruit industry in the Similkameen Valley and he had a major orchard operation.
Tweddle: Haliburton “Harry” Tweddle (1876-1957) married Florence Elizabeth Richter (née Loudon, F.X. Richter’s second wife and widow) in 1912. They had 4 children: Haliburton T. (Hal), Margaret, Eileen, and Willa.
Harry Tweddle owned the Central Hotel in Keremeos, B.C., and operated a ranch, livery stable and stage line serving the Similkameen Valley.
Hal Tweddle married Alice Brent. Certain currents of Brent family documentation are seen in this collection. See also the Brent family collection.

Scope and content
Subseries consists of photographic and textual documentation of the F.X. Richter and later Halliburton Tweddle families in the South Okanagan and Similkameen regions. Photographic subject matter treats themes of ranching and orcharding; textual records include copies of correspondence, wills, family trees.

Subseries comprises the deliberate collecting activity of Ed Villiers and provides documentation of approximately one century of Savona history, which is today west of Kamloops on the shore of Kamloops Lake where the Thompson River has its egress. Originally, Savona was situated on the north shore of Kamloops Lake and represented the terminus of the stage coach line from Cache Creek on the Cariboo Wagon Road. It was also the site of a lake steamboat harbor which carried goods and passengers toward the Shuswap. As rail service was developed on the south shore of Kamloops lake, the decision was made to relocate the town in the 1880s- the relocation was executed by mechanism of pulling structures across the frozen lake during the winter.
Subseries features in large part copied tear sheets of other historical sources, as well as original manuscripts prepared by Ed Villiers for the Savona Community Heritage Committee. Other records include census documents, town directories and other documentation.

Biographical sketch
Lumb Stocks (b. 1887 in Leicester, England, d. 1947 in Penticton, BC) immigrated to Kelowna in 1910. He traveled back in England in 1915 to marry his wife, Marion. Together they had five children: Peter, Beryl, Jack, Daphne, and David.
In Vernon, Stocks purchased a camera from G.H.E. “Huddy” Hudson. Soon Stocks was offered a job by Hudson and he joined his photography studio. He became a partner and took over operations of the firm in 1916 when Hudson returned to England during WWI, renaming the enterprise “Hudson-Stocks & Co.” After deciding to stay permanently in England, Hudson asked Stocks in 1918 to buy out his partnership. Instead Stocks made a purchase from Hudson and his Penticton partner, Ken Chadwick, for the photography firm there and moved his family to the Penticton area.
Lumb Stocks’ second son, Jack Stocks, took over the business upon his father’s death in 1947, and maintained the Stocks Photography until his own untimely death in 1979.

Scope and content
Subseries consists of photographic record captured by Lumb Stocks and/or Jack Stocks and/or on behalf of Stocks Camera Shop, Penticton BC. These are commercial, professional photographs and the Collection features an insignificant number of portraits or candid shots. The majority of the photographs were created during the lifetime of Lumb Stocks, and a minority by Jack Stocks, his successor.
Subseries documents landscapes, city scenes, events, disasters, buildings, and landmarks associated with Penticton, BC, primarily during the first half of the twentieth century.
Suite of postcards features a small subset of hand-tinted examples.

Subseries consists of copied photographic materials attributed to photographer R.D. Symonds per various identifying annotations by Doug Cox. Geographical coverage is predominantly the south Okanagan - Kaleden and Okanagan Falls - with predominant association with the ranching industry.

Subseries consists of the accumulation of research materials compiled by Doug Cox in support of his author and historian function, and presumed compiled predominantly during the 1980s and 1990s. This series is defined by its collection and/or photocopying from existing published sources and/or other resources, for which the originals reside both within and without the Cox Collection.
Subseries is composed predominantly of original and photocopied tear sheets from various periodical publications (with emphasis on the annual reports of the Okanagan Historical Society, which have been digitized in full up to 2015), monograph publications, photocopied photographs with identifying annotations, photocopies of correspondence, some original correspondence, and notes.

The Okanagan Syilx People have lived in the lands stewarded by the Penticton Indian Band since time immemorial, well before the onset of European settlement in the region. Today the Band is a member of the Okanagan Nation Alliance. Subseries consists primarily of photographs and associated interpretive notes, captions, and other materials.

The Okanagan Syilx People have lived in the lands (Osoyoos, Oliver) stewarded by the Osoyoos Indian Band since time immemorial, well before the onset of European settlement in the region. Today the Band is a member of the Okanagan Nation Alliance. Consists primarily of photographs and associated interpretive notes, captions, and other materials.

The Similkameen people have a history with the land that spans thousands of years in what is now Washington State and the Province of British Columbia. Subseries consists primarily of photographs and associated interpretive notes, captions, and other materials. Includes draft of "Natives of the Okanagan & Similkameen.”

Fonds consists of the compiled works and supporting documents of Peter Carl Anderson with reference to his career as playwright, actor, writer, and artist. The fonds is arranged into nine series: Acting; Art; Awards; Correspondence; Photographs; Personal Publicity; Writing; Produced Plays; and Caravan Farm Theatre files.

Series consists of documentation of the acting activities of Peter Carl Anderson, including such productions as Beckett and Arsenic and Old Lace as well as The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat, Anderson’s first performance. Records include scripts, notes, cards, programmes, and newspaper articles.

Series consists of artifacts, general files, photographs, sound recordings and ephemera (publicity predominant).

Series consists of letters and other correspondence received by Peter Carl Anderson, including praise and accolades, as well as rejection slips, and personal family correspondence.

Series consists of press and media coverage of Peter Carl Anderson in response to his artistic and dramatic outputs. Includes some publicity ephemera, such as production posters and programs. Includes video recordings of Anderson’s activities for communications or publicity purposes. Other records include clippings and tearsheets.

Series consists of plays written by Peter Carl Anderson and related documentation leading to and reflective of performance of live theatre. Comprised of scripts, sheet music, rehearsal and production notes, administrative files, publicity, photographs, and audio recordings of performances. Plays covered include Caravan Farm Theatre Productions such as Animal Farm; Bull By The Horns; Caravan Music Revue; Hands Up!; Head Over Heels; Horseplay; Law of the Land; Sleigh Ride Christmas Carol; The Ballad of Weedy Peetstraw; The Blue Horse; and The Coyotes.

Series consists of visual art, including digital.

Series consists of documentation of the award nominations and award receipts of Peter Carl Anderson. Awards include the Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards (“Jessies”) and the Hopwood Awards, among others. Records include clippings, tearsheets, application forms, and general awards dockets.

Series consists of photographs, including scans and born digital photographs, depicting Peter Carl Anderson as subject. Spanning childhood, career, and life leading toward retirement. Many productions, not related to Caravan Farm Theatre, are described in the digital file names.

Series consists unpublished writing, including music composition. Also consists of criticism and editorial work. 35 books, with full or partial authorship, editorship, or other association attributed to Peter Carl have been separated from the fonds and catalogued as items. See: Books and Pamphlets.

Collection consists of the documentation of Cox’s career as an historian and author. The collection is comprised predominantly of photographic material. There are approximately 15,000 unique photographic images: prints in various standard dimensions (8"x10", 5"x7", 4"x6" and smaller, with some custom dimensions, predominantly in black and white; slide transparencies in black and white and colour; negatives, (120, 35mm, and 4”x5”) in black and white; digital photographs in black and white and colour contained on CDs and one hard drive.
Photographic coverage extends from ca.1870 to approximately 2008, with the period 1900-1970s predominant. Original photographs by Doug Cox cover the 1970s through approximately 2008. A significant proportion of photographs not attributed to Cox are copies. Many are reciprocally described via resources available via Okanagan Archives Trust Society.
The collection also includes audio cassettes containing interviews recorded in the 1980s and 1990s with associated transcriptions by Joyce Cox. Government documents (primarily Province of British Columbia, c. 1910-1960s) include topographical maps, tree farm license maps, mineral claims maps, taxation records, forestry examination sketches and other records.

Fonds consists exclusively of a series of portfolios documenting BCFGA conventions from 1932 to 2015. These portfolios contain reports and briefs; letters; agendas, proceedings and resolutions; Presidential addresses; committee and subcommittee records.