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Archival description
Frontier and pioneer life--British Columbia
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O'Reilly family records

The fonds consists of the diaries, correspondence, notebooks, survey field books, accounts, business and personal papers, photographs, watercolours, maps, and ephemera created by members of the O'Reilly family between 1830 and 1992. These records reflect the family's role as part of the inner circle of administrators during the colonial period and as part of Victoria's upper middle class, until the death of Peter O'Reilly in 1905. They also document the everyday activities and events in the life of the family. These records were previously catalogued at the item level in the Old Catalogue, primarily using classification A/E/OR3, and as MS-0412 O'Reilly family, MS-0248 O'Reilly family and MS-2086 Caroline O'Reilly. In 2001 the records were rearranged into a single fonds in preparation for a microfilming project. Records which belonged to the Trutch family (MS-2897), Edgar Dewdney (MS-2898), Weir family (MS-2896) and the William Curtis Ward (MS-2899) were removed from these collections and described separately.

Provincial Archives of British Columbia audio interviews, 1974-1992

  • GR-3377
  • Series
  • 1974-1992

The series consists of oral history interviews recorded by staff members and research associates of the Provincial Archives of B.C. Major subject areas include: political history (especially the Coalition era, the W.A.C. Bennett years, and David Barrett's NDP government); ethnic groups (including Chinese- and Japanese-Canadans); frontier and pioneer life; the forest industry; B.C. art and artists; the history of photography, filmmaking and radio broadcasting in the province; and the history of Victoria High School.

The interviewers include: Kathryn Bridge, Janet Cauthers, David Day, Patrick Dunae, Terry Eastwood, Merna Forster, Eric Gee, Frances Gundry, Maya Koizumi, W.J. Langlois, Charles Lillard, Theresa Low, Indiana Matters, David Mattison, Patriick May, David Mitchell, Constantine Nikitiuk, Andrew Petter, Derek Reimer, Allen W. Specht, Loree Stewart, and Reuben Ware.

Gladys King interview

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): History of the King family of Saltspring Island RECORDED: [location unknown], [198-?] SUMMARY: Mrs. King describes the history of her family, from her grandfather's shipping business (based in Europe) to the family settling on Saltspring Island. Most of the tape is about their life on Saltspring.

Jack and Marguerite Aye interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1985 SUMMARY: Jack and Marguerite Aye talk about life in the Kootenay River Valley (now flooded by Lake Koocanusa) from the 1900s to the 1960s. The interviews centre around the Adolph family and the settlements of Waldo, Elko, Jaffray and Baynes Lake.

Lawrence Guichon interview : [Willis, ca. 1960]

The item consists of an audio reel recording of an interview with Lawrence P. Guichon, a rancher in the Nicola Region. In the interview Guichon discusses his father's immigration from France, his mining and ranching experiences in Canada, and some of the other pioneers of the Nicola Region.

The item also includes a partial, unedited transcript of the interview stored in container 000343-0156.

The interview was recorded around 1960 by Thomas Garnet Willis.

James Tegart interview

RECORDED: Brisco (B.C.), 1983-12 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Arthur Tegart homesteaded at Windermere in 1886. Guided hunters in early 1900s. Guiding supplemented farm income. Bob and Buster continued family outfit after 1925. Jim Tegart stated about 1929; own outfit in 1943. Used wild horses in pack string for a total of forty. Areas hunted. Built trail in Squaw, Lodgepole, Marion Creeks, White River. Indian hunting trail from Kananaskis. Game, roads, and decline. Tegart Pass and Mountain. Jim Thompson guided. Tents reverted to cabins on Albert River, Tipperary Falls, Queen Mary Creek. Frequent fly-camping. Names of old time game wardens. Albertans hunted the Palliser. TRACK 2: Austrian hunters. Woman hunter, 69 years old. Lost supplies fording a river. Doreen cooked for most parties; an all day job. Daughters have cooked, sons did guiding. Old area outfitters; Jim and Gordon McKay, Upper Kootenay, Beaverfoot, Bill Harrison, Alpine Club. Big Bend Highway work. Banff/Jasper highway packing. Rode a horse to death. Hunted in the Purcell Mountains. One-armed hunter.

Mary Inglin interview

RECORDED: Ganges (B.C.), 1983-03-02 SUMMARY: TRACK 1 & 2: Mary Inglin discusses her father, Raffles Purdy, who was born in 1861 and emigrated from England to his sister's home in Nebraska in 1880. Move to Victoria via San Francisco. Purchase of a sloop. Blown ashore in San Juan Islands. Sailed again from Sidney. Camped for the summer at Beddis Beach, and helped build Beddis family's log house. Became teacher at Vesuvius School. Pre-empted 12;3 acres on Beddis Road. Built barn with Mr. Bullock's ox team. Planted 900 fruit trees. Married in 1911 in England. Problems of home-making. No electric power until 1948. Made and sold butter. Made own soap. Shipped apples to Victoria and the Yukon. Sheep shearing. Mrs. Inglin attended the Divide School, then Ganges School and the "Chicken House School". Dealing with fleas. Doing homework by candlelight. Social life: picnics, boat trips, beach parties, corn roasts and family dances. Cutting wood. Petition to keep cars off of Saltspring. Learning to drive a Model T Ford pick-up at age 16. Horses scared of cars. Difficulty of training horses to pass on right side of road in 1922. Becoming teacher at Divide School. First radio set. First piped water, 1942. Farm work. Summer work in Vancouver ;cannery. Running cafe on Robson Street. War work at Boeing. Return to Saltspring. Mr. Bullock coming to tea. His training of Dr. Barnardo's boys. Dressing up for his parties. Visiting Miss Pedder on Blackburn Road, with her room full of stuffed animals. Mr. Henry, Postmaster at Central.

Doreen Ruffner interview

RECORDED: Duncan (B.C.), 1982-09-23 SUMMARY: Doreen Ruffner talks about how her family came to the Cowichan Valley after her father bought 500 acres at Cowichan Lake. Describes Duncan; the building of the family house, and its location between Bear Lake and Honeymoon Bay; and their neighbours. Describes fending off a cougar that attacked her and cousin, a young boy named Tony Farrer (or Farrar?), on 16-Sep-1916. She and Tony both received the Albert Medal by the Duke of Devonshire. [Their Albert Medals were later exchanged for the George Cross.] Postcards of Doreen, Tony and the cougar were made. Describes album of letters and gifts received from all over the world.

The Hornby collection : Saltspring : island in the gulf

SUMMARY: "The Hornby Collection" is an anthology of plays, documentaries, interviews and selected fiction for radio -- all written, prepared and produced in British Columbia. A documentary by Jan Williams, tracing the history of Saltspring Island and its first settlers through interviews and readings. Christopher Newton and Walter Marsh are the performers.

Clara Hersley interview

CALL NUMBER: T4031:0009 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Dreams of freedom : Clara Hersley RECORDED: Nanoose Bay (B.C.), 1982-02-09 SUMMARY: Clara Hersley discusses background and youth: she was eldest daughter of Theo Frederiksen; grandfather came in first settlement, and he tried to build a dyke by himself; she had to walk 2 miles to school every day; C.B. Christensen was teacher; chores; catalogues for Christmas gifts; description of making butter; haying- all pitched in, water came up under stacks at high tide; community work -- men; cared for trails and roads; produced a lot of their own food -- animals, game, fish, food from Quatsino; weather signs; lots of berries; toys; dad brought organ back from Vancouver; dances -- visits to neighbours meant very long walks (25-30 miles); beachcombing finds -- cotton bale, crates of oranges; parents seemed to cope with difficulties; why dad came back to Nanoose Bay. CALL NUMBER: T4031:0010 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Dreams of freedom : Clara Hersley RECORDED: Nanoose Bay (B.C.), 1982-02-09 SUMMARY: Clara Hersley discusses: doing lots of walking in her youth; trapping mink and raccoons around Cape Scott; gardening crops; favourite place -- watching the ways; cougars -- looking for tracks on the Sand Neck, father and brothers hunted them, cougar tracks on the way back from getting mail, meeting cougar on trail; father's character -- man of principles; father did not want to leave the Cape; DEW; line station and Air Force came; grandfather and dykes; entertainment- radio from Calgary, music; some characters here at the time; brothers lost at sea -- taking boat to Scott Islands, long search of beaches; mail service- capsized once, but everything saved; birth of sisters -- local midwives. (End of interview)

Grace Leighton interview

CALL NUMBER: T3986:0082 RECORDED: Kimberley (B.C.), 1982-06-08 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Grace went to school in Cranbrook. She worked in a bakery and a grocery store, and then as a telephone operator. She worked for BC Tel from 1945 to 1975. Her husband died in 1955, but she eventually remarried. [TRACK 2: blank.]

CALL NUMBER: T3986:0083 RECORDED: Kimberley (B.C.), 1982-06-08 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Grace Leighton recalls her father, John Hunter McClure, one of the pioneers of the Kootenay area. They spent time in Ontario and Alberta, and in 1909 settled near Cranbrook, where the took u;p fruit farming. [TRACK 2: blank.];

Legends of the Lardeau : the stories of Red McLeod and Andy Daney

The item is an audio recording produced for the Provincial Archives' Sound Heritage Series under contract. When the silver boom brought thousands of prospectors and adventurers to the Lardeau Valley in the 1890s, the pack horse was the main means of moving supplies and ore through the rugged, mountainous terrain. Two men, Andy Daney and Red McLeod, became renowned as packers in the valley. Andy Daney, who worked in the mountains around Ferguson, was a strong, honest man. Red McLeod, who made his home in the southern part of the valley, was equally strong, though perhaps not as honest. Their stories are told by the people of the Lardeau Valley, who remember them fondly. Based on interviews by Peter Chapman and Imbert Orchard.

Alfred Cawston interview

RECORDED: Keremeos (B.C.), 1981-09 SUMMARY: Mr. Cawston's father came to Ontario from northern England in 1831, and came to Osoyoos in 1874. Alfred was born in 1892. After his father tried a few business ventures that did not pan out, Alfred was sent back to Ontario for schooling. Alfred married in 1919 and ran a small fruit farm; in later years, he became a ranger for the BC Forest Service.

Mable Peterson interview

RECORDED: Bella Coola (B.C.), 1981-09 SUMMARY: Mable's parents came to Bella Coola in 1898 with the early settlers. Mable married in 1929 and became a school teacher. Her first home had no running water, electricity or indoor plumbing. She tells the story of her life in the Bella Coola Valley, and her teaching experiences. She continued to live in the house she came to as a bride.

Hilda Haylmore interview

RECORDED: Lillooet (B.C.), 1981-09 SUMMARY: Mrs. Hilda Haylmore, nee Mason, tells of her grandparents, who came to the coast in 1861. Her grandfather travelled by horseback from the Fraser Valley to Vernon. Mr. Haylmore travelled over much of the United States and Canada on foot, before marrying and settling in the Lillooet area.

Alfred Ildstead interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], [1979?] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Ildstead [or Ildstad?] discusses the Norwegian settlement at Quatsino; transportation; life in the settlement; Winter Harbour; the salmon run; fishing; canneries; whaling; early settlers; Ned Frigo, an early fur trader in the area (born 1819, died 1917); Indians; Port Alice pulp mill; Quatsino today; Mr. Ildstead's employment; and the Danes at Cape Scott. [TRACK 2: blank.]

People in landscape audio-visual series

The series consists of seven audio programs on aspects of B.C. history, produced for the Provincial Archives of British Columbia as a planned educational series. Adapted by Imbert Orchard from oral-history-based radio documentaries he had produced for CBC Vancouver, the audio programs were augmented with visual material (not extant) compiled by Ray McAllister to create a set of slide-tape programs.

Cattle ranching in the Nicola

SUMMARY: The story of cattle ranching in the Nicola Valley: its beginnings in the days of the Cariboo gold rush, and the work of ranchers and cowboys at the Douglas Lake Cattle Company. The voices heard are: Bill Brennan; Alex Bulman; Gerald Guichon; Fred Irwin; Doug Palmer; and Martin Starret.

Early days in Nanaimo and the Gulf Islands

SUMMARY: The history of Nanaimo and the local coal mining industry (including the bitter coal miners' strike of 1913), followed by stories about childhood on the Gulf Islands. The voices heard are: Ida New; Freda New; Constance Swartz; Beatrice Freeman; Dorothy Richardson; Geraldine Hulbert; Joe Kneen; Ronald Norris; and Donald New.

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