Showing 17215 results

People and organizations

Quine family

  • Family

Various members of the Quine family were early immigrants to Canada and New Zealand.
Radcliffe Quine (1826-1885) was a native of the Isle of Man who emigrated to America in 1844. After travelling extensively, he moved to Victoria, B.C., for the 1858 Gold Rush, and later moved to Seattle.
Francis and Mary Quine, brother and sister-in-law to Radcliffe Quine, emigrated to Kamloops in the early 1880s.
Another brother, Frederick Quine, moved to Point Levy, Canterbury Province, New Zealand by 1885.
Derril Quine, another relation, moved to the United States in 1885.

Harris, R.C.

R.C. Harris is a professional engineer who possesses a particular interest in the mapwork of the Royal Engineers.

Martin, R.M.

R.M. Martin, who was connected with the City Engineer's Department, was responsible for planning traffic regulations for Stanley Park during the Golden Jubilee.

Jackson, Robert W.

  • Person
  • 1882-1971

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.

Dayton, Rebecca

  • Person
  • 1859-1945

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

  • Person
  • 1886-1972

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.

Hoffmeister, Reinhard

  • Person
  • 1866-1948

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.

Gilman, Richard B.

Richard B. Gilman was the son of Ellis Philip Gilman, a mining engineer and real estate developer. Between 1906 and 1909, Philip Gilman purchased a block of land on the south side of English Bay known as Thorley Park. Upon this site, Gilman decided to build his family home. The Victoria architect, Samuel Maclure, was commissioned to design the home, which was built between 1910 and 1912. The family resided there until they returned to England in 1922. The next owner, Reginald Brock, named the mansion "Brockholm", which he retained until 1938. In 1975, "Brock House" was developed as a recreation centre for Vancouver senior citizens. Richard Gilman, who moved to England with his family, returned to Ontario after World War II. He worked as a County Education Superintendent.

Henry, Robert

Robert Henry immigrated to Canada from Scotland in 1954 and began work for the City of Vancouver in the Voters Office in 1959. He was appointed City Clerk in 1978 and retired in 1987.

Robert McNair Shingle Company

Robert McNair and his brother opened a shingle mill and logging camp at Hastings, B.C. in 1891. The Robert McNair Shingle Company was opened in 1904 and incorporated in 1918. By 1914, the company had built a second mill in Port Moody and was logging on Coquitlam Mountain and at Deep Cove. It later purchased timber rights around Howe Sound and the Gulf Islands. In 1937 the company purchased Stave Falls Lumber Company Limited, primarily for the timber the latter company owned. In 1954, the company was closed down.

Robertson and Company

Robertson and Company, an early Vancouver real estate firm, was formed in ca.1887 by Gideon Robertson (1834-1919). Robertson's principal partner was R.C. Tatlow. The company appears to have functioned until 1905, although Robertson remained in the real estate business after that date.

Ross A. Lort, Architect

  • Person
  • 1929-[1967?]

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.

Kipling, Rudyard

Rudyard Kipling, poet, author and world traveller, was born in India in 1865 and died in England in 1936. He passed through Vancouver several times during the period 1889-1907 on his way to India. He was awarded a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. Major Matthews interviewed him in 1907 when he visited Vancouver on a cross-Canada tour. According to Matthews' informants, "A real estate agent got him when he passed through Vancouver on his way to China. Rudyard was easy and bought way out in subdivision 264A".

Brighouse, Sam

  • Person
  • 1836-1913

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.

Sam Kee Company

The Sam Kee Company, established in 1888, was one of the largest Chinese merchant firms in Vancouver. The company manufactured charcoal, contracted Chinese labour to shingle mills, canneries, and sugar beet farms, and operated a herring saltery in Nanaimo. It imported and exported food products to and from China, and served as agents for the Blue Funnel Steamship Line. The company also possessed sizable real estate holdings. Chang Yat Leong later managed the Sam Kee Company as an export firm until 1976.

Greer, Samuel

Biographical information unavailable.

Logan, Samuel H.

Samuel H. Logan was an employee of the Canadian Pacific Railway and an amateur photographer.

Neville, Sheila W.

  • Person

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.

Lett, Sherwood

  • Person
  • 1895-1964

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.

Allen, Silas Herbert

  • Person

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.

Mackenzie, Simon F.

In 1899, Simon Mackenzie and his two brothers founded the Mackenzie Brothers Steamship Company which eventually served the entire coast of British Columbia. In 1907, the SS Rupert City began service to Prince Rupert. Several years later, the firm sold out to the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway; the Mackenzie fleet became the nucleus of the Canadian National coastwise service.

Simson family

  • Family

Calvert Simson, born in Penrith, England, in 1862, left London in 1883 and sailed to Victoria, arriving in 1884. From Victoria he went to New Westminster, where he worked as a night watchman for the Dominion Sawmill. He worked as a shopkeeper on the beach in Granville and later as a storekeeper at Hastings Sawmill until 1891. He was also Granville's last postmaster, from 1884 to 1886. Simson managed the Chandlery Department of T. Dunn and Co. from 1893 to 1902. In 1902 he moved to the Ship Chandlery Department of Boyd Burns Co. In 1908, Simson and Arthur Balkwill opened up their own company, Simson-Balkwill Co. Ltd. Ship Chandlery and Engineering Supplies. They remained in business until 1929 when they sold their interest to Gordon and Belyea Ltd. Simson died in 1958. Jean Chrow, sister of Calvert Simson, married William Chrow. She died March 4, 1948. Gordon Simson is the son of Calvert Simson.

Southcott family

  • Family

John James Southcott (d. 1933) was a native of Plymouth, England. He emigrated to London, Ontario, where he married Annie Caldwell in 1874. The Southcotts settled in Vancouver in 1889. J.J. Southcott operated a wholesale tea business.

Southcott, John James

  • Person
  • 1850?-1933

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.

St. Andrew's Wesley Church (Vancouver, B.C.)

Following Church union and the establishment of the United Church of Canada in 1925, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church and Wesley (Methodist) Church amalgamated and constructed a new building for St. Andrew's-Wesley Church, which was completed in 1933.

St. George's Society (Vancouver, B.C.)

  • Corporate body
  • 1931-

St. George's School for Boys was established in 1931 by Captain F. J. Danby-Hunter. In 1934, the school was re-incorporated as St. George's School (1934) Limited. The new organization was governed by a Board of Directors and a Board of Governors. In 1934 a new building was opened as the Senior School. An Old Boys' Society was created and additional lands were purchased. In 1948 the company was voluntarily replaced by the St. George's Benevolent Society. In 1964, a new building for the Senior School was built. The continuing expansion of the school resulted in the 1979 acquisition of a building and grounds for the Junior School.

St. Mary the Virgin (Anglican) Church

St. Mary's Church was designed and built by former Royal Engineers in early 1865. In 1892, a parish hall was built near the Church, and in 1921 both buildings were restored and enlarged.

Texas Lake Ice and Cold Storage Company

In 1890 the Texas Lake Ice and Cold Storage Company built an artificial ice plant at Texas Lake near Hope, B.C. The company's three horse-drawn rigs were the first suppliers of ice in Vancouver. By 1896 the company was taken over by Cleeve Canning and Cold Storage Company of Vancouver and New Westminster.

Martin, Joseph

  • Person
  • 1851-1923

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.

Edwards, Thomas

Thomas Edwards was the owner and manager of the T. Edwards Company of Vancouver, funeral directors. He also owned a number of properties in Vancouver.

Sentell, Thomas Frederick

  • Person
  • 1912-2005

Thomas Frederick Sentell was a Vancouver resident and the son of Frederick W. Sentell.

Urban Design Centre

The Urban Design Centre was a Vancouver non-profit society which offered free or low cost architectural and planning services to low income individuals, community groups, service organizations and housing co-operative associations. Their work covered a broad spectrum of urban problems ranging from house renovations and child care centre design, to neighbourhood development corporations and large scale neighbourhood planning. The UDC operated from 1971 to 1976.

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