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Robert William Gordon was an entrepreneur in Vancouver, Victoria and elsewhere. His daughter, Jessie, founded Crofton House School in 1898 and was later joined by her sisters, Mary and Edith.
Robert William Gordon was an entrepreneur in Vancouver, Victoria and elsewhere. His daughter, Jessie, founded Crofton House School in 1898 and was later joined by her sisters, Mary and Edith.
Helen Dawe grew up in Vancouver. She later earned B.A. and B.Comm. degrees from U.B.C. and a B.L.S. from the University of Toronto. During World War II, Dawe enlisted in the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (Wrens), took training in various places, and became a leading hand at Joint Services at Jericho Beach and in Halifax. She served as a Petty Officer Coder with the Canadian Naval Mission Overseas in London. After the war, she served as a librarian with the United States Air Force during the Korean War. Dawe returned to B.C. and eventually settled in Sechelt, where she maintains an active interest in local history. She has published several articles in Sechelt newspapers on the history of the area.
Albert J. Hill came to B.C. in 1880 with his brother Arthur Edmund Hill to work for the CPR. Bothe brothers were civil engineers. They were associated with surveys and construction in the Interior and on Vancouver Island, with the Coquitlam Water Works Company, and with New Westminster projects. In partnership with J.A. Kirk, Albert Hill was a partner in the engineering and surveying firm Hill & Kirk, located in New Westminster, B.C.
Arthur Edmund Hill came to B.C. in 1880 with his brother Albert J. Hill to work for the CPR. They were associated with surveys and construction in the Interior and on Vancouver Island, with the Coquitlam Water Works Company, and with New Westminster projects. In 1890 Arthur Hill was appointed superintendent of waterworks for New Westminster. In turn, he was associated with the Vancouver, Victoria and Eastern Railway, the Nicola, Kamloops and Similkameen Railway, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, and the British Columbia Electric Railway. He died in 1921.
Homer, Joseph Attwood Reynolds
Howard Green was born in Kaslo, B.C. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto in 1915. He applied for a commission with the 54th. Kootenay Battalion and served as a Lieutenant in Canada, England and France, and saw action with the 4th Division from August 1916 to July 1917. He was subsequently an instructor with the Canadian Corps School and with the 6th. Canadian Infantry Brigade. After the armistice, he was attached to the Canadian Section, G.H.Q., where he was promoted to the rank of Captain. Green returned to Canada in 1919 and attended law school at Osgoode Hall in Toronto, and was called to the bar in B.C. in 1922. He worked for Ladner and Cantelon and later set up his own legal practice in 1926. In 1923, he married Marion Jean Mounce. They had two sons, Lewis Howard and John Willison. Marion died in 1953 and Green married Donna Enid Kerr in 1956. Green was elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament representing Vancouver South in 1935. After a re organization of constituency boundaries, he served as MP for Vancouver Quadra from 1949 to 1963. Green served as Minister of Public Works, 1951-1959, and Acting Minister of Defence Production, 1957-1958. He was appointed Secretary of State for External Affairs in 1959. After losing his seat in the 1963 election, Green returned to his law practice. Green died in 1989.
Jack Cornett was the last Reeve of the Municipality of South Vancouver. He was an alderman in the City of Vancouver from 1937 to 1940, and from 1952 to 1959. He was a Vancouver Park Commissioner in 1935 and 1936. He was also Vancouver's Mayor from 1941 to 1946. He was also active in South Vancouver recreation for many years.
Jack Wasserman (1927-1977) was a nightlife and celebrity columnist for the Vancouver Sun. He was born on February 17, 1927 in Winnipeg, Manitoba and moved to Vancouver with his parents in 1935. He graduated from King Edward High School in 1945 and attended law school at the University of British Columbia in 1949 until he left to take a reporter's job with the Ubyssey. He was hired in 1949 by the Vancouver Sun as a reporter, but soon became a regular columnist with his "After Dark" column in 1952, his "About Now" column in 1954, and his "Jack Wasserman" column circa 1959 that continued until his death. Wasserman also had a talk-radio show on CJOR in 1969, a show called Wasserman's World on CKNW in 1970, and hosted CBC TV's Hourglass in 1972. Jack Wasserman died of a heart attack at age 50 while speaking at the Hotel Vancouver during a roast for Gordon Gibson Sr. on April 7, 1977.
James Crookall was born November 7, 1887 in Preston, Lancashire, and came to Vancouver as a child. Throughout his life, Crookall was an avid amateur photographer and an enthusiastic outdoorsman. He was an active member of the Vancouver Photographic Society and regularly exhibited his photographs in international salons. He died on July 27, 1960.
As a young man, Crookall joined the Union Steamship Company of B.C. He served first as a Steward, then as a Clerk and was made Secretary in 1912. His photographs reflect an interest in maritime traffic and activities.
In 1907, he joined the 6th Regiment, the Duke of Connaught’s Own Rifles, probably in the reserve unit, as he was still working for the Union Steamship Company. He is alleged to have known Major Matthews, the first City Archivist, and it’s possible he met him as a fellow member of the D.C.O.R.
During World War I, he served for two years with the Royal Flying Corps. Over his lifetime, he took many photographs of both military and civil aircraft at airshows.
After the war he resumed his career with Union Steamships. Crookall became Secretary Comptroller and was appointed Secretary-Treasurer in 1949. He retired in 1958 only a few months before Union Steamships ceased operations in 1959.
In addition to photography, Crookall had many recreational interests. He was an avid painter and a keen outdoorsman, regularly cycling or hiking many miles in search of subjects for his easel or his cameras. He was involved with a local group of amateur photographers called the “cycling circus”, which formed during the gas-rationing years of World War II and organized photographic trips by bicycle.
James Hamilton was secretary of the Vancouver Merchants' Exchange from its inception in 1921 until his retirement in 1944. He was considered an expert on British Columbia's marine history. His books included "Western Shores" (1932) and "The All-Red Route" (1960) and he contributed to "Harbour and Shipping" for many years under the name of "Captain Kettle". Hamilton passed away in 1964 at the age of 85.
James J. Sutherland, Barrister and Solicitor, practiced law in Vancouver.
James Murray Yale (ca. 1798-1871) was a chief trader of the Hudson's Bay Company from 1833 to 1859. He entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1815 and was stationed at Fort Wedderburn on Lake Athabasca, a site of conflict between the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company. As a result of this conflict, in 1817, he was seized and detained by North West Company officials at Great Slave Lake for several months. In 1821, he was put in charge of Fort George, and later served at Fort Alexandria and Fort St. James. He then moved to Fort Langley, and was put in charge of the post in 1833. During his time at Fort Langley, Yale oversaw the construction of new buildings and supervised the diversification of the post's activities away from fur trading to include salt fish packing and farming. He also ran the post through the activity surrounding the gold rush in 1858. In 1859, he retired to Stromness Farm in Saanich.
John F. Allison and Edgar M. Allison pre-empted 640 acres of land at the junction of the Similkameen River and Nicola Creek. Susan Moir, later married to John F. Allison, was considered by some to be the first white woman in the Okanagan.
Katherine Ferrie (nee Katherine Fergus Turner) was the wife of Walter B. Ferrie.
The couple were married in 1893, then later moved from Hamilton, Ontario to Vancouver, where Walter Ferrie served as the B.C. manager of the Canada Life Assurance Company.
Leo Francis Leavy was born in Vancouver and worked as a meat inspector for the government. He was well known for holding the Guinness record title, with his twin brother Jack, for being the world's largest identical twins. His mother was Helene Rafuse Leavy and his father was Leo Michael Leavy.
Leon Johnson Ladner was born in Ladner, B.C. on November 29, 1884. After articling with Sir Charles Tupper in Vancouver he was admitted to the Bar in 1910. Active in the Conservative Party he was elected to the House of Commons in 1921 and served as MP for Vancouver South until he was defeated in the 1930 election. He returned to the practice of law and formed his own firm, Ladner, Carmichael, & Downs although he remained deeply involved with the Conservative Party both provincially and federally. He was appointed to the Senate of the University of British Columbia for two terms, 1957-1963, and served on the Board of Governors. He also lectured on income tax for nine years at the UBC Law School. In 1972 his book, The Ladners of Ladner: By Covered Wagon to the Welfare State, was published. Ladner died in 1978.
Lewis Popham worked at Imperial Oil in Ioco, where he was also a Justice of the Peace.
Lillian Cope Greig was a Vancouver writer who prepared this material on the history of Kitsilano during the 1930s and 1940s. She had planned to publish the manuscript during the city's Diamond Jubilee year in 1946.
Margaret Pooley was born in Seattle, Washington January 4, 1914. Her family moved to Dollarton in 1924. When her father was killed at the Dollarton Mill in 1930, the family moved to Point Grey where they lived with her grandmother. She has lived in Vancouver ever since.
Margaret Rushton was a native of Wigan, Lancashire. She was active in PTA work in Vancouver during the early 1950s.
Emily Margery Wade (1888-1960) was the daughter of Frederick Coate Wade (1860-1924).
Michael Huculak was born in Western Ukraine. In 1916 he was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army, in which he served for over two years. While in the ranks of the Ukrainian Galician Army, he fought for the establishment of a Ukrainian Government in Western Ukrainian territories. He came to Canada in 1948. In addition to being a collector of the arts and crafts of the Hutsuls, he promoted Ukrainian history and culture.
Nathaniel Rolph enlisted in the 102nd Battalion North British Columbians at Port Alberni in 1915, holding the rank of Company Quarter Master Sergeant. He attempted unsuccessfully to obtain land in the Cariboo under the soldier settlement scheme on his return from the War.
Robert Weatherat Jackson came to Canada from Durham, England sometime around 1909. In 1912, he married Jessie Jane Creighton who died in 1937. Robert worked as a carpenter for Burrard Dry Dock Limited. In 1942, he married Margaret Stewart Middleton Rennie. He retired shortly after in 1946 and later moved to Victoria.
Rebecca Dayton (1859-1945) was a native of St. John, New Brunswick. She married H.W. Dayton in 1880 and moved to Manitoba in 1882. The Daytons moved to Vancouver in 1920. Mrs. Dayton was active in the National Council of Women and other community service groups.
Ritchie, Frederick Arthur Reginald
Reginald Ritchie was born in Levis, Quebec. He worked in various eastern banks before heading west to work on the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. After a period in Alaska (1907), he eventually settled in Vancouver in 1910, where he established the Ritchie Contracting and Supply Company with his brother, Purves. He served in the Engineer Mechanical Division during World War I. After the war, he resumed his business career with his brother in Purves Ritchie Company and Ritchie Equipment Company, acting as Managing Director until 1961.
Reinhard Hoffmeister was born in Wellington County, Ontario. He came to Vancouver in 1888 and established the city's first electrical shop. He built the city's first electric generator, which was used to create light and test electric apparatus. He also installed electrical plants at the B.C. Sugar Refinery, the Trail smelter, and the original Hotel Vancouver. He patented the designs for an electrical gold mining machine and a combined brake and footrest for bicycles. After his death, the business was carried on by his brother, Jacob, and son, Frank.
The architectural firm Ross A. Lort Architect grew out of the firm Maclure and Lort (which itself was a descendant of the firm Maclure & Fox). With the death of Samuel Maclure in 1929, Ross Lort assumed the Vancouver office of the firm in his own name, changing the name of the practice to reflect this.
The firm's principal work was residential: homes and apartment buildings in a variety of styles. In the later years of his practice, he expanded into smaller commercial, arts and medical facilities, and churches.
In 1959, Ross Lort's son, William Lort, joined the firm. Ross Lort continued to practice until just 1967.
Sam Brighouse was a native of Huddersfield, Yorkshire, who arrived in New Westminster in June 1862. He purchased the first landholdings within what is now the west end of Vancouver together with John Morton and William Hailstone. He later followed a career of farming in Richmond. Brighouse returned to Vancouver in 1881 and stood for alderman in the civic election of 1887, after having been one of the principal persons involved in obtaining the City Charter. In 1911 he returned to England; he died in England in 1913.
Sheila Neville was active with the Vancouver Little Theatre Association for many years. She was president of the V.L.T.A. for 1962-1963 and 1963-1964. In 1974-1975, she was a member of the Performing Arts Committee (Theatre) of the Community Arts Council of Vancouver.
Sherwood Lett was born in Iroquois, Ontario in 1895. In 1912 he accompanied his family to Vancouver where he pursued university studies until 1916 when he enlisted for service in World War I. He served in France and was awarded the Military Cross. In 1919, as a Rhodes Scholar, he studied law in Oxford. After returning to Vancouver in 1922, he entered private practice, specializing in corporate and tax law until the outbreak of war in 1939. In 1942 he participated in the Dieppe Raid and was awarded the D.S.O. In 1947, as a member of an official three-man commission, he visited Japan. Following his return he was elected president of the Vancouver Bar Association and a bencher of the B.C. Law Society. In 1951, he was elected Chancellor of University of British Columbia. In 1954 he was appointed Commissioner to head the Canadian truce delegation in Vietnam. In 1955 he was appointed Chief Justice of the B.C. Supreme Court, and in 1963 Chief Justice of the B.C. Court of Appeal. He died in 1964.
Silas Herbert Allen was born in 1861 and on January 1, 1900 married Alice McLaren in Vancouver. A daughter Violet was born at home, 777 Princess Street, on May 12, 1902. Silas Allen died at the age of 60 in 1921.
John James Southcott was a native of Plymouth, England. He emigrated to London, Ontario, where he married Annie Caldwell in 1874. They settled in Vancouver in 1889 where J.J. operated a wholesale tea business. He died at the age of 83.
Joseph Martin was born in Ontario in 1851. After working as a telegraph operator and as a teacher, he practiced law in Manitoba. In 1883 he was elected to the Manitoba Legislature, and served as Minister of Education and Attorney-General. In 1893 he was elected to the House of Commons, Ottawa. In 1897 he practised law in Vancouver. In 1898 he was elected to the B.C. Legislature and became Premier in 1900. He went to live in England, where he was elected, in 1910, to the British House of Commons. From 1914 to 1922 he tried unsuccessfully to re-enter B.C. politics, became Mayor of Vancouver and started an evening paper in Vancouver. He died in 1923.
Thomas Frederick Sentell was a Vancouver resident and the son of Frederick W. Sentell.
Velma Kipp was born in Vancouver in 1908. She attended Florence Nightingale School and King Edward High School and studied one year at UBC. She became a teacher. She first taught at Heriot Bay on Quadra Island in 1927-1928. After teaching at various locations and marrying, Velma returned to Vancouver in 1946. Between 1910 and the 1930s she lived on Fifteenth Avenue off Kingsway.
William L. Inglis was General Manager of the Vancouver International Airport from 1949 to 1976.
Walter E. Frost was born in Vancouver in 1898. After World War I he bought a Kodak roll film camera and began to photograph his city and the ships and trains that carry its life-blood. He was an avid amateur photographer interested in ships, trains, and the city of Vancouver. He stopped taking photographs in the mid 1970s. He died in 1988.
Walter Francis (Frank) Ing was born in 1881 or 1882 and died in November 1926 in Vancouver. He was with the North West Mounted Police, then moved to Vancouver in approximately 1918 and worked for the Canadian Bag Company. From 1920-1926 he was provincial secretary of the Retail Merchants' Association of Canada. His residences from 1920 until his death in 1926 were 820 Richards Street, 873 Seymour Street, and 3350 Manitoba Street. He was married to Grace Cornelia Ing (born Clinton, Ont., in 1906, died in Vancouver in February 1956).
Walter Robert Hamilton was born in Rawdon, Quebec, July 9, 1872. He travelled to the Yukon during the 1898 gold rush. He later joined the government service in the Yukon and remained there until about 1909. After moving to Vancouver, Hamilton served as an alderman from 1913 to 1918 and also as a police commissioner for that time. He also served on the Federal Milk Committee. He was a partner in several real estate and insurance agencies, primarily with Orr-Hamilton Ltd. He retired around 1945. He remained interested in mining and the development of the Yukon. He became President of the International Sourdoughs in 1960. He died March 23, 1964.
Whitford VanDusen was born in Tara, Ontario, and attended the University of Toronto. At university he met H. R. MacMillan, who encouraged him to study forestry. VanDusen graduated in Forestry in 1912. From 1913 through World War I, he worked as a forester for the British Columbia provincial government. In 1919, he joined the H. R. MacMillan Export Company as manager. From 1945 to 1949, VanDusen was Senior Vice President of the company and, following its merger with Bloedel, Stewart and Welch in 1949, was Vice-Chairman until 1955. He was on the Board of Directors of MacMillan Bloedel until his retirement in 1969. VanDusen was also involved in many philanthropic works, including establishing the Vancouver Foundation in 1943 and donating the purchase amount for the old Shaughnessy Golf Course, now VanDusen Botanical Gardens.
William Curtis Shelly was born in Ontario and moved to Vancouver in 1910 to expand his bakery business. He became involved in politics and was elected to the legislative assembly in 1928, serving as Minister of Finance in the Tolmie government.
William McNeill (1867-1960) came to B.C. in 1891. He worked in various provincial government offices, including treasury, mining, lands and works, for seven years. In 1898 he entered private business, becoming Vice-President of the Vancouver, Westminster and Yukon Railway, and secretary of the Stave Lake Power Company. Between 1904 and 1908 he negotiated and purchased right-of-way into Vancouver for Vancouver, Victoria and Eastern Railway. In 1908 he secured investments in Montreal and London to develop a power plant on the Stave River. The Stave Lake Power Company sold out to Western Canada Power Company in 1909 and McNeill became a director and manager of the company. McNeill was also a private secretary to John Hendry, President of B.C. Mills Timber and Trading Company (formed by the merger of Hastings Saw Mill and Royal City Planing Mills) and of the Vancouver, Westminster and Yukon Railway and other companies. Hendry had various investments in timber mills, railroads, mining and power plants, and McNeill served as his agent in many business transactions in B.C., Ontario and England. In 1898 McNeill married Minnie Jean Munsie of Victoria. In 1913 McNeill resigned his positions with Vancouver, Westminster and Yukon Railway.
Born in Enniskillen, Ontario Aug. 31, 1873, Howard King moved with his family to Walkerton, Ontario in 1894 and learned photography there from a Mr. Rawe about 1894. He then came to the West Coast and was employed as a picture framer by S.J. Thompson. He operated under his own studio, King Photo Studio, from 1899 to 1905. He also worked in New Westminster and Nanaimo as a photographer. He died march 20, 1963.