Fonds consists of photographs and records of the Cortes Walking Group. Photographs depict walks and social activities and are arranged in two albums and one printed photo book. Textual records include two small notebooks with notes of walk routes, times and participants; membership lists; and accounts of activities with associated photographs, including a history of the Walking Group. A copy of the cerlox-bound "Listings of the Cortes Island Cemeteries" contains annotations up to 2020, mostly concerning the Mansons Landing cemetery.
The Cortes Walking Group was started in September of 2000 when Ann Dewar and Gail Ringwood decided to meet every Tuesday and Thursday at 9 AM to walk and put up a sign announcing their intention. The days were changed to the still-current schedule of Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and soon incorporated a visit to a coffee shop following the outings.
Walking Group activities are ongoing (2024). Walks leave from the parking lot at Manson's Hall at 9 AM sharp and are open to everyone. The route is decided just before the walks, which last anywhere from 45 minutes to 4 hours, but are usually one to two hours long.
Custodial History
The photo albums were mostly assembled by Gail Ringwood using photographs taken by Richard Trueman, Jurek and Gina Trzesicka and other group members. They were kept in the Pioneer Room at Manson's Hall and then at the Co-op Cafe. They were donated to the Museum by Sue Ellingsen and Myrna Kerr, members of the Walking Group, in 2022.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of photographs and records of the Cortes Walking Group. Photographs depict walks and social activities and are arranged in two albums and one printed photo book. Textual records include two small notebooks with notes of walk routes, times and participants; membership lists; and accounts of activities with associated photographs, including a history of the Walking Group. A copy of the cerlox-bound "Listings of the Cortes Island Cemeteries" contains annotations up to 2020, mostly concerning the Mansons Landing cemetery.
File contains a photocopied section map of the northern part of Cortes Island (from just south of Gorge Harbour), coloured to indicate areas for which a Crown Grant was located and areas of ungranted Crown land which still appear to be owned by the government. Scale is 1 mile to 1 inch.
File contains a photocopied section map of the northern part of Cortes Island (from just south of Gorge Harbour), coloured to indicate areas for which a Crown Grant was located and areas of ungranted Crown land which still appear to be owned by the government. Scale is 1 mile to 1 inch.
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.
File contains a key map which was pasted on the front of the envelope indicating the areas researched for Files 12-16; notes on the titles; photocopies of Crown Grants and subsequent title information for:
BC Buildings Corp: 1982, Crown Grant for Block A of SW 1/4 of Sec. 25 (Highways Maintenance Yard)
District Lot 871 (40 acres between Carrington and Coulter Bays): to James Frederick McManus, 1919
To Ernest Henry Vaughn: 1922, Crown Grant for NE 1/4 and NW 1/4 of NE 1/4 of Sec. 24; SE 1/4 of SW 1/4 and SW 1/4 of SE 1/4 of Sec 31
Herbert Proctor: 1928 for fractional SW 1/4 of Sec. 41, bordering Tork Reserve; 159 acres for $159.00 (orig. Crown Grant to Herbert Proctor in 1922)
To William Cowan: 1937, E 1/2 of SE 1/4 of Sec. 26, 89 acres
(Files 12 through 16 are from the same envelope.)
File contains a key map which was pasted on the front of the envelope indicating the areas researched for Files 12-16; notes on the titles; photocopies of Crown Grants and subsequent title information for:
BC Buildings Corp: 1982, Crown Grant for Block A of SW 1/4 of Sec. 25 (Highways Maintenance Yard)
District Lot 871 (40 acres between Carrington and Coulter Bays): to James Frederick McManus, 1919
To Ernest Henry Vaughn: 1922, Crown Grant for NE 1/4 and NW 1/4 of NE 1/4 of Sec. 24; SE 1/4 of SW 1/4 and SW 1/4 of SE 1/4 of Sec 31
Herbert Proctor: 1928 for fractional SW 1/4 of Sec. 41, bordering Tork Reserve; 159 acres for $159.00 (orig. Crown Grant to Herbert Proctor in 1922)
To William Cowan: 1937, E 1/2 of SE 1/4 of Sec. 26, 89 acres
(Files 12 through 16 are from the same envelope.)
File contains a copy of a booklet produced by the Campbell River Genealogy Club in 1993, with notes of burials and changes, mostly for the Mansons Landing Cemetery, to 2020.
File contains a copy of a booklet produced by the Campbell River Genealogy Club in 1993, with notes of burials and changes, mostly for the Mansons Landing Cemetery, to 2020.
File contains a photocopy image of the Peter Police homestead at Carrington Lagoon, handwritten stories by Bud Dewar, an article about Ned Breeze, a photocopy of Gary and Velma Bergman at the Whaletown store, and a list of Seaford School.
File contains a photocopy image of the Peter Police homestead at Carrington Lagoon, handwritten stories by Bud Dewar, an article about Ned Breeze, a photocopy of Gary and Velma Bergman at the Whaletown store, and a list of Seaford School.
File contains newspaper clippings about a visit of the Whaletown School class to Vancouver; a "Whaletown Round-Up" column written by Gilean Douglas, 1956; a photocopy of an article about the purchase of Smelt Bay Park, 1973; and a craft store in Whaletown, 1975.
File contains newspaper clippings about a visit of the Whaletown School class to Vancouver; a "Whaletown Round-Up" column written by Gilean Douglas, 1956; a photocopy of an article about the purchase of Smelt Bay Park, 1973; and a craft store in Whaletown, 1975.
File contains title information and photocopies of land grants and subsequent conveyances for the following:
John Williams: 1914, Crown Grant for the fractional SW 1/4 of Sec 22 and fractional NW 1/4 of Sec 22 (east of Gorge Harbour entrance)
John Williams: 1914, Crown Grant for the fractional SW 1/4 of Sec 22 and frac. NW 1/4 of Sec 18 (west of the Gorge Harbour entrance)
File contains three oversize maps which are stored in the map cabinet: Map of Section 22, Plan VIP52378, Lots A,B,C (blueprint map; 85 cm x 54 cm, 1985); map of Plan 27966 (blueprint map; 55 cm x 43 cm, 1974); photocopy of map of fractional NW 1/4 Sec 17 (55 cm x 43 cm, 1973)
(Files 3 through 7 are from the same envelope.)
File contains title information and photocopies of land grants and subsequent conveyances for the following:
John Williams: 1914, Crown Grant for the fractional SW 1/4 of Sec 22 and fractional NW 1/4 of Sec 22 (east of Gorge Harbour entrance)
John Williams: 1914, Crown Grant for the fractional SW 1/4 of Sec 22 and frac. NW 1/4 of Sec 18 (west of the Gorge Harbour entrance)
File contains three oversize maps which are stored in the map cabinet: Map of Section 22, Plan VIP52378, Lots A,B,C (blueprint map; 85 cm x 54 cm, 1985); map of Plan 27966 (blueprint map; 55 cm x 43 cm, 1974); photocopy of map of fractional NW 1/4 Sec 17 (55 cm x 43 cm, 1973)
(Files 3 through 7 are from the same envelope.)
File contains a photocopy of Crown Grant and documentation of subsequent changes in title for:
William Barrett Lennard: 1928, Crown Grant for the SE and SW 1/4s of Section 23 (on the SE shore of Gorge Harbour)
(Files 3 through 7 are from the same envelope.)
File contains a photocopy of Crown Grant and documentation of subsequent changes in title for:
William Barrett Lennard: 1928, Crown Grant for the SE and SW 1/4s of Section 23 (on the SE shore of Gorge Harbour)
(Files 3 through 7 are from the same envelope.)
File contains a photocopy of Crown Grant and documentation of subsequent changes in title for:
Eliza Breeze: 1920, Crown Grant for Fractional NW 1/4 of Section 18 (east of the entrance to Gorge Harbour)
(Files 3 through 7 are from the same envelope.)
File contains a photocopy of Crown Grant and documentation of subsequent changes in title for:
Eliza Breeze: 1920, Crown Grant for Fractional NW 1/4 of Section 18 (east of the entrance to Gorge Harbour)
(Files 3 through 7 are from the same envelope.)
File contains a section map showing properties southeast of Gorge Harbour and title information on the property, later owned by Gilean Douglas, and known as Channel Rock.
To John Pool: 1930, Crown Grant of the W 1/2 of the SE 1/4 of Sec. 21 and fractional SW 1/4 of Sec. 21 and Crown Grant fo the fractional E 1/2 of fractional SE 1/4 of Sec. 21
File contains a section map showing properties southeast of Gorge Harbour and title information on the property, later owned by Gilean Douglas, and known as Channel Rock.
To John Pool: 1930, Crown Grant of the W 1/2 of the SE 1/4 of Sec. 21 and fractional SW 1/4 of Sec. 21 and Crown Grant fo the fractional E 1/2 of fractional SE 1/4 of Sec. 21
File contains a coloured map with researched properties coloured in, and title information and photocopies of land grants and subsequent conveyances for the following:
Edward James Breeze: 1931, Crown Grant for District Lot 1373 (parts of Section 23 and Section 17, at the southeast end of Gorge Harbour by Anvil Lake)
Frank Harper: 1913, Crown Grant for the NE 96 acres of Section 23 (at the northeast end of Gorge Harbour)
(Files 3 through 7 are from the same envelope.)
File contains a coloured map with researched properties coloured in, and title information and photocopies of land grants and subsequent conveyances for the following:
Edward James Breeze: 1931, Crown Grant for District Lot 1373 (parts of Section 23 and Section 17, at the southeast end of Gorge Harbour by Anvil Lake)
Frank Harper: 1913, Crown Grant for the NE 96 acres of Section 23 (at the northeast end of Gorge Harbour)
(Files 3 through 7 are from the same envelope.)
Back, L to R: Bruce Campbell, Duane Campbell, Bonnie Killian, Joan Disney, Peggy Newsham, Wendy Knudson, Kate Hathaway, Donna Norman
Front: David Blinzinger, Conductor; Bruce Ellingsen, Jack Killian, Fay Raymont, Velma Bergman, (ID), Rebecca Campbell
Back, L to R: Bruce Campbell, Duane Campbell, Bonnie Killian, Joan Disney, Peggy Newsham, Wendy Knudson, Kate Hathaway, Donna Norman
Front: David Blinzinger, Conductor; Bruce Ellingsen, Jack Killian, Fay Raymont, Velma Bergman, (ID), Rebecca Campbell
