Series consists of letters of British Columbia men on active service with Canadian and British Expeditionary Forces, 1914-1918. Includes letters from W.J.H. Holmes and other land surveyors; also letters from former members of Provincial Library and Archives staff. Several letters addressed to Miss Russell, who collected and preserved correspondence as a war memorial.

Cecil Henry Meares was an adventurer, explorer and British naval officer. Son of a British Army officer, born in Ireland, educated in Scotland and England, Meares left school at the age of 17 and travelled extensively in Europe and Asia, picking up languages as he went, driving dog teams and engaging in the fur trade in Siberia, in Peking (Beijing) during the Boxer Uprising, serving in the Boer War, observing the Russo-Japanese War and surveying Manchuria, during which time he may or may not have been engaged in intelligence and diplomatic work. In December 1907 he joined [Lieut.] J.W. Brooke in an expedition to the largely unexplored mountainous Chinese-Tibetan borderland of western Sichuan province. A year later, Brooke was killed by members of the Lolos tribe (Xi ethnic minority) and Meares returned to England where Scott was organizing the British Antarctic Expedition. Meares volunteered. Scott sent Meares to Siberia to obtain dogs and ponies and transport them to New Zealand. As the expedition's dog handler, Meares also engaged in depot-laying, scouting, running stores from camp to camp and putting in a telephone line. In 1910-1911 he was part of Scott's British Antarctic Expedition, accompanying Scott's Polar Party as far as Beardmore Glacier. [R]ecalled by family affairs, he left in 1912, shortly before Scott's party perished. When World War I broke out in 1914, he served in the Corps of Interpreters and as a Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve officer in the Royal Naval Air Service. In 1915 he married Annie Christina Spengler. After the war he went to Japan as part of the British Air Mission, advising the Japanese Naval Air Service, for which he was presented with the Order of the Sacred Treasure Third Class and a sword. Sometime thereafter he and his wife decided to move to Victoria although they also maintained a cottage in Santa Barbara. A 1939 article in the Victoria Colonist credits Meares with introducing the Himalayan blue poppy (Meconopsis baileyi) to Victoria. He died in Victoria in 1937. After the death of his wife, in 1974, souvenirs of his travels were put up for auction. His sword, medals, books, a sled flag, and papers went to the BC Provincial Museum. The records consist of letters and a postcard, 1910-1913, relating to the British Antarctic Expedition; letters written to his future wife from the trenches, in 1914; a letter and certificates re his service with the British mission in Japan, 1921-1922; a bound and illustrated manuscript entitled "The Land of the Budorchus" and printed articles re his travels in Western China, ca. 1908-1909. The records also contain documents relating to his wife, Annie Christina Meares. Photographs transferred to Visual Records, accession 197901-110. Books transferred to the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge. Most but not all of the records have been microfilmed on Reel A00747. They do not necessarily appear in the order shown below. There are also some documents on the microfilm which are not among the originals. Photographs transferred to Visual Records, accession 197901-110. Books transferred to Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge.

War diaries, 1915-1919 (6 volumes); typescript of reminiscences, "Of Mules and Men: Profiles of the First World War"' correspondence, 1968-1976.

Series consists of a letter from Barkerville men serving in the army in World War I: Joseph Callanan, John Hugh Ellis, Freeman Killam, George Gilchrest, R. Norrie, Nowokowsky, John Petterson, Ernest Seeley, Norman W. Thompson, George Turner, J.B. Westover.

The series consists of letters and photographs from Andrew Stuart Baird written to his parents and sister Agnes while working in Alberta, 1910-1911 and serving overseas in the Canadian army in World War 1, 1916-1918. Most of the 1916-1918 letters are transcribed and typed and overlap with the few originals. There are two letters to Mr. and Mrs. Baird from friends overseas. The series also contains letters received by his parents after his death in 1918, including two photographs of his grave from 1921.

Henry Pering Pellew Crease (1823-1905) was born at Ince Castle, near Plymouth, England, educated at Cambridge, and called to the bar in 1849. He traveled to Upper Canada with his family and explored the Great Lakes area for mining potential before returning to England in 1851 or 2. He then worked briefly as a conveyancing barrister before becoming manager of the Great Wheal Vor United Mines in Cornwall. Following business difficulties, he emigrated to British Columbia in 1858, practicing law in Victoria and becoming a member of the Vancouver Island Legislative Assembly in 1860. In 1861 he was appointed Attorney General of the mainland colony and moved to New Westminster; he was appointed Attorney General of the united colonies in 1866 and returned to Victoria in 1868 when it became the capital of the colony of British Columbia. In 1870, he was made a supreme court judge. Crease was knighted in 1896. British Columbia. His family joined Crease in Victoria in 1860 and four more children, one of whom died in infancy, were born in British Columbia. Crease was interested in business and politics as well as the law. Both as a barrister and a supreme court judge he traveled throughout British Columbia on circuit. His wife accompanied him on some of these journeys. The Creases were prominent socially, and their house, Pentrelew, was a centre for Victoria society. Five of the Crease children lived into the 20th century, and three, Lindley (1867-1940), Susan (1855-1947) and Josephine (1864-1947), never married and lived at Pentrelew until their deaths. Susan was involved with the local Council of Women and Josephine with the Island Arts and Crafts Society. Both painted in watercolours, as did their mother. The two Crease sons, Lindley and Arthur, were sent to school in England and then practiced law in Victoria. Arthur served in France in the Canadian Army in the First World War.

The collection includes diaries, 1834-1900, correspondence inward, 1830-1904, and outward, 1830-1903, miscellaneous records and notebooks, including the minute books of the Colonial Securities Co., 1866-1868, of Sir Henry Crease; diaries, 1872-1913, correspondence inward, 1851-1922, and outward, and miscellaneous notebooks and records of Lady Crease; diaries, 1877-1937, correspondence inward, 1877-1940, and outward, 1893, and miscellaneous records of Lindley Crease; diaries, 1890-1960, account books, 1909-1954 and miscellaneous records of Arthur Crease; diaries, 1865-1943, correspondence inward, 1862-1891, 1902, and 1937, and miscellaneous records of Susan Crease; diaries, 1878-1942, correspondence inward, 1883-1890 and miscellaneous records of Josephine Crease; some correspondence inward of the other two Crease daughters, Mary Maberly (Walker) Crease and Barbara Crease; diaries, 1853, 1870, and 1898, and correspondence inward, 1847-1899, of Emily Howard Crease, Sir Henry Crease's sister, who taught school in British Columbia, and correspondence between members of the Crease and Lindley families in England and the Crease family in Victoria.

MS-2879 is an extensive collection of family papers which, in addition to the information it provides on the lives, activities and opinions of individual writers of letters and diaries, is a rich source of information on such topics as family life, childhood and the lives of women, and a major source on the economic, political, legal and social history of post-1858 l9th century British Columbia. The correspondence inward series to Sir Henry Crease includes letters from important figures in colonial and post colonial British Columbia. The collection contains some records relating to Sir Henry Crease's legal and business interests. It includes transcripts of Crease's private letter book, 1870-1873, Sarah Crease's diary of her trip to Cariboo, 1880, and her letters to her husband, 1849-1859. MS-2879 may be used in conjunction with MS-0054, MS-0055, MS-0056, and MS-0573.

Series includes letters from Richard Bunting Crummy, 1890-1972, to his parents and sister written from England after he had been wounded in World War I, from Saskatchewan and Alberta, where he taught school and homesteaded, and from Vancouver, where he taught school. Letters to his parents from the Red Cross, fellow soldiers, etc., 1916. Also includes medals and memorial plaque of William Taylor Crummy, who was killed in action in France during World War I.

Letters written to Deborah Leighton in Vancouver by men serving overseas in World War 1; including some cards, programs, memorabilia, etc., 1914 to 1919. She married William Alexander Glassford, a Commander in the U.S. Navy, on 26 August 1920, in Vancouver. The marriage registration (1920-09-221188) recorded "Florence Lilie" as her given names, omitting Deborah.

Manuscripts of articles, stories, poems, book reviews, novels and reference works, many of which were published. They deal with mountaineering, wildlife, exploration, botany, skiing and Mr. Munday's experience during World War I. Correspondence and material on affiliated organizations. Diaries, notes and correspondence by Phyllis Munday.

The fonds consists of manuscripts, correspondence and photographs.

The records include: diaries, field books, scrapbooks and subject files containing notes and correspondence covering Swannell's career as a surveyor in Northern British Columbia, his army service in the First World War in Europe and Russia and his later travels in British Columbia, Europe and Asia. The diaries and field books are profusely illustrated with photos.

The series consists of diaries, correspondence, and personal papers documenting Dr. Frederick Bell's service in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps during World War I, his activities as a physician (he was Superintendent of Vancouver General Hospital, 1923-1931, and of Shaughnessy Hospital, 1941-1949) and his interests in Canadian history (particularly the history of the fur trade, exploration, and the Prairies), the Alpine Club of Canada, and Garibaldi Park.

Unit is made up of material pertaining to Aitken's military service in World Wars I and II. Most of the material relates to WW I and includes correspondence, military handbooks, 9th Brigade Canadian Field Artillery battery orders, maps and photographs of enemy emplacements. Also included are lecture notes for military courses taught by Aitken as well as material relating to the Army School of Cookery, Military District No. 11, Victoria, B.C. (1940-1941). Some photographs transferred to Historic Photographs Section, accession number 98308-27.

Series includes letters in and out and well as bussiness correspondence, filed books, survey diaries and records relating to survey of the right-of-way of the Cariboo Highway. Also includes approx. 60 letters written to his parents while training for the R.F.C. in Ontario, from the R.M.S. Missanabie en route to England, and in England while a member of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force, 1917-1919.

Correspondence inward while attending boarding school in Victoria from family members, March - June, 1909; correspondence inward from a soldier in France, March, 1916. Exercise book for French lessons, no date. Photographs transferred to Visual Records accession 198401-8.

Purchased at auction, 1984.

Diaries and scrapbook kept by Henry Masterman Mist while interned in Ruhleben Camp, Spandau during World War I. This unit also contains "Prisoners Pie", a magazine produced by the prisoners for New Year 1916, and 2 books about Ruhleben, "The Ruhleben Prison Camp" by Israel Cohen and "The History of Ruhleben" by Joseph Powell and Frances Cribble.

Letters, 1901-1949, from family and friends, including letters from her parents, Senator and Mrs. Hewitt Bostock, written from Monte Creek, Ottawa and Europe, and from classmates serving in World War I; personal papers, testimonials, papers re Bostock ranch; papers relating to her interests in humanism, education and mental health, including minutes and correspondence of the Victoria Humanist Fellowship, ca. 1957-1969; various humanist publications.

Photos and albums transferred to Visual Records accession 197901-90; plans of the Sherman house, by architect P. Leonard James, transferred to the map collection, map registration number 12909A.

Presented by Mrs. J.D. Lindsay (step daughter), Armstrong, 1976.

The series consists of records created by Ellanore Parker and Murney Pugh, mostly between 1915 and 1955. Series includes copies of manuscripts of articles (many of which were published in the Los Angeles Times), short stories, poems and novels; scrapbook of published articles; photocopies of reviews and clippings; newspaper cuttings relating to Miss Parker; epigrams; correspondence with various people including Manette (a French woman who Miss Parker and Miss Pugh met during World War I), Sir Anthony Eden, Charles de Gaulle, Cristobel Pankhurst, T.A. Gerar etc. Papers of her companion Miss Murney M. Pugh, consisting of "Background of the Thomas Pugh Family" (Nova Scotia); and C.E.F. certificate of service.