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Archival description
Exploration, discovery and travel With digital objects
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Derek Lukin Johnston autograph collection

  • RBSC-ARC-1292
  • Fonds
  • [1759-1980]

The collection consists of letters signed by prominent historical figures including Napoleon I, Winston Churchill, Benjamin Disraeli, John Jellicoe, Robert Peel, William Pitt, August-Norbert Morin, and the Duke of Wellington.

British Columbia historical postcard and photograph albums collection

  • RBSC-ARC-1059
  • Fonds
  • [ca. 1860-1939], predominant [ca. 1900]-1921

The collection consists of ninety-one albums of postcards and photographs pertaining to views and scenes mainly in British Columbia, but also including Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and the Yukon as well as Europe. The views of British Columbia include views of the Rocky Mountains, Vancouver, Victoria, Mayne Island, and Buttle Lake (pre-1911) as well as those of logging (Capilano Timber Co., 1917-1920), mining (Granby Consolidated Mining, Smelting and Power Co. and Consolidated Cariboo Hydraulic Mining Co.) railways (Canadian Pacific Railway, Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway, and Great Northern Railway) and shipping. In addition, there are postcards and photographs of the Hudson's Bay Company Kamchatka Venture, 1921, U.S. Civil War portraits and New Zealand shipping.

John Cooper Robinson collection

  • RBSC-ARC-1757
  • Collection
  • [1870] – [1955]

Fonds consists of over 4,600 photographic prints, negatives, glass lantern slides, and postcards, the majority of which were either taken or collected by Robinson. Many of the photographs relate to Robinson’s work as an Anglican missionary in Japan in the 1890’s through the 1920’s. These photographs document a unique time in the Japan’s history: the Meiji-Taisho period when the country was transitioning away from being a feudal society and beginning to open up to the West. This collection is one of the few comprehensive records of this time period. Subject matter of the photographs includes everyday life, work, and scenery in Japan, as well as the lives and works of missionaries.

Also included in the collection are photographs from Canada and the Robinson family’s travels around the world, as well as reproductions of missionary and religious texts or graphics.

While many of the photographs were taken by Robinson, others were taken by his children, professional photographers, or unidentified individuals.

The fonds also includes 10 maps of Japan used during Robinson’s missionary work, some with annotations of proposed Canadian jurisdictions in Japan.

Robinson, John Cooper

Lilian Bland fonds

  • RBSC-ARC-1792
  • Fonds
  • ca. 1875 - 1935

The fonds consists of 1,398 glass plate negatives, glass lantern slides, celluloid prints and celluloid negatives, the majority of which were taken by Lilian Bland. The photographs reflect the varied and unique life of Lilian Bland and her family. The fonds includes several photographs of the Mayfly, the bi-plane Lilian famously designed, constructed, and flew. Other photographic subjects include horse-riding and horse-racing, Lilian's fathers' artwork, her husbands' travels in China, family photographs, birds and bird-watching, her travels in Europe, California, and British Columbia, and photographs documenting her years spent as a settler living on the Quatsino Sound in Vancouver Island and in California with her family.
Other record types in the fonds include Lilian Bland’s unpublished memoir, and the original enclosures for the photographs including boxes, envelopes, and box lists.
The finding aid for the fonds, attached as a PDF, includes a spreadsheet of images as they were received upon donation to Rare Books and Special Collections. A brief description created by the donor is available for each image in the finding aid.

Bland, Lilian Emily

Gilean Douglas Fonds

  • RBSC-ARC-1168
  • Fonds
  • ca. 1880 - 1993

The fonds consists of the personal records of Gilean Douglas which were produced and received during her personal and literary activities . It includes manuscripts of poems, articles, short fiction and books ; material generated and collected by Douglas during her involvement with various organizations ; notes and drafts of various writings ; research materials ; an extensive professional, fan and personal correspondence; financial records ; legal records ; lists and inventories ; records of publication ; clippings. There are journals and engagement books dating from 1911, notebooks and address books, and scrapbooks containing clippings of Douglas' published articles and poems . There are also scrapbooks and correspondence generated by her parents dating back to the 1880s. There is a notable gap in records dating from 1929 to 1932.

Photographic records date from the 1890s to the I990sand include prints, framed portraits, slides, negatives and film strips. A large assortment of photos documents her family and childhood. Douglas started taking photographs as a child. By her early twenties she was an accomplished photographer, using her own pictures to illustrate her writings. Photographs taken by her during the 1920s through the early 1940s are for the most part found in the albums. Pictures taken in the 1950s and 1960s fall into 3 main categories : black & white photos of the B .C. coast taken during her trips on the boats of the Columbia Coast Mission, color and black & white photos of communities in B .C. and eastern Canada taken during her trips for the W.I ., and pictures of Channel Rock . Unfortunately the slides and pictures taken on WI trips are unlabelled and for the most part can only be identified as to general location and date. During the 1970s and 1980s the photographs are almost exclusively of Channel Rock. A representative sample of these is included in this series ; others may be found at the Cortes Museum and Archives.

Aside from Douglas' own photographs, there are several interesting groups of other people's pictures in this collection: an album with pictures of overseas service during World War I, a group of labelled photographs of Baffin Island, Pangirtung, etc. taken in 1926/27 by an RCMP officer, and photographs from a trip around the world on a freighter in 1919.

The records offer insight into Douglas' personal history and literary development . They document, in words and pictures, an unusual and interesting life which began at the turn of the twentieth century.

Douglas, Gilean

Luggage label collection

  • RBSC-ARC-1651
  • Collection
  • [ca. 1910-1919]

Collection consists of 38 examples of decorative luggage labels from hotels in various locales, including British Columbia, Asian and European cities.

Mildred Fahrni fonds

  • RBSC-ARC-1183
  • Fonds
  • [ca. 1910-1992]

The fonds contains records related to Fahrni’s involvement with
various organizations including the Kerala Balagram School, and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and Fahrni’s activities as a lecture at various conferences and institutions. The majority of these records are arranged into subject, or research files, and represent Fahrni’s active involvement with a variety of human rights issues and local, National and social justice organizations.
The fonds includes correspondence, subject files, newspaper clippings, sound recordings, lecture notes, speeches, and conference and lecture notes. The fonds also includes photographs, slides, and albums documenting Fahrni’s family, life in British Columbia and trip to various locations overseas.
The fonds consists of 28 broadcasts and talks on the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, relief camps and related political topics of the depression on CJOR, Vancouver. It also includes correspondence and subject files relating to her interests in peace and women's movements.

Fahrni, Mildred, d. 1992

Frederick Howay fonds

  • RBSC-ARC-1258
  • Fonds
  • 1786-1943

The fonds consists of correspondence, subject files, financial records, speeches, photographs, notes, and a journal, pertaining to Howay, as well as manuscripts and essays on B.C. history and exploration and marine trade off its coastal waters. In addition, Howay created subject files on historical sites and monuments throughout Western Canada, including Barkerville, the Cariboo, Fort Langley, Cut Knife Hill, Nootka Sound, Fort Steele, and Fort Walsh.

Howay, Frederick William

John Crosse fonds

  • RBSC-ARC-1150
  • Fonds
  • 1985-2006

Fonds consists of Crosse's research notes, journals and annotated photocopies regarding the marine history of British Columbia. This material was primarily generated by Crosse in the course of his research activities from 1985-2006, but the fonds also contains annotated reproductions of numerous rare maps created in the late 1700s. The textual and photographic records have been arranged by Crosse primarily according to the subjects of his research. There are three series of cartographic material which are roughly arranged according to geographical area.
The first accrual relates to Crosse's research into early explorations of British Columbia’s coast. Accrual contains research notes, maps, photographs and correspondence. Two series are accruals to series in the first accession: they are the Manby research material series and the Narvaez research material series. Accrual also contains the Research papers and archival material series, the Miscellaneous research maps and oversized items series and the Panoramic photographs series.
Second and third accruals relate to the late eighteenth century exploration of the coast of British Columbia and the Northwestern United States, as well as information on Imperial Spain, the British Empire, and sailing ships in general. Records incorporated into Narvaez research materials series and research papers and archival material series. New series created include Alaska series, Nootka series, Columbia river exploration series, and correspondence series. Records include photocopies of primary source maps, charts, illustrations, letters, logs, and journals. Materials also include book chapters from secondary source materials, photographs of sailing trips that followed the course of the Narvaez expedition, correspondence with other researchers or persons relevant to Crosse's areas of interest, and charts produced between 1980 and 2000.

Crosse, John

Grace MacInnis fonds

  • RBSC-ARC-1339
  • Fonds
  • 1900-1987

The fonds consists of correspondence, printed material, video and audio cassettes, photographs, notebooks, diaries and speech material reflecting the political career and personal life of MacInnis.

MacInnis, Grace

Toni Onley fonds

  • RBSC-ARC-1419
  • Fonds
  • 1962-2001

The fonds consists of correspondence, diaries, log books, manuscripts, photographs, records books, gallery files, subject files, and printed material relating to Onleys career as an artist, including a record of work, sales, donations, and disputes with Revenue Canada about the taxation of visual artists. A sketchbook entitled "LEternite Cest De Trouver De Que Tu As Deja" combines the poetry of Claude Peloquin with 51 watercolours by Onley relating to his Arctic voyages.

Onley, Toni, 1928-2004

MacMillan Bloedel Limited fonds

  • RBSC-ARC-1343
  • Fonds
  • 1861-1992

The records in the MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. fonds span from 1866 to 2002. They represent the records of the three major predecessor companies, - Powell River Company; Bloedel, Stewart & Welch; and H.R. MacMillan Export - as well as records of the amalgamated corporations - MacMillan& Bloedel; MacMillan, Bloedel and Powell River; and MacMillan Bloedel Limited. Each of the original predecessor companies had a distinctive function, Powell River Company was a pulp and paper operation focused on the manufacturing of newsprint paper; Bloedel, Stewart, and Welch was a logging company whose main activities included acquiring timber lands and harvesting timber; H.R. MacMillan Export was a lumber trade and export company. When H.R. MacMillan Export and Bloedel, Stewart, and Welch joined in 1956 to form MacMillan and Bloedel Ltd., and then when Powell River Company joined in 1960, the resultant records of these amalgamations reflected all of the previously separated functions, and evidence the vertical integration of MacMillan Bloedel Ltd.

Records subjects include all aspects of the private Forestry industry, including: acquisition of title, licences, and leases to land, timber, and water rights; mapping, inventorying and cruising forests; building and maintaining access to timber resources via land and water; methods of harvesting timber, disposing of slash, and reforesting previously forested areas; methods of processing timber to make lumber and wood products, including pulp and paper; studies and reports on wood products ,the lumber trade and national and global markets; management of personnel and relations with labour unions; acquisitions of companies in allied industries; marketing of wood products; and responding to shifts in economy, public perception, British Columbian government legislation and industry regulations, and the legal recognition of the land and water rights of First Nations.

The records primarily relate to and originate from British Columbia, though some records are directly related to the creators’ relationships with, forestry operations on, and concerns in other nations and regions including; Florida and Alabama in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Japan and China, Southeast Asia and South America.

Records in the fonds have been divided into six separate sous-fonds to reflect the corporate body they originated from: MacMillan Bloedel Limited sous-fonds, Powell River Company sous-fonds, H.R. MacMillan Export sous-fonds, Bloedel, Stewart, and Welch sous-fonds, MacMillan and Bloedel sous-fonds, and MacMillan, Bloedel, and Powell River sous-fonds.

Within each of these sous-fonds records are further arranged into series, subseries, and in some cases sub-sub series to reflect the creating body and specific record type.

Record types consist of a wide variety of textual records including correspondence, meeting minutes, annual reports, ledgers, studies, tax records and workers’ compensation records, timber cruise reports, marketing materials, manuals, transcripts of narrative histories, financial records, news clippings, daily journals, receipts, contracts, and more. Non-textual records include individual photographs and photograph albums documenting individuals and business processes in the Forestry industry, as well as over 1,000 maps, primarily of British Columbia, and audiotapes, sound-recordings, films, ephemera and artefacts.

MacMillan Bloedel

Walter Sheppe fonds

  • RBSC-ARC-1497
  • Fonds
  • 1959-1965

The fonds consists of subject files, correspondence, photographs, book reviews and research notes arising from the work on his book First Man West: Alexander Mackenzie's Account of His Expedition Across North America to the Pacific in 1793.

Sheppe, Walter

Herbert Shearer fonds

  • RBSC-ARC-1494
  • Fonds
  • 1893-1903

The fonds consists of photocopied typescripts of Shearer's notes on his travels from Montreal to Europe (1893), Montreal to Agassiz, B.C. (1893-1897) and his ports of call while serving naval duty in the Mediterranean, Red and Black Seas (1899-1903).

Shearer, Herbert William

James Barclay fonds

  • RBSC-ARC-1024
  • Fonds
  • [ca. 1904]-1956

The fonds consists of photographs, mainly pertaining to Barclay's activities in China (1900s-1920s), Oregon (1920s), and B.C. (1930s-1950s) as well as related correspondence, memorabilia and clippings.

Barclay, James Bow, 1903-1964

John Steelquist fonds

  • RBSC-ARC-1530
  • Fonds
  • 1972-1978

The fonds consists of Steelquist's aerial views of Nootka Sound and Friendly Cove, as well as a map of the area, pertaining to Captain James Cook's voyage there.

Steelquist, John

Kathleen Weeks fonds

  • RBSC-ARC-1605
  • Fonds
  • [19--]

The fonds consists of Weeks' writings which primarily relate to British Columbia history and historical figures. These include "Heroes of Victoria's Streets", "Outposts of Empire: Victoria B.C." and several about Captain Vancouver. The fonds also includes pictures of historical figures and of British Columbia scenery.

Weeks, Kathleen Stubington

Seaboard Lumber Sales Company and Seaboard Shipping Company fonds

  • RBSC-ARC-1488
  • Fonds
  • 1930-1983

The fonds consists of corporate records, a research collection of Seaboard historical material used in the preparation of a corporate history, John A. Humbird's journals of his overseas trips for Seaboard (1937-1945) and photographs of Seaboard personnel, delegations, ships, ports, logging operations, and sawmills.

Seaboard Lumber Sales Company

R.C. (Bob) Harris fonds

  • RBSC-ARC-1664
  • Fonds
  • 1835-1998

Fonds consists mostly of cartographic materials relating to reconnaissance trips taken by R.C. Harris. The maps are both historic and those drawn up by Harris for his trips, incorporating old trails on current maps. While the inclusive dates of the map collection are from 1835 - 1981, the majority of these maps were created from 1880 -1930. They are organized according to a personal classification system maintained by R.C. Harris. The remainder of the fonds consists of surveys, plans, photos, correspondence, topographical notes, magazine and newspaper clippings, Harris research notes, books, reports, brochures, photocopies, and book reviews.

Harris, Robert

John Stanwell-Fletcher fonds

  • RBSC-ARC-1525
  • Fonds
  • 1936-1940

The fonds consists of materials generated during the period that the creator visited the B.C. Interior. Fonds includes photographs, sketchbook, and offprint of articles describing the sojourn.

Stanwell-Fletcher, John F.