RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), [ca. 1977] SUMMARY: Ron Heater talks about accompanying his grandfather, Captain William Heater, on whaling and sealing voyages. Myrtle Heater talks about the early days of Victoria. Other family members enter the discussion.

RECORDED: [location unknown], [1979?] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Cadwallader tells of his father's and grandfather's coming to Fort Rupert. He describes life at the Fort Rupert HBC post; coal mining in the area; Indians; Kwakiutl Indians and their trip to the Chicago's World Fair in 1893; the Indian village; the buildings at Fort Rupert; the visits of Franz Boas and his study of the native groups; Edward Curtis's filming of a re-creation of the Indians at Deer Island; and the religion of the Indians. TRACK 2: Mr. Cadwallader continues with his discussion about the Indians; missionaries; the Columbia Coast Mission ships; Nahwitti Indian band; Indian bands on the north east coast of Vancouver Island; Port Hardy; Hardy Bay; Quatsino Sound; Union and CPR Steamships; Coal Harbour; Port Alice; he speaks of his father's work in the sealing industry.

CALL NUMBER: T0386:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Charles Brookman RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-06-18 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Charles Brookman describes his arrival in Canada in 1903 from Liverpool, and his move to BC in 1907. He recalls what Vancouver was like when he arrived including the Vancouver Opera House, the Empress Hotel in Victoria, stories about movie star Victor McLaglen, his experiences with cargo in Seattle, and the money crisis in America. He continues with a story about rescuing a man who fell overboard, his decision to move to the Yukon and recollections of experiences there including the Old Chief, the poet, Robert Service, and details of various adventurers. TRACK 2: Charles Brookman continues with more on his time in the Yukon, people who sailed ships, navigation, details about boats, stories of Captains of square-riggers and their boats, stories of incidents on his boat including one where a life was lost, a story of prospectors who were unaffected by mosquitoes because they never washed themselves, and a detailed description of the 1907 race riots in Vancouver.

CALL NUMBER: T0386:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Charles Brookman RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-06-18 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Charles Brookman describes a story of an interaction with a native Fijian when he was in Fiji, more on his experience working for the Guggenheims in the Yukon on hydraulics, more experiences aboard boats at the time of WWI, his experience with Col. John McCrae who wrote 'In Flanders Fields' when he was injured in the war, Captain Cutler who was a sealing skipper, life in Victoria after the war including the saloons, experiences with sharks on sealing boats, hunting techniques at sea. Mr. Brookman sings two sea shanties. [TRACK 2: Blank.]

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Captain Charles Harris RECORDED: [location unknown], [196-] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Captain Charles Harris explains how he left Halifax in 1887 to come to Victoria to get involved in the sealing trade, he describes the trip, arriving in Victoria in 1888, going to sea in 1890, becoming mate of the "Mary Taylor" in 1891, his experience in the Bering Sea, details on his career and adventures in the 1890s, a detailed account of the process of going about sealing including anecdotes, when sealing with guns was outlawed in 1911 by virtue of a treaty, more on sealing, differences in hunting techniques between Indians and white people, an anecdote about taking Haida Indians sealing, potential dangers, and anecdotes about boat. TRACK 2: Captain Harris continues by describing his impressions of early Victoria, the liquor traffic in Victoria before and during prohibition, the navy at Victoria prior to WWI, the submarines brought to Victoria in 1915, and more on changes over time in Victoria.

CALL NUMBER: T2602:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Metchosin memories : the Helgesen family PERIOD COVERED: 1861-1910 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1967 SUMMARY: Christian Helgesen tells the story of his father, Hans Helgesen, who settled in Metchosin, B.C., in 1861.;

CALL NUMBER: T2602:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Miracle of the sea : a sealing tale PERIOD COVERED: 1890-1900 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1967 SUMMARY: Christian Helgesen tells the story of Hans Helgesen's adventures on a sealing schooner that overturned in a storm.;

This series consists of records of the provincial Department of Fisheries from 1902-1954. Records include correspondence, memoranda, reports and statistical data. The records in this series are arranged in 23 sub-series according to either form or subject matter and then chronologically within subseries. Most of the records were created by the office of Deputy Commissioner and its successors.

RECORDED: [location unknown], [196-] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Eva Marie Sweeney (daughter of Captain Victor Jacobson) discusses her father's life beginning with a club that he founded in 1936 after he retired from a life at sea; he died at 97 in 1949. She describes his birth in Finland and his childhood, coming to Victoria. She discusses his experiences on sealing schooners which led him to get his own schooner called, "The Mountain Chief", and other boats he owned, details about a ship called "Thermopylae". She tells a story about her father's sealing expedition in the Bering Sea when Americans seized Canadian ships and tells another story about a boat her father bought that was chartered by Robert Louis Stevenson for the sealing trade. She describes other boats he owned, living aboard the boats, the process of selling seal skins and having to pay Indian hunters in gold. She tells how later her father went into the real estate then reverts to more stories about sealing days including interactions and relationships with Indians. TRACK 2: Eva Marie Sweeny continues with more stories about experiences in the Bering Sea including one where Captain Jacobsen broke his jaw and another about the cat on the ship, about Indian superstitions and an encounter with an octopus. She tells about her grandmother who came from Sweden when she was 70 and went fishing in a sealing boat. She recalls the time her father brought home a baby seal as a pet, the Rogers family of Rogers Chocolates, and a freighting trip her father took to the Queen Charlotte Islands in 1912.

CALL NUMBER: T1651:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], [196-] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Francis Edmund Fredette of Victoria describes how he always wanted to go to sea, and so ran away from home on a sealing ship when he was fourteen; he describes the vessel he was on, including life aboard it; sealing with shotguns; what Victoria Harbour was like at that time; wages; his time (1909) as an apprentice at a shipyard where sternwheelers were built for use on the Skeena River; more on sealing including details on the seal themselves; how the Canadians, Japanese and Americans were the only ones sealing at that time; more on the sternwheelers he helped to build by hand; a six-month trip to the Bering Sea for salt cod in 1912, including details about the trip, the schooner they were on, and the fishing. TRACK 2: Mr. Fredette continues by discussing his experience in 1919 when he got a job aboard a ship as a carpenter; anecdotes about experiences on the ship; shipping laws at that time and implications; and a story about a criminal incident during prohibition.

CALL NUMBER: T1651:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], [196-] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Fredette discusses McNeil Island, a U.S. federal penitentiary in Washington State, and continues a story which occurred in 1919 relating to prohibition; anecdotes about sealing boats in 1912; a trip from San Francisco to Haiti; his experience on Christmas Island; and more anecdotes about boats and the industry. [TRACK 2: blank.]

CALL NUMBER: T0387:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): James Newman RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-10-04 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Captain Jimmy Newman describes how he was born in Bath in 1879, and lived there until he was 9. Then the family moved to London. He left school at 11 to help the family of 13 children. Various jobs he worked while in England until he joined the Navy at 15 years of age; the deplorable conditions aboard the ships; adventures and travels while in the Navy including his experiences on Crete when the Turks ruled there and 38 men were hung. TRACK 2: Jimmy Newman continues with more on the hanging including a details about the role of the British Navy, then he discusses the South African War, a description of Prince George of Greece, how Newman was paid out of the Navy in 1902 and did not go to the Boer War but still got a medal, how he was sent out to Esquimalt in 1904 to look after the fur seals, how Jack London's book 'The Sea Wolf' was about a Nova Scotian man named Alec McLean, more on patrolling the sailing grounds around the Aleutians, how the American government had a warrant to arrest Alec McLean. More anecdotes about McLean, and a description of the man.

CALL NUMBER: T0387:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): James Newman RECORDED: [location unknown], 1965-10-04 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Jimmy Newman continues by describing how Alex McLean ended up in Vancouver with his family, Newman's experiences patrolling the seal industry at the Pribiloff Islands including seal migration and habits, an experience on a survey party on the Queen Charlotte Islands, more on McLean, Newman's description of life in Victoria, another story about McLean, how sealing was stopped in 1910 by the Canadian government, more about MacLean from other sources, and more on sealing schooners. TRACK 2: Jimmy Newman offers more information on McLean.

SUMMARY: The days of sealing along the coast of British Columbia, recalled by seal hunter Max Lohbrunner. Includes references to Captain Alex McLean, the model for the character of Wolf Larsen in Jack London's "The Sea Wolf".

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Recollections of life in British Columbia, 1888-1910 PERIOD COVERED: 1888-1910 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1963 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: In an interview with her son, Duncan Mackenzie, Lizzie Houston Armstrong recounts incidents related to her early years in British Columbia. The story of "The Fingal". Surviving a fall into the hold of the S.S. "Henriette". Recollection of Emily Carr. Trips to Ucluelet, 1897-1898, and teaching native children. Treasure-hunting on Cocos Island, off Costa Rica, 1901. Pig story. Recollections of details of family history. TRACK 2: Further details of family history. Arrived in Haney, B.C., 1888. Recollections of family life in Haney. Life in Vancouver from 1898 on. Recitation of two poems. (End of interview).

RECORDED: [location unknown], [ca. 1967] SUMMARY: Former sealers Max Lohbrunner and James Goudie recall their experiences in British Columbia's sealing industry. [No detailed content documentation available.];

CALL NUMBER: T1650:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Reminiscences of B.C. sealing industry RECORDED: [location unknown], [1962?] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Max Lohbrunner describes how sealing began in Victoria in 1869, how he fished out of Victoria when he was a small child, hunting seals in 1903 on a vessel called "Enterprise", sealing experiences aboard the "Diana", a description of a White Schooner and an Indian Schooner, a very detailed description of a sealing boat at that time, what life is like aboard a sealing boat, what happens when you see a seal, using smokeless powder, and what to do after a seal has been shot. TRACK 2: Max Lohbrunner describes more experiences about life aboard a sealing ship, signals between sealers, sealing techniques, keeping a boat steady in rough waters, using compasses, and a story about getting back to a schooner in the fog.

CALL NUMBER: T1650:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Reminiscences of B.C. sealing industry RECORDED: [location unknown], [1962?] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Max Lohbrunner offers anecdotes about boats and people who got lost at sea around 1906 including George Peddie from Newfoundland whom they actually found and Alec MacKenzie whom they buried, more on life aboard sealing ships, the history of sealing on the coast from the first ship in the 1869 built in Sooke by Charles Spring, all the places that he sealed, schooners anchored in Victoria, and an anecdote about being bitten by a seal. TRACK 2: Max Lohbrunner continues by offering an anecdote about an experience when his boat was attacked by a killer whale, details on killer whales, and more anecdotes about experiences on whaling ships.

CALL NUMBER: T1650:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Reminiscences of B.C. sealing industry RECORDED: [location unknown], [1962?] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Max Lohbrunner continues with experiences aboard ships including how he heard about the San Francisco earthquake, anecdotes about a man named Alex McLean, and sealing in the Bering Sea. TRACK 2: Max Lohbrunner continues with more anecdotes about life aboard sealing ships, when Alex McLean died and more details on him, pay for skins, his last adventures aboard sealing ships, what life was like in Victoria at that time, where he was born and how he came to move to Victoria including details about his family, and the history of the yacht "Vera" which was used as an opium smuggling ship before being used as a sealing ship up until 1911.

CALL NUMBER: T1650:0004 track 1 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Reminiscences of B.C. sealing industry RECORDED: [location unknown], [1962?] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Lohbrunner offers anecdotes about interactions and competition with Japanese schooners in the Bering Sea around 1907, more anecdotes about sealing around the Alaskan coast, different islands and area where he trapped, what happened when the sealing industry closed in Victoria, more on competition with the Japanese, and the market for seal skins today. [End of the Imbert Orchard interview.]

CALL NUMBER: T1650:0004 track 2 RECORDED: [location unknown], [196-?] SUMMARY: TRACK 2: [NOTE: This is NOT part of the Imbert Orchard interview with Max Lohbrunner. It is a separate recording, made on another occasion, by two unidentified interviewers -- a man and a woman. It may be the soundtrack from a film interview, possibly shot for CBC television.] Max Lohbrunner describes how he came to Victoria from New York in 1887 with his father who was a carpenter; the 122 sealing schooners that used to be docked in Victoria; an experience sailing to Cape Horn in 1903 to go sealing; the specific wharfs in Victoria that were built by sealers and anecdotes about what life was like when the industry was thriving; why he is allowed to live at the wharf when no one else is what happened to his life after the sealing industry closed; the otter he has as a pet; and various anecdotes about his life and sealing.

CALL NUMBER: T0735:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1963-02-05 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Nick Stevens recalls his early years on Salt Spring Island; his early life as a fisherman in the Gulf of Georgia; anecdotes about his childhood; fishing on the Fraser River; types of boats; living in a scow house; anecdotes; the Greek community on Deas Island; the Austrian community; the Spanish community; other ethnic groups in the Lulu Island area; community life and provisions. TRACK; 2: Mr. Stevens continues discussing various groups along the Fraser River; the Japanese community at Steveston; Spaniards on Duck Island; Portuguese; Kanakas from Salt Spring Island; Indian cannery ;workers; Austrians in Ladner; Chinese on Deas Island; cannery work; cannery equipment; the "Iron Chink"; the "Iron Squaw"; Deas Island; his work as a pirate fish buyer; land taxes on Lulu Island; life; on Lulu Island; fishing seasons; Chinese/Indian relations; Japanese/white relations; unloading German tin plate in Steveston; growing up in Steveston.

CALL NUMBER: T0735:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1963-02-05 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Stevens talks about survival in the forest; canoe trips with his mother, Emma King; characters from the Ladner area; Steveston; Ladner; travel to New Westminster; steamboats on the Fraser; in 1905; fishing procedures, circa 1900, on the Fraser and the Gulf of Georgia; sealing; sturgeon fishing; Canoe Pass; Port Guichon; the railway. [TRACK 2: blank.]

SUMMARY: This special program was broadcast separately from the season's regular "People in Landscape' sub-series. It deals with the days of sealing along the coast of British Columbia, and describes in detail various aspects of the sealing industry. It also includes references to Jack London's book "The Sea Wolf". The voices heard are: Jimmy Newman, Max Lohbrunner, and Noel Robinson.

RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1982-02-20 SUMMARY: Phyllis Armstrong and Greta Redgrave recall their father, Captain John Everett Christian, and his career as a whaler and a sealer.

CALL NUMBER: T1287:0001 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1962-03 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Major Roger Monteith recalls early Victoria from the 1890s; he talks about streets; stores; cabbies; saloons; Christmastime; banks; Robert Service; Indians; Chinese peddlers and Chinatown. TRACK 2: Major Monteith continues with recollections about life in Victoria of the 1890s. He talks about the Chinese lotteries; Chinese New Year; lack of vandalism; local amusements; the causeway; th;e harbour; wholesalers; the Klondike gold rush as it affected Victoria; survey parties; Robert Flaherty; Royal Navy; Esquimalt; Navy regattas and balls; and his boyhood adventures in Victoria.;

CALL NUMBER: T1287:0002 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1962-03 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Major Monteith continues with his recollections about his boyhood adventures; family recreations; picnics on the Gorge and Cadboro Bay; sports; horse racing; May 24 celebrations; summer camping; schooling; unusual characters; Bill Nye; Warburton Pike; the sealing fleet; sailing ships and Victoria today. TRACK 2: Major Monteith continues with his discussion about the characteristics of ;Victoria; changes; arrival of foreigners; beer parlors instead of pubs; and the influence of San Francisco in the older days.;

The item consists of two audio reels which contain a series of interviews recorded by Salvatore Billeci. Stuart Thompson (of Ripon, California) recalls his experiences aboard the "Carmencita" on a sealing expedition in 1904. Thompson served as the ship's freight clerk and became acquainted with Captain Alexander MacLean, the alleged prototype for the character "Wolf" Larson in the Jack London novel "The Sea Wolf". Thompson's account of MacLean is not extensive but the anecdotes leave strong images of the man. Most of Thompson's account describes his experiences on the sealing expedition, which was illegal as well as dangerous. The "Carmencita" sailed from San Francisco to the Aleutian Islands and ended at Victoria, where Captain MacLean resided. Thompson admits similarities with the Jack London novel but not with the portrait of "Wolf' Larson as Captain MacLean. The interview was recorded during several sessions in 1952 and 1955, when Thompson was over 70 years old. The recording interest appears to have stemmed from earlier conversations between the two men. In the interview, topics develop from session to session as Billeci tries to record all aspects of the story. Later, Billeci mentions writing a book, and the last part of the interview is spent clarifying anecdotes and nailing down details.