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John Smith fonds
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- Source of title proper: Title based on the contents of the fonds.
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Fonds
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17 cm of textual records;1 cd-rom
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Biographical history
John Smith was born on May 28, 1859 in Crownthorpe, Norfolk County, England. In 1887, he married Frances Rose Middleton. Together they had four children: John Douglas, Arthur Middleton, Lucy Margaret and Olga Marie. Smith was a graduate chemist in Norwich before immigrating to Canada in 1892, where he purchased and farmed a homestead above Pitt River, northeast of Port Coquitlam in British Columbia.;He and his wife were active in the community of Port Coquitlam, and helped to establish its Anglican church. His wife Rose was the first women to hold civic office in Port Coquitlam when she was elected as a school trustee in 1913. During his time in British Columbia, Smith held many public positions. He was appointed Municipal Clerk of the Municipality of Port Coquitlam in 1899. In 1900 he was named Justice of the Peace for the counties of Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver, Westminster, Yale, Cariboo and Kootenay. He became a Police Magistrate for the City of Port Coquitlam in 1913. He was City Clerk of Port Coquitlam from the time it was incorporated in 1913 to 1937. In 1923 he became Justice of the Peace for British Columbia. He was the Stipendiary Magistrate for Counties of Vancouver and Westminster from 1933 to 1945.;In 1989 Smith travelled to the Yukon and kept an account of his experiences in a diary. This diary was later published in the British Columbia Historical Quarterly in 1952 with an introduction and annotations by Walter N. Sage. He died on January 24, 1950, at the age of 90.
Custodial history
Donated by Philip A. Jones, grandson of John Smith, on March 27, 2007.
Scope and content
The fonds contains 14 of John Smiths diaries, starting on July 14th, 1892, and running until December 19th, 1949. (There are no diaries for the periods between March 1, 1901 to May 31, 1903 or February 24, 1912 to December 31 1922.) The first diary records his emigration to Canada and purchase of his homestead. The rest record daily activities and weather conditions relating to operation of his farm, the community, and family life.;A separate diary was kept by Smith when he traveled to the Yukon from March 15 to August 31, 1898. This diary was transcribed by his daughter Olga in the late 1940s. In 1952 this diary was published in the British Columbia Historical Quarterly, with an introduction and annotations by Walter N. Sage. The diary was thought to have been donated to the provincial archives, although no record of the donation exists. A copy of the published article by Sage is included in the fonds. During Smiths absence, his wife Rose maintained the diary recording the daily events of their homestead. The fonds also contains four letters patent appointing Smith to public office, and one letters patent rescinding one of these appointments.