Fonds consists of sixty prints and slides dating from 1951 to 1971. It includes scenes of of Cortes Island school students, logging, and the Union Steamship. Most photographs are from the Whaletown area. There are 16 slides of a logging camp at the Quatam River in Ramsey Arm, BC.
The Maclean family (parents Don and Doris, and children Janice, Heather and Ian) lived in Whaletown from 1961 to 1973.
Don Maclean's parents, John and Edna Maclean, lived for many years in Edmonton, Alberta. When their son came home from the war they bought property near Coulter Bay and moved to Cortes Island. Don Maclean became a fisherman, eventually living on his fishing boat.
Doris Lancaster Maclean was born and raised in Victoria, B.C. In the late 1940s she answered a call from the Anglican Church to come and do Vacation Bible School with the Columbia Coast Mission on Cortes and nearby islands.
Doris and Don married in 1954. They moved to Cortes Island in 1961 when Don was hired to operate the Columbia Coast Mission boat, the "Alan Greene". They lived in the Mission house in Whaletown, next to the church. Don Maclean acted as a Lay Reader for the Columbia Coast Mission in the 1960s when no clergymen were available, holding services in the three Anglican churches on the island.
In 1967 the Diocese sold the "Alan Greene" and the Macleans were required to move out of the mission house. Maclean built a house on the beach of what used to be called Jardine’s property, although by this time it was owned by a cousin of Doris Maclean. He was hired as the Industrial First Aid man on site for the building of the Whaletown Ferry dock and after that worked as a clam digger.
The Maclean family left Cortes in 1973 and moved to Regina, SK. The house that Don built was rented for a couple of years and then sold and moved to a new location; it burned down a few years later.
Custodial History
Twenty-seven photographs and 15 slides were mailed to CIMAS by Janice Maclean Kerr in 2019; two more photos were mailed in Apr. 2021; 16 slides were mailed in Sept. 2021
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of sixty prints and slides dating from 1951 to 1971. It includes scenes of of Cortes Island school students, logging, and the Union Steamship. Most photographs are from the Whaletown area. There are 16 slides of a logging camp at the Quatam River in Ramsey Arm, BC.
Series consists of documents pertaining to the Whaletown Cemetery, including original draft of "Rules and Regulations Governing the Operation of the Whaletown Cemetery, Whaletown, B.C." (1970s), Whaletown Cemetery Board meeting minutes, a map of the old cemetery, and newspaper clipping of obituaries for Norene Kvello and Richard Irwin Teames. Series was removed from a binder when accessioned.
Series consists of documents pertaining to the Whaletown Cemetery, including original draft of "Rules and Regulations Governing the Operation of the Whaletown Cemetery, Whaletown, B.C." (1970s), Whaletown Cemetery Board meeting minutes, a map of the old cemetery, and newspaper clipping of obituaries for Norene Kvello and Richard Irwin Teames. Series was removed from a binder when accessioned.
File contains correspondence with School District 72 re the old Whaletown school property and building; a Bill of Sale for the school house for $1; a License Agreement for the school property for a term of 5 years for a fee of $150/year; a request to extend the lease for another 5 years (2015) and a receipt for payment of the annual lease fee (July 1 2015-June 30 2016).
File contains correspondence with School District 72 re the old Whaletown school property and building; a Bill of Sale for the school house for $1; a License Agreement for the school property for a term of 5 years for a fee of $150/year; a request to extend the lease for another 5 years (2015) and a receipt for payment of the annual lease fee (July 1 2015-June 30 2016).
Photograph of the Whaletown Women's Institute and school children at the Whaletown school on the occasion of the presentation of a library to the school. (ID)
Seated women from right: Milly Hill, Barbara Hunt, ?
In truck: Lynn and Ann Robertson
Men: Mr. Philip Douglas, School Rep, Mr. A. Ferguson, teacher, facing the camera
Seated children: Doreen Huck, Andy Robertson behind her
Standing women: Muriel Whiting, third from right; Mrs. Ferguson behind her
Photograph of the Whaletown Women's Institute and school children at the Whaletown school on the occasion of the presentation of a library to the school. (ID)
Seated women from right: Milly Hill, Barbara Hunt, ?
In truck: Lynn and Ann Robertson
Men: Mr. Philip Douglas, School Rep, Mr. A. Ferguson, teacher, facing the camera
Seated children: Doreen Huck, Andy Robertson behind her
Standing women: Muriel Whiting, third from right; Mrs. Ferguson behind her
Fonds consists of material that was gathered by Thompson as she researched island history for museum exhibits and local history albums. It includes land title information about Cortes Island properties going back to the original Crown Grants, correspondence and notes about Cortes Island history, photographs, maps and ephemera.
Fonds is arranged in five series: Land Titles Research; Historical Information; Maps; Photographs; and Ephemera.
30 cm of textual records
40 photographs
12 maps
2 CDs
History / Biographical
Doreen (Huck) Thompson, 1944-2006:
Doreen’s grandparents, William Edward Huck and Mabel Wells Huck, arrived on Cortes Island in 1915. Widowed in WWI, Mabel and her four children left Cortes for Vancouver in 1923. Her son Harry, Doreen’s father, returned to Cortes in the 1930s. He married Edith Launchbury in 1937 and had two children, Doreen (b.1944) and Ed (b.1945, d.1993). Doreen and Ed were raised in Whaletown and attended school there and at Manson’s Landing.
Doreen graduated from Vic High in Victoria before marrying Bob Thompson in 1962. From 1961 to 1963, Doreen lived in Teakerne Arm in a floathouse Bob had built on the shore of the Whaletown Lagoon and then moved to the shores of Heriot Bay on Quadra Island. Her children were born in 1964 (Janny) and 1965 (Debby). In 1970 the family and the house moved to Cortes Island where both daughters attended school to Grade 10.
Doreen spent a few years living in Alberta and Victoria in the early 1980s and then returned to Cortes Island. Doreen developed a deep knowledge of the history of the island and she devoted considerable time to preserving, gathering and sharing her own and others knowledge of the island through her volunteer work at the Cortes Island Museum and Archives.
Doreen was one of the founders of the Cortes Island Museum. She curated four exhibits at the Museum, including “Windows on Whaletown” in 1999, “Von Donop Inlet”, the commercial fishing portion of “Celebrating Wild Salmon”, and “Memories of Manson’s Landing”. She researched and created albums which combine photographs, reminiscences and clippings to document the history of various island areas, such as Green Valley and Whaletown. The Doreen Thompson Exhibit Gallery at the Museum commemorates her contributions.
Doreen was making a fourth cross-Canada road trip from Cortes to Newfoundland when she was killed in a car accident near Fort McLeod, Alberta on August 1, 2006.
Custodial History
Material was stored at the museum or collected from Doreen Thomas' house.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of material that was gathered by Thompson as she researched island history for museum exhibits and local history albums. It includes land title information about Cortes Island properties going back to the original Crown Grants, correspondence and notes about Cortes Island history, photographs, maps and ephemera.
Fonds is arranged in five series: Land Titles Research; Historical Information; Maps; Photographs; and Ephemera.
Fonds contains nine photographs depicting members of the Gibson and Palmer families who lived in Squirrel Cove; one large map (6 x 3 feet) showing the preemptions and homesteads of early Cortes settlers; and an account written by Etta (McKay) Byers of her Christmas in 1927.
9 photographs : b&w
1 map : 188 x 92 cm
5 pages of textual records
History / Biographical
Donald Palmer went to school on Cortes Island in the 1960s. His father, James Palmer, was born in 1927 to Elizabeth (Lizzie) and Cliff Palmer, who lived on the homestead of Lizzie's parents, Agnes and James Gibson, in Squirrel Cove. Their large property was on the uphill side of the road across from Tork Road.
Custodial History
Donated to CIMAS in July, 2020, by Donald Palmer
Scope and Content
Fonds contains nine photographs depicting members of the Gibson and Palmer families who lived in Squirrel Cove; one large map (6 x 3 feet) showing the preemptions and homesteads of early Cortes settlers; and an account written by Etta (McKay) Byers of her Christmas in 1927.
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.
Fonds consists of two photograph albums containing 479 black and white photographs with captions, dating from 1916 to 1927. Most of the photographs depict family, friends and scenes from Cortes Island, especially the area known as Green Valley; some photographs show school friends and family from Vancouver and Saskatchewan. Titles in quotation marks are Dorothy Huck's photograph captions. Other information used in photograph descriptions comes from the "Green Valley", "Carrington Bay/Coulter Bay" and "Whaletown to 1930" albums created for CIMAS in 1999 by Doreen Huck Thompson, a grand-niece of Dorothy Huck. Unless otherwise noted, the location of all photos is Cortes Island.
Dorothy Mary Huck Whalley (June 30, 1904 - Nov. 17, 1983) was the oldest of five children born to Mabel Wells Huck and William Edward Huck. Her siblings were Wilfred Harold (Harry), John Edward (Jack), Margaret Ethel and William Frances (Billie). Shortly after the Huck family arrived on Cortes in 1915, William E. Huck enlisted in the Army. He was killed in France in 1916, leaving Mabel with five children to bring up on her own. Her brother, Harold John (Jack) Wells was invalided home from World War I in 1917 and moved to Cortes, where he boarded with Mabel.
The Huck homestead, referred to as Hell's Half Acre or Billy Goat Hill, was in the NE 1/4 of Section 40, in Green Valley, the area around what is now known as Blue Jay Lake. Neighbours included the Barrett, Middleton, Tait and Tiber families. Dorothy was sent to Vancouver for schooling, and then returned to Cortes to attend the new Squirrel Cove school in 1916. In 1920 the Huck family moved to the Robertson property, Burnside, in Whaletown. Dorothy, having outgrown the local school system, went to Moose Jaw, Sk. where she finished high school and then attended a secretarial school run by her aunt and uncle. She married Joe Whalley and lived in Saskatchewan for many years before returning to live in Vancouver and White Rock. Dorothy died in White Rock on Nov. 17, 1983.
Custodial History
The albums were created by Dorothy Huck Whalley and given to her daughter Dorothy Whalley Livingstone. Dorothy Livingstone passed the albums on to her cousin, Karen Lee (daughter of Margaret Huck Mann), who donated them to the Cortes Island Museum & Archives Society.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of two photograph albums containing 479 black and white photographs with captions, dating from 1916 to 1927. Most of the photographs depict family, friends and scenes from Cortes Island, especially the area known as Green Valley; some photographs show school friends and family from Vancouver and Saskatchewan. Titles in quotation marks are Dorothy Huck's photograph captions. Other information used in photograph descriptions comes from the "Green Valley", "Carrington Bay/Coulter Bay" and "Whaletown to 1930" albums created for CIMAS in 1999 by Doreen Huck Thompson, a grand-niece of Dorothy Huck. Unless otherwise noted, the location of all photos is Cortes Island.
Geographic Access
Cortes Island
Squirrel Cove
Carrington Bay
Saskatchewan
Related Material
"Green Valley", "Carrington Bay/Coulter Bay" and "Whaletown to 1930" albums created by Doreen Huck Thompson.
Photograph of (L to R) Peggy Newsham, Barbara Hunt, Rita Ogren and Mrs. Saunders. They are seated inside, with cakes on a coffee table in front of them. (Possibly a Women's Institute meeting?)
Photograph of (L to R) Peggy Newsham, Barbara Hunt, Rita Ogren and Mrs. Saunders. They are seated inside, with cakes on a coffee table in front of them. (Possibly a Women's Institute meeting?)
Photograph of Trude Albright next to a large cake she has made to celebrate the completion of an addition to the Gorge Hall. The cake is in the shape of the fireplace constructed by Andy Ducasse in the new lounge.
Photograph of Trude Albright next to a large cake she has made to celebrate the completion of an addition to the Gorge Hall. The cake is in the shape of the fireplace constructed by Andy Ducasse in the new lounge.
File contains executive and general meeting minutes, including minutes for a special meeting regarding the Old Whaletown School building, with related correspondence, bulletins, membership lists and financial reports. Of particular interest is correspondence pertaining to the Old Whaletown School site and correspondence with Regional Director J.R. Nursall.
File contains executive and general meeting minutes, including minutes for a special meeting regarding the Old Whaletown School building, with related correspondence, bulletins, membership lists and financial reports. Of particular interest is correspondence pertaining to the Old Whaletown School site and correspondence with Regional Director J.R. Nursall.