Fonds consists of photographs of the Gorge Harbour Lodge and Lodge activities, the Corneille and Ballantyne families, and Gladys Ballantyne's house, Gypsy Hill.
Bobby (Elizabeth) Corneille Ballantyne (1914-2009) was born in Vancouver and moved to Cortes Island as a young child. She was 4 years old when her father died suddenly on Marina Island in 1919; she remembers that they had to wait 3 days for a Union Steamship to get the body. Her mother Tena (Sarah Christena) Corneille (1877-1949) bought a tourist lodge at the east end of Gorge Harbour in 1929, and ran it until 1936 with the help of her two teen-age daughters. Gorge Harbour Lodge offered accommodations in the main building or in tents, tennis and badminton courts, and excellent boating, bathing and fishing. Vacationers came up from Vancouver on the Union Steamships for a round-trip ticket price of $6.65. The annual Regatta was the main social event of the season, with people arriving by boat from Cortes and the surrounding islands. It featured boat and swimming races, and a dance in the evening.
Gladys Georgeson Ballantyne (1882-1964), first came to Cortes in about 1910. In about 1920 she bought a property in Whaletown (now 640 Whaletown Rd.) that she called "Gypsy Hill". She was one of the original members of the Whaletown Friendly Circle, later the Whaletown Women's Institute. Gladys, her son Bill, daughter Valerie and her fiance were all on Cortes building a summer cottage when the Depression suddenly hit. Their off-island jobs fell through, and they remained at "Gypsy Hill" for the duration.
Bill Ballantyne (1908-1993) was in the Merchant Marine from 1924-1929. When he was unable to find work on ships during the Depression, he took whatever jobs he could find hand-logging and fishing. Bill and Bobby Corneille were married in 1937. They and other young Whaletown residents formed the Gorge Harbour Dramatic Society to help raise funds to build a community hall, and Bill was the work boss of the building crew for the Gorge Hall. In 1941 they moved to Victoria, and after the war settled in Courtenay with their two sons Peter and Ross. In the late 1950s they returned to Whaletown on Cortes Island where they fished for many years on the gulf troller “Viking”. During that time many young “deckhands” spent time aboard during summer vacations. On retirement, Campbell River became their home.
Custodial History
Electronic records were downloaded in 2012 from an internet address provided by Peter Ballantyne. One photograph was scanned from a photograph temporarily loaned by John and De Clarke.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of photographs of the Gorge Harbour Lodge and Lodge activities, the Corneille and Ballantyne families, and Gladys Ballantyne's house, Gypsy Hill.
Photograph of Rev. John Antle (center) and the crew of the first "Columbia". (see "Anderson, Doris, "The Columbia Is Coming"; Gray's Publishing, 1982, photo inset)
Photograph of Rev. John Antle (center) and the crew of the first "Columbia". (see "Anderson, Doris, "The Columbia Is Coming"; Gray's Publishing, 1982, photo inset)
Photograph of "George Parsons in his home bay on Quadra. Behind him is the house which is now at Campbell River." (Gilean Douglas' typed caption, taped to photo)
2 photograph prints: b&w; 9 x 6.5 cm and 17 x 12 cm
Scope and Content
Photograph of "George Parsons in his home bay on Quadra. Behind him is the house which is now at Campbell River." (Gilean Douglas' typed caption, taped to photo)
Photograph of Don Maclean in his garden at Cedar Hill Cross Roads. Maclean acted as a Lay Reader for the Columbia Coast Mission in Whaletown in the 1960s when no clergymen were available.
Photograph of Don Maclean in his garden at Cedar Hill Cross Roads. Maclean acted as a Lay Reader for the Columbia Coast Mission in Whaletown in the 1960s when no clergymen were available.
Photograph of Dick Flanders, his grandchild Louise and four boys at Mamalilliculla on Village Island. Thy are standing at the base of a carved totem pole; the village houses may be seen in the background.
Photograph of Dick Flanders, his grandchild Louise and four boys at Mamalilliculla on Village Island. Thy are standing at the base of a carved totem pole; the village houses may be seen in the background.
Photograph of Dick Flanders and his grandchild Louise at Mamalilliculla on Village Island. The paw of a carved bear on the totem is almost touching his head; there is another totem to the right, and a house in the bacground. See also #1999.001.0976.
Photograph of Dick Flanders and his grandchild Louise at Mamalilliculla on Village Island. The paw of a carved bear on the totem is almost touching his head; there is another totem to the right, and a house in the bacground. See also #1999.001.0976.
Photograph of a family standing on the deck of their float. Captioned by Douglas: "This is a new float house still unfinished, but one window box is already in place and planted. Boxes for float house flowers are made before the first nail goes into a new house."
Photograph of a family standing on the deck of their float. Captioned by Douglas: "This is a new float house still unfinished, but one window box is already in place and planted. Boxes for float house flowers are made before the first nail goes into a new house."
Photograph of Rev. Rollo Boas and his wife Kay scraping paint from the Columbia Coast Mission boat "Rendezvous" at the Whaletown wharf. Ken Slater's troller "Wahkana Bay" is in the background, two unindentified gas boats are tied to the floats. Of note: clearing for the Huck family home in background indicates the year the photo was taken. There are two captions on the back, in different handwriting (top is Gilean Douglas'.)
Photograph of Rev. Rollo Boas and his wife Kay scraping paint from the Columbia Coast Mission boat "Rendezvous" at the Whaletown wharf. Ken Slater's troller "Wahkana Bay" is in the background, two unindentified gas boats are tied to the floats. Of note: clearing for the Huck family home in background indicates the year the photo was taken. There are two captions on the back, in different handwriting (top is Gilean Douglas'.)
Photograph of Dick Flanders and his grandchild Louise at Mamalillaculla, Village Island. They are standing beside a carved totem pole which is supporting cross beams.
Photograph of Dick Flanders and his grandchild Louise at Mamalillaculla, Village Island. They are standing beside a carved totem pole which is supporting cross beams.