Records include material pertaining to three prominent Victoria families: the W.E. Olivers, the W.C. Wards, and the E.P. Gillespies The bulk of the textual records were produced by W.E. Oliver and are related to his career at the University of Edinburgh and his real estate investments on Vancouver Island, including the Cowichan Lake Hotel. W.E. Oliver's papers contain material regarding his friend Warburton Pike, author and adventurer. Oliver handled Pike's estate when he died. Also included is the correspondence of Oliver's future son-in-law, Erroll P. Gillespie, a soldier serving in World War I. His letters provide a good picture of a Canadian soldier's life in training camp and on active service in Europe. There are also letters from his brothers, Sholto and Ronald, from the trenches, hospitals and prisoner of war camps of World War I. The collection also includes Nina Woolliams' research notes on the Douglas Lake Ranch, which was owned by W.E. Oliver's father-in-law, W.C. Ward.

William Edgar Oliver immigrated to Canada from Scotland in 1895. He had been at Edinburgh University, 1883-1890, and studied for the Scottish bar. His university papers provide information about his education and numerous extracurricular activities. He wrote stories and articles on politics for a local newspaper while he was in university and was active in many societies. When he arrived in Victoria in 1895 he entered into a law partnership with Gordon Hunter and Lyman Poore Duff. In 1896 he married Mary Eleanor Ward, daughter of the manager of the Bank of British Columbia, William C. Ward. They had one daughter, Beatrice Lydia Catharine Oliver (known as Catherine). She handled Oliver's business affairs after his death. Catherine married Erroll Pilkington Gillespie in 1921.

W.E. Oliver was active in local government. He was the first Reeve of the Municipality of Oak Bay for the years 1906-1908 and made an unsuccessful bid to be mayor of Victoria in 1911. He continued to serve in municipal affairs as Reeve in 1912, 1914 and 1915. Oliver had a wide range of investments, including real estate in the city of Victoria and surrounding municipalities and shares in a variety of companies. He also owned land in the Lake Cowichan area. He was part of the syndicate that developed Golf Links Park subdivision on Newport Avenue in Oak Bay and was involved in developing other subdivisions as well. His real estate and other investments are well documented through indentures, conveyances, financing, mortgages, balance sheets, share certificates, and other relevant papers.

Alden Wesley Huson (1832-1911), also known as West Huson, was a Vancouver Island entrepreneur, promoter, trader, and businessman with interests in a salmon saltery and cannery at Alert Bay, a coal mine at Suquash near Fort Rupert, and a quarry on Haddington Island.
A.H. Huson, also known as “West” Huson, was born in Oneonta, New York in 1832, the son of David Tomkin Huson and Sally Jackson. A.W. Huson arrived in British Columbia in 1858, and by 1867 he was living in Victoria and running the Adelphi Saloon. He established a close friendship with the photographer Stephen A. Spencer and opened a salmon saltery at Alert Bay on Cormorant Island, with Spencer acting as his agent in Victoria. Huson had obtained a lease to the entire island around 1870 and established a cannery, but by 1880 his lease was reduced to 160 acres as a result of the allotment of most of the island as an Indian Reserve. He transferred his interest in the cannery to Spencer in 1884. Huson married Mary Lyons, a First Nations woman from Alaska, also known as Ekegat, in 1873, and adopted her son Charlie Lyons. They had at least 9 children together. Although his wife and most of his family lived at Alert Bay, Huson travelled to Victoria frequently in order to trade and negotiate business deals, and later to visit his granddaughter Stella. He eventually moved to Victoria permanently. In his later life, Huson attempted to sue various parties over his rights to the property on Haddington Island. He died in Alert Bay in 1911.
The records consist of correspondence, invoices, receipts, agreements, land and tax records, a genealogy of A.W. Huson’s ancestors, and one photograph of A.W. Huson’s stepson, Charlie Lyons Huson.
The correspondence is primarily inward correspondence to A.W. Huson from his father David T. Huson, his sister Elizabeth Huson, his wife Mary, children Charlie [aka Charley], Spencer, Alfred, David, and George, grand-daughter Stella, friends such as Stephen Spencer, and other business associates. Huson’s stepson Charley lived for a time with Stephen Spencer and his wife “Em” in Victoria while attending school.

The records document the business activities of an early entrepreneur on Vancouver Island, and the life of a significant historical figure on Vancouver Island.

Of particular note is an 1871 letter from Father Leon Fouquet of the Jesuit Mission on Harbledown Island offering to vaccinate Huson’s children against smallpox (File 1); four letters (1874-1878) from Stephen A. Spencer in File 2; 1895 and 1897 letters written by Alfred J. Huson while a student at the Coqualeetza Indian Institute (File 4), and letters from Stella Pamphlet in Files 7 and 8, written while she was a child. Stella was the daughter of Ada Elvina Huson and Frederick William Pamphlet. There are also letters from James McGrath, who ran a store in Alert Bay, Stephen Cook, and A. Mouat of Barkerville.

Barry McClung transcribed many of the letters, and the transcriptions are filed with the originals.

Notebook/diary compiled while enumerating Coast Districts "B" and "C" for 1891 Dominion census. Notebook portions consist of rough notes re: the population and industrial establishments between Rivers Inlet and Port Simpson (District "B") and in the Queen Charlotte Islands (District "C"). Diary portions begin 26 June 1891 and chronicle journey from Moodyville to Rivers Inlet, Port Essington, Port Simpson, and Queen Charlottes via steamers NAGASAKI and NELL. Diary concludes at journey's end, 28 August 1891, in Victoria.

Cash journal.

The item is a documentary film. "'A film dealing with the salmon fisheries on the world's greatest salmon stream, showing the methods of catching and the preparation of fish in the canneries. This is one of the series of subjects on Canada's extensive fisheries.' Map of Canada, pointing to the Skeena, then a map of British Columbia with the Skeena being pointed out. Fish boats strung across the mouth of the Skeena on a cloudy day, engaged in drift-netting. Broadside shot of fishing trawler "Jedway" with many smaller sailboats in tow. Long Line of small boats from astern, good [close-ups] of boats in tow. Once at the fishing ground the small boats break away, hoist their sails and head for a likely spot. Gill-netting only is allowed, so boats let out nets, one man rowing, the other tending net. The men pull their nets in to reveal their catch. [Log shot of] cannery from the river. Nets drying at a cannery, a boy on the wharf mending his net, an old timer with beard in an iris shot. The salmon, still alive, are placed aboard a trawler and taken to the cannery. Crates of salmon being lifted off trawler onto the wharf and then moved into the cannery shed. Fish being gutted in the cannery. The backbone is removed. Rows of girls washing the fillets. The salmon are packed in bulk and mildly cured, with a little salt, in barrels. A barrel is sealed. The barrels are rolled out onto the wharf and loaded onto a steamer for "eastern canneries" or "foreign countries". [Long shot of] the steamer sailing away in an iris." (Colin Browne)

Industrial film. Fishing for pink salmon off the Queen Charlotte Islands. Prince Rupert scenes. Sequence at Clover Leaf Packers canning plant -- unloading salmon from boat, footage of cannery operations, machinery and workers, and stacked cans awaiting shipment. Special plant to convert fishery by-products to cattle and poultry feed. Return to Vancouver, entering Burrard Inlet (before construction of Lion's Gate Bridge).