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Simpson Family fonds
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Simpson Family fonds

  • CA OSC-ARC-02
  • Fonds
  • 1904-1994, predominant 1924-1965

The fonds consists of two separate streams of documentation. The first consists of documents, photographs, and artifacts pertaining to the operations of a succession of sawmills and wood manufacturing plants founded by Stanley Merriam Simpson) and assumed by his son, Horace B. Simpson in the Okanagan area.
The second stream consists of the materials generated by Sharron J. Simpson, a Kelowna author, publisher, and activist. Sharron J. Simpson's records within this aggregation are primarily in relation to legal proceedings against the City of Kelowna in pursuit of the maintenance of the Simpson Covenant, which limits use of waterfront land on a former mill site sold by S.M. Simpson to the City under restrictive terms of sale in 1946. In the 2000s, the City sought to dissolve the Covenant; Sharron J. Simpson founded a society to challenge this initiative.
In total fonds consists of approximately 2,642 photographs, in various forms, including some duplicates. Records provide documentation of legal proceedings, finances, substantial mill operations, safety initiatives, administration, civic engagement, publicity, and labour relations relating to mill business, general family research, and writing samples. Artifacts include exemplars of production and souvenir materials.

Simpson, Stanley Merriam

S.M. Simpson Ltd.

Series consists of records generated by the business activities Stanley M. Simpson, the corporation he founded (S.M.S. Ltd) and its various subsidiaries between 1906 and 1965, when S.M.S. Ltd. was purchased by Crown Zellerbach Canada Ltd.
Series documents the operations of several sawmills and wood manufacturing plants, forestry harvesting operations, and retail outlets owned by S.M.S. Ltd. operating throughout the Central Okanagan, predominantly during the mid twentieth century.
Series includes an extensive collection of artifacts, robust photographic record, and company records.
Series descriptions within this sous fonds continue at 2.1.2.

S.M. Simpson Ltd.

S.M. Simpson Ltd. Financial Files

Subseries consists of remaining financial records describing the debits and credits of S.M. Simpson prior to the founding of S.M. Simpson Ltd, as well as those generated as a natural by-product of operations of the enterprise, S.M. Simpson Ltd.
Contents of series include banking records, invoices, company financial reports, and payroll & remittances to Workman’s Compensation (currently known as WorkSafe BC).

S.M. Simpson Ltd.

S.M. Simpson Ltd. sous fonds

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.

S.M. Simpson Ltd. Operations Files

Subseries consists of contractor information, mill operations specifications and rules, notes, reports, customer and sales information, compiled descriptions of forestry sites, strategic planning, and geographical resources

S.M. Simpson Ltd.

S.M. Simpson Ltd. Photographs

The subseries consists of commissioned commercial photography (portraits, candids, aerials) carried out primarily by three firms (Aero Surveys Ltd., ca. 1948 to 1958; Jennings Ltd. Photography, ca. 1971 to 1974; and Hans Giesen of British Columbia Ltd. ca.1973). None of these firms have a current detectable presence. Other commercial photographers include Jack Cash Photographic Studio, Pope's Studio, Paul Ponich, Kermode Studio, and Ribelin Photography. Of these, only Pope's Studio is clearly still extant. Other photographs originate from the mill(s) proper, and yet others have been collected from third parties' personal photo collections (acquired or copcopied) by Sharron J. Simpson. There are a total of approximately 2,350 images in the form of photographs, scans & photocopies on paper, slide transparencies, negatives, and contact prints documenting mill business (under various nomenclature and ownership) during the years ca. 1910 to 1994, in colour and black & white, with sizes ranging from oversize posters to 10x12cm prints.

S.M. Simpson Ltd.

1910s – 1930s Early Days.

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.

Sharron J. Simpson Research

Various newspaper clippings and copied tear sheets, annotated by Sharron J. Simpson. Originals date from ca. 1918, but all materials presumed copied around 1999.

Oversize photographs.

Contains some oversized photos described as part of box 1 and three folders of various copied photographs, predominantly on tabloid sized paper. Contains approximately 42 b&w photographic prints larger than 25cmx20cm or mounted in album larger than 25x20cm, and approximately 80 photocopied photographs on tabloid sized paper.

Contractor Log

Listing of contractors engaged in logging operations and record of deliveries. Pages separated by location.

S.M. Simpson Ltd. Labour Relations Files

Subseries consists of documentation of the interactions between S.M. Simpson Ltd. and its workforce.
Includes union documents featuring collective agreements, union charters, legal records of dispute, seniority lists, wage lists, payroll records, and pension plan documents,

S.M. Simpson Ltd.

S.M. Simpson Ltd. Administrative Files

Subseries contains documentation of the auxiliary functions of S.M. Simpson Ltd. carried out in support of substantive mill and wood processing operations.
Includes correspondence, meeting minutes, organizational chart, and document register.

S.M. Simpson Ltd.

S.M. Simpson Ltd. Legal Files

Subseries consists of legal records including contracts, briefs, land titles, licenses, patents created by S.M.S. Ltd.

S.M. Simpson Ltd.

S.M. Simpson Ltd. Artifacts

Subseries consists of various artifacts in wood, metal, fabric, paper and other materials, generated in the normal pursuit of business by S.M. Simpson and/or deliberately created as souvenirs.

S.M. Simpson Ltd.

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