Three greeting cards designed by artist Mary Weiler, who lived in Whaletown, and a series of four pen and ink drawings illustrating life aboard a fish boat. The latter were probably used as illustrations for an article written by Douglas (see Box 1 folder 29).
Three greeting cards designed by artist Mary Weiler, who lived in Whaletown, and a series of four pen and ink drawings illustrating life aboard a fish boat. The latter were probably used as illustrations for an article written by Douglas (see Box 1 folder 29).
Fonds comprises material created or collected by Wilfred (Wilf) Freeman in the course of his work as a logger and during his community activities. It includes correspondence, logging records, maps, minutes of committee meetings, financial records, ephemera and clippings. It is arranged in four series: Logging; Centennial Committee; Ephemera; and Cortez Grapevine Telephone Association.
Wilfred (Wilf) Michael Freeman was born October 21, 1917 in Vancouver B.C. and died December 23, 2012. He was the son of William George Freeman and Robina Steel (Manson) Freeman and brother to Elizabeth Jane May (Freeman) Ellingsen (born March 13, 1914). His grandparents were Michael and Jane Manson. Wilf grew up on Hernando Island until 1926 when the family moved to Vancouver. One of his first jobs in the early 1930s was in Powell River where, among other things, he was hand digging basements under some of the original Powell River townsite homes.
He gravitated to the logging industry, working for Sigurd Ellingsen and Eric Flescher in Phillips Arm through the late ’30’s and into the 1950’s. He was an excellent worker; strong, resourceful, thoughtful, humorous and thorough, and, as well, he enjoyed hunting and fishing.
Wilf and his wife, May (Spence; died 1970) moved down to Smelt Bay on Cortes in the early 1950s from Phillips Arm. He logged with Bill Mathews between 1954 and 1965 in the Von Donop Creek areas. As well, they both crewed on the seine boat “Courtenay Maid” with Pat Andrews for a few summers.
When the ferry came to Cortes Island, both Wilf and Bill worked as deckhands, always cheerful and busy throughout the trips, often chipping and repainting rust spots on the ship.
Wilf was active in many community affairs over all the years living on Cortes: among them the Ratepayers Association, the 1958 Centennial Committee, the Cortes Grapevine Telephone Assoc. (a local telephone system, 1959 - 1966), Cortes Days summer celebrations, Cortes Island Firefighters Assoc., Cortes Rod and Gun Club.
Wilf and his second wife, Nora, lived on in Smelt Bay until they moved to Willow Point, South of Campbell River, in 2002. There they lived until, on December 23, 2102, he passed away while shovelling snow in their back yard.
Custodial History
Accession 2001.001 was donated to CIMAS by Wilfred Freeman on June 16, 2001. Accession 2002.002 was gathered at Wilf Freeman's garage sale by Bonnie MacDonald and donated to the museum in June of 2002. Accession 2017.006 was donated to CIMAS by Bruce Ellingsen, Freeman's nephew, in July of 2017.
Scope and Content
Fonds comprises material created or collected by Wilfred (Wilf) Freeman in the course of his work as a logger and during his community activities. It includes correspondence, logging records, maps, minutes of committee meetings, financial records, ephemera and clippings. It is arranged in four series: Logging; Centennial Committee; Ephemera; and Cortez Grapevine Telephone Association.
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.
Series consists of a variety of material relating to Douglas's life at Channel Rock, her 135 acre waterfront homestead. Channel Rock was located on the outside of Gorge Harbour, directly across from Shark Spit on Marina Island. It had no road access and could be reached only by walking trail or boat. Douglas lived in a simple cabin overlooking the water with no electrical power, although she did have a telephone. Series includes the daily journal that her husband, Philip Major Douglas, kept during the year that he lived on Cortes prior to Douglas's arrival; household account statements from the early 1950s; lists and inventories of Douglas's library, photographs, research files and household items; a resumé of Douglas's long-time caretaker David Edwards; bills and receipts for household expenses; Christmas card and gift lists; records of egg, plant and vegetable sales; and garden records including plant lists, planting plans, annotated garden catalog pages and garden catalogs.
Series consists of a variety of material relating to Douglas's life at Channel Rock, her 135 acre waterfront homestead. Channel Rock was located on the outside of Gorge Harbour, directly across from Shark Spit on Marina Island. It had no road access and could be reached only by walking trail or boat. Douglas lived in a simple cabin overlooking the water with no electrical power, although she did have a telephone. Series includes the daily journal that her husband, Philip Major Douglas, kept during the year that he lived on Cortes prior to Douglas's arrival; household account statements from the early 1950s; lists and inventories of Douglas's library, photographs, research files and household items; a resumé of Douglas's long-time caretaker David Edwards; bills and receipts for household expenses; Christmas card and gift lists; records of egg, plant and vegetable sales; and garden records including plant lists, planting plans, annotated garden catalog pages and garden catalogs.
File contains six pencil drawings and one watercolour of Channel Rock by Marge Des Marais, a friend of Douglas who lived at Seaford, and one pen and watercolour picture of the cabin by Margery Greene.
File contains six pencil drawings and one watercolour of Channel Rock by Marge Des Marais, a friend of Douglas who lived at Seaford, and one pen and watercolour picture of the cabin by Margery Greene.
A list of questions and answers about the location, access, geographical features, buildings, and other details of the condition of the Channel Rock property prior to its purchase by Douglas, in the handwriting of Philip Major Douglas; a sketch of the floor plan of the cabin
A list of questions and answers about the location, access, geographical features, buildings, and other details of the condition of the Channel Rock property prior to its purchase by Douglas, in the handwriting of Philip Major Douglas; a sketch of the floor plan of the cabin