Passenger ships

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Code

Scope note(s)

Source note(s)

  • Sound Recording Database SMIDDEV_SR_SUBJECT_HEADINGS.

Display note(s)

Hierarchical terms

Passenger ships

Equivalent terms

Passenger ships

Associated terms

Passenger ships

29 Archival description results for Passenger ships

29 results directly related Exclude narrower terms

Best of Emerson, no. 1

SUMMARY: "Best of Emerson" is a twice-a-week series (Monday and Friday) that ran from July 2 to September 28, 1962. In this series Vancouver's provocative conversationalist, John Emerson, discusses unusual asp;ects of Vancouver history and gives his recollections and impressions of well-known people. This episode, the first in the series, is about the CNR coastal steamships.;

Best of Emerson, no. 13

SUMMARY: "Best of Emerson" is a twice-a-week series (Monday and Friday) that ran from July 2 to September 28, 1962. In this series Vancouver's provocative conversationalist, John Emerson, discusses unusual asp;ects of Vancouver history and gives his recollections and impressions of well-known people.This episode, number 13 in the series, is about tourism and the CPR coastal steamers.;

British Columbia sketches : [reel 7]

Amateur film. B&W: views of Arrow Lakes scenery from a sternwheeler; arrival; the "Minto" at dock. Two men travelling by packhorse in the Lardeau. The steam tug "Beaton". Sequence on gold mining in the Cariboo, with footage of a hydraulic mining operation. COLOUR: Vancouver; Lions Gate Bridge and Stanley Park approach; city skyline. Trip on the steamship S.S. "Catala": views at sea; approaching settlement; people meeting the boat; log boom and sawmill adjacent to the dock. Alert Bay: views of village, store, homes, etc.; Indian children at play; schoolgirls in red sweaters [from St. Michael's Indian Residential School]; steamboat arriving; many shots of totem poles, graveyard, etc. Fishing fleet in harbour, preparing nets, and heading out to sea. Fishboat crew hauling in net full of thrashing salmon, and brailing them onto boat. Other fishboats setting their nets, hauling in salmon. Fishboat crew unloading salmon onto conveyor; shots of cannery wharf, female cannery workers. Savary Island: family vacation scenes; lodge; children at play; adults playing golf on beach at low tide; departing on a boat trip.

[CHEK-TV news film -- various, #1]

Stock shots. 1. Lunar eclipse. 2. Train -- seen from the engine. 3. Hostel -- biking and back-packing. 4. Weather station. 5. Pipe organ repairs. 6. Harbour scene and architectural plans for development. [Brentwood Bay?] 7. Log booms. 8. Vehicle inspection station. 9. Beautiful British Columbia Magazine -- building, crates, foreign language issues. 10. Tall ship with four-masts. 11. Mushroom picking. 12. Rock carving -- petroglyphs. 13. "Resolution 13" to Premier W.R. Bennett. 14. Moving a piano. 15. Blessing the fleet [?]. Mass performed at the Inner Harbour. 16. Ticketing cars downtown -- upset meter man. 17. Fox Theatre -- Quadra Theatre [later the Roxy]. 18. Submarine. 19. Good Shepherd animal shelter -- animals. 20. Police and photographer in jewelry store. 21. Scenic cottage. 22. Shipyard -- dry-dock; "Adriatik"; " Pierre Radisson". 23. Submarine interiors -- H.M.S. "Conqueror". 24. Newspaper office -- "The Victorian." 25. People in historical costume -- "Princess Marguerite" [maybe inaugural run?] -- Queen Victoria, Captain Cook, etc. "Princess Marguerite" at sea. 26. Unidentified politician; Clive Jackson. 27. Letter re: "Princess Marguerite". 28. Unidentified politician. 29. Premier Bill Bennett with petition (or some other rolled-up paper).

Earl Marsh collection

  • PR-2362
  • Collection
  • 1868-1999; predominant 1922-1975

The collection consists of the records gathered by Earl Marsh, who intended to preserve the history of the British Columbia Coast Steamship Service (BCCSS) and the maritime history of British Columbia generally. He primarily collected records from BCCSS employees and their family members, as well as libraries and archives.

The collection also consists of the employment records of Earl Marsh, personal correspondence pertaining to his collecting activities, and records Marsh probably used in his position as accountant for the BCCSS.

Marsh accumulated the bulk of his collection between 1964 and 1973, during the last years in which the BCCSS provided passenger services. The records themselves were created between 1868 and 1999, with the majority created between 1922 and 1975. Records in the collection pertain primarily to the province of British Columbia, Washington State, and the state of Alaska.

The main subject of Earl Marsh’s collection is the BCCSS. Marsh was interested in the practical operations of the organization and its regional context, so his collection includes records about the BCCSS’s privately-owned competitors, other branches of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company engaged in shipping, and the establishment of government ferry services in British Columbia.

Operational records of the BCCSS provide insight into the lives of crew members who worked on ships, the financial state of the company, the design and construction of ships and shipping infrastructure, coastal weather and tide patterns, and significant shipwrecks.

As an employee of the BCCSS, Marsh had a special interest in crew members. The records reveal the job duties, union contracts, and company guidelines that shaped the lives of the workers. In addition, Marsh’s collection contains a small selection of records about the Chinese Canadian crew members of BCCSS ships. Many of these workers were employed at the time of the Chinese Exclusion Act and experienced systematic discrimination by their employer.

Marsh was also particularly fascinated by the passenger services offered by the BCCSS on their line of 32 “Princess” steamships. Prior to the First World War, Princess ships represented the height of elegance and efficiency in coastal transportation. Marsh gathered numerous photographs, menus, deck plans, and newspaper clippings that convey some of the glamour of passenger travel aboard these ships.

The records originated with different creators. The majority of the records were created by the Canadian Pacific Navigation Company, which was eventually taken over by the BCCSS, the BCCSS, and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Some records were created by other branches of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, such as the British Columbia Lake and River Service.

Documentary forms include scrapbooks about the BCCSS, subject files, scrapbooks about other shipping companies, original BCCSS volumes such as log and time books, ephemera and photographic negatives, files of personal records, and rolls of technical drawings. Records were originally arranged in groupings according to their subject (often indicated in a folder title) and documentary form. Within some subject groupings, Marsh arranged files alphabetically.

The subjects of BCCSS-related scrapbooks include the numerous ships in the Princess line, staff members, and other aspects of the organization's history. Among many other material types, the scrapbooks contain news clippings, original company correspondence and financial records, photographs, and technical drawings. Marsh arranged these scrapbooks in rough alphabetical order.

Marsh maintained subject files on numerous ships in the Princess line, BCCSS staff members and history, and the history of other shipping companies, including the Puget Sound Navigation Company and Black Ball Ferries Limited. He kept his files on BCCSS ships in rough alphabetical order.

Marsh’s scrapbooks about non-BCCSS companies cover other branches of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and organizations based in Washington State and the state of Alaska. These scrapbooks were not maintained in any discernible order.

Marsh maintained log books and time books from the Canadian Pacific Navigation Company and BCCSS; however, few complete sets of log books and time books exist for various ships. He also collected road maps and ephemera such as post cards, along with photographs, negatives, and slides, in random order in shoeboxes.

Marsh included his own personal correspondence and employment records in the collection. These materials were originally received in labelled files.

Marsh kept technical drawings in large rolls. Often, a roll featured upwards of 20 drawings of a single ship.

The archivist arranged the collection in six series that reflect Marsh’s original order:

MS-3254 - Scrapbooks, Canadian Pacific Railway Company records, and subject files
MS-3255 - Ship log books
MS-3256 - Time books
MS-3257 - Personal correspondence, employment records, and journal
MS-3258 - Photographs, road maps, and ephemera
MS-3259 - Technical drawings, map, and construction specifications for BCCSS ship Princess Louise II

Marsh, Earl John

Echoes of the past : remembrances of the Union Steamship Company

The item is an audio recording produced for the Provincial Archives' Sound Heritage Series under contract. This hour-long sound program recalls the heyday of steamship travel on the B.C. coast, when the Union Steamship Company served hand-loggers, fishermen, miners, and First Nations communities as a vital link to the major centres. The recollections are provided by steamboat men whose sailing days reach back to before the First World War.

Edith Rowe interview

CALL NUMBER: T0978:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-02-26 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Edith Rowe discusses her father, Oscar Henderson, including how he ran away from Norway at 13 to go to sea, and details about his character; anecdotes about his character and her experie;nces growing up with a father who was a Captain; how he met her mother (Maude Muir) in Halifax, and how they went to sea on the ship "John Johnson", how he sister Inga was born in Nova Scotia, how Edith was born in Hong Kong aboard her father's ship the "John McLeod", anecdotes about her parents around the time of her birth, and details about ships and crews. TRACK 2: Edith Rowe discusses life ab;oard sailing ships, what it was like being a child at that time including the clothes that they wore and games they played, schooling in England, more anecdotes about life on the ship, an experience o;n the Sargasso Sea, getting to know your ships, and anecdotes about various ports, clothes the seamen would wear, what clothes she and her siblings would wear, life in the tropics, and swimming.

CALL NUMBER: T0978:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-02-26 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Rowe discusses her parents' view of education, how she was schooled on the ship by her parents, the meals they would have aboard ships, how lime juice was supplied to avoid scurvy, dogs ;on the boat and more details about life, memories of the sea including phosphorous and the sounds of the sails, her memories of storms, more anecdotes including one about a race, and she relates a shanty. TRACK 2: Mrs. Rowe discusses communication with other vessels, the use of tugboats, a story about the coast of Peru, more anecdotes about life an adventures aboard ships, her memories of BC in 1;901, what the family was doing in Esquimalt, and a ship they came across that hit them in the fog and sank.

CALL NUMBER: T0978:0003 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-02-26 & 1964-04-22 SUMMARY: TRACK 2: Mrs. Rowe discusses other shipwrecks, stories about their interactions with survivors and their families, the inquiries, how living on land was boring, the next boat they lived on, more sea incidences including experiences from Chile, her feelings about other girls (they were "sissies"), she reads a poem called "Ships" by Robert N. Rose, the smell of the land, a discussion of the poem "Typhoon" by Joseph Conrad, a story about catching a shark, the sport of catching sharks, how sharks are enemies of sailors, stories about albatross sightings, how dolphins and porpoises follow the boats;, and sailing strategies. TRACK 2: [Interview resumes on April 22, 1964.] Mrs.Rowe offers an anecdote about an old sea custom called the working up of a dead horse which consists of the sailors getting a months advance pay before leaving on a voyage and they make a horse, Rowe sets of a bell to exemplify signals, more on the horse, the meaning behind the horse, stories about crossing the equator,; more on superstitions, a story of a sailing from Tacoma to South Africa in 1902, a dramatic incident in which her sister was almost thrown into the sea, and another which shows her sister's courage.;

CALL NUMBER: T0978:0004 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1964-04-22 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mrs. Rowe discusses how as children they were always more comfortable at sea then on land, more on racing, a description of '"tacking ship", more on life aboard ship, details on shark fishing;, more anecdotes about being a child growing up aboard a ship including a story about going to land to get fitted for shoes in Australia, and poems she realtes about the sailor's lament. [TRACK 2: blank.]

Frederick William Jones interview

RECORDED: [location unknown], 1962-06-25 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Frederick William Jones describes how he came to Canada by steamboat in 1900, joining a ship called the "Darwin" that went around the West Indies, anecdotes about life aboard ship, CPR ships that carried immigrants at the time and area of "Titanic", his experience aboard a ship nearby when "Titanic" sunk, and other experiences aboard ships including details about what life was like. [TRACK 2: Blank.]

Island of enchantment

The item consists of two prints of a travelogue film. "LS pan of Victoria from Mt. Douglas (?). The "Princess Kathleen", CPR ferry, draws into Victoria's Inner Harbour. Crowds leave the ship, crowding down the gangways, Captain looking on from bridge, Empress Hotel in [background]. [Long shot] Empress Hotel, visitors milling about in [foreground]. Shot from verandah of Empress out onto causeway. Parliament Buildings from Empress Hotel. [Long shot] two ships in dry dock in Esquimalt. One of the ships is the "Princess Elaine", the other cannot be identified. Salmon being turned out of the hold of a fishing boat; fishermen, nets, rain gear; salmon being dumped into a scow. Fishing boat at sea, the crew wash down the deck. A huge flora display in a window. A woman collecting flowers in a garden. Tropical conservatory in the Empress Hotel. Woman in different part of previous garden, possibly at Hatley Park. Man and woman in a garden; woman offers man a rose to sniff. Italian and Sunken Gardens at Butchart Gardens, with glimpses of house and little gnome fishing. Pond and stone bridge in Beacon Hill Park; kids feeding swans. Deer browsing on a forest road; a car drives along a paved road through trees. A deer in the bush looks up intently. A canoe trip down the Cowichan River; four passengers -- two white and two Indians, the whites fishing and the Indians navigating with paddles. [Close-up] stern Indian with paddle. Many shots of canoe on the river and a portage around a waterfall and rapids. They course through some rapids and end up in the ocean at the mouth of the river. Shot of the beach and waves." (Colin Browne)

John Park interview

CALL NUMBER: T1796:0001 PERIOD COVERED: 1910-1920 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1975 SUMMARY: John Park was master of the Union Steamship Company vessel "Venture". The Union S.S. Co. was in competition with the Canadian Pacific and the Grand Trunk Pacific. He describes fish canneries, church hospitals and summer clinics at Rivers Inlet and the Skeena River. Story about going into Salmon River with a new skipper who struck the dock while carrying a load of dynamite. Navigation by echo. Sinking of the "Cheslakee". CALL NUMBER: T1796:0002 PERIOD COVERED: 1910-1920 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1975 SUMMARY: John Park was born in Scotland. Apprenticed on sailing ships of the Inver Line. Joined the Blue Funnel Line. First came to Vancouver in 1907 on the "Titan". Immigrated to Vancouver in 1910. Became master of the Union Steamship vessel "Venture". Took passengers off the "Princess Beatrice" when she ground near Port Hardy, 1911. Joined Griffiths and Co. of Seattle, which operated the Coastwise Steamship and Barge Company. Went deep sea. Worked as a pilot in Vancouver 1925-1952. CALL NUMBER: T1796:0003 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1975 SUMMARY: [No content summary is available for tape T1796:0003.]; CALL NUMBER: T1796:0004 PERIOD COVERED: 1895-1940 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1976 SUMMARY: Captain John Park apprenticed on square rigged sailing ships and came to Vancouver in 1911. Mentions trans-oceanic shipping coming into Vancouver at the time. Joined Union Steamship Company. Became master of the S.S. "Venture". Joined B.C. Coast Pilots. Joined S.S. "Turret Crown", owned by Griffiths Steamship Company of Seattle. Master S.S. "War Cavalry" owned by Couglan's shipyard. Piloted German cruiser into Vancouver harbour in the 1930s. CALL NUMBER: T1796:0005 PERIOD COVERED: 1910-1940 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1976 SUMMARY: John Park towed the ex-sailing ship "St. David" up and down the west coast of Canada and the United States. Dollar Line. Talks about sailing ship days on the Inver line, including trips around Cape Horn. Joins the Union Steamship Company, S.S. "Venture". Steamboating on the north coast. Federal inquiry into pilotage on the B.C. coast held in the 1920s. Master of "City of Victoria" chartered by H.R. MacMillan.

Launching of the S.S. "Prince George"

SUMMARY: Description of proceedings of launching of the S.S "Prince George", with Bill Herbert, including prayer by Dean Spencer Elliott, christening by Mrs. Lionel Chevrier and talks by R.C. Vaughan, President of Canadian National Railways and Lionel Chevrier, Minister of Transport, about: Canadian National Railway, steamship passenger service and the launching of S.S. "Prince George".

[Nanaimo's Prince George]

News item. Interior and exterior shots of the S.S. "Prince George". Before a refit can even be considered, the debt on the ship -- now over $600,000 -- must be greatly reduced. This is not possible when no revenue is coming in. Neither Nanaimo nor Ladysmith now seem to want to buy the ship. NDP MLA Dave Stupich says the vessel could be developed into an excellent facility and tourist attraction for Nanaimo.

[Princess Marguerite]

News item. The "Princess Marguerite" is to start the Victoria-Seattle run on a temporary trial basis for the summer months. Costs will be high, says a spokesman, who is not pleased with the provincial government's lack of communication about it with the Victoria City Council and business people. Shots of the "Princess Marguerite".

[Princess Marguerite]

News item. The NDP government bought the steamship "Princess Marguerite" for $275,000. Current decision to keep the ship was made by Jack Davis, B.C. Minister of Transport. Shots of the "Marguerite" in the Inner Harbour.

Records of the British Columbia Steamship Company

  • GR-4210
  • Series
  • 1975 - 1990

The series consists of records of the British Columbia Steamship Company created and received between 1975-1990 in British Columbia. This crown corporation's files document the restoration and management of daily passenger and vehicle service between Victoria and Seattle. The passenger ferry service ceased in 1974 but was restarted in 1975 in order to support and develop Victoria’s tourist industry. Some of the records, such as two years of pilot log books, document activities of the Princess Marguerite vessel, purchased from the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1975. The records consist of the general manager’s correspondence, mainly from E. L. Lien and Barry D. Margetts. The series also contains correspondence between the Minister of Transportation and Highways and the general managers, managing director, and president of the Steamship Company. The series also includes Board of Directors' records, intergovernmental correspondence between BC and Washington State regarding the ferry service, development of the piers, advertising and promotional materials, marketing plans, and records relating to the privatisation of the corporation.

The series is arranged alphabetically by subject. The records include correspondence, meeting materials, circulars, memoranda, registers, pilot log books, certificates, licenses, lease agreements, and financial records. The records are scheduled under ARCS (Administrative Records Classification System) schedule 100001.

British Columbia Steamship Company (1975) Ltd.

[Seattle to Juneau -- travelogue]

Travelogue. Cruising from Seattle to Juneau aboard the S.S. "Alaska" (Alaska Steamship Company). Brief shots of coastal scenery en route -- probably including BC. Also includes footage of Ketchikan; fish trap with salmon swirling inside; cannery or fish plant; frozen salmon and halibut; Wrangell Narrows; scenes in downtown Juneau; Mendenhall Glacier; Alaska-Juneau gold mine.

Shining sky lines

Amateur film. Shows Don and Phyllis Munday family travelling from Vancouver to Prince Rupert on the S.S. "Cardena", including a long stop at Bella Coola, and climb up Mount Saugstad.

[Supplying lighthouses on Vancouver Island]

Unedited footage. Supply routine for lighthouses at Estevan Point and Pachena Point on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Supplies are unloaded from CCGS "Estevan" onto whaleboats; boats are rowed ashore and unloaded onto rocky beach at Hesquiat; pick-up trucks carry supplies over wooden road to Estevan lighthouse; views of lighthouse and surroundings. At Pachena Point, supplies are loaded onto boats (rough water); near shore, boat is hoisted out of water and winched ashore by overhead cable. Views of lighthouse, shoreline at Pachena. Also includes seascapes and shots of the S.S. "Princess Maquinna", swans in a pond (Beacon Hill or Stanley Park) and the Nanaimo Bastion.

The Princess

Documentary. This film depicts a trip from Seattle to Victoria on the S.S. Princess Marguerite, and profiles the history of the ship -- and of her namesake, an earlier B.C. coastal steamship that was sunk during World War II while serving as a troop transport.

British Columbia Steamship Company (1975) Ltd.

[Travel footage ; Vancouver Harbour ; California ; Boulder Dam]

Amateur film. Travel footage: tennis match; woman and boys swimming in lake; horse riding, Panorama Point (mountain peak behind clouds). Vancouver harbour; the liner "Empress of Japan"; casting off, flags lowered, streamers; seaplane landing. California scenes: arch rock; sunset; L.A. Colosseum; oil rigs; restaurant; spa; rain storm (water rushing down street); mountain; palm trees; desert, Spanish style architecture, cacti. [Credits?] Film of "Boulder Dam - the pictorial record of man's conquest of the Colorado River", with inter-titles; shows stages in construction of the Boulder Dam Project, now known as Hoover Dam.

[When Oscar came home -- 1946 at Galiano]

Amateur film. Oscar and Dorothy Burritt and two others (probably Maureen Balfe and Moira Armour) visit Galiano Island, 1946. Colour: shots of woman (Moira Armour?) climbing in a tree; Dorothy Burritt and two other women (Maureen Balfe and ?) swimming, sitting on the shore and waiting at ferry dock; scenes on island ferry; gulls flying by [Kodachrome, edge code 1946]. B&W [Ansco stock]: people lying in bed inside cabin; Oscar Burritt, Dorothy & the same two women at sandstone beach on Galiano Island. B&W negative [Dupont stock]: Oscar, Dorothy & friends on ferry; ducks on Lost Lagoon; Maureen & Moira at film society office?

William McCombe interview

CALL NUMBER: T1798:0001 - 0002 RECORDED: Delta (B.C.), 1975 SUMMARY: [No content summaries available for this interview.];

CALL NUMBER: T1798:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Union Steamship Company RECORDED: Delta (B.C.), 1975

William Venini interview

CALL NUMBER: T1797:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Union Steamship Company PERIOD COVERED: 1910-1920 RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1975 SUMMARY: William Venini joined the Union Steamship Company in 1910, starting as a freight clerk. He worked on the "Cassiar" travelling into logging camps in the lower coast region. Describes Tommy Roberts, proprietor of the Grand Hotel in Gastown. Returned to Calgary in 1915.

CALL NUMBER: T1797:0002? RECORDED: Vancouver (B.C.), 1975 SUMMARY: [No content summary is available for tape T1797:0002.]