Fonds consists of records of the Gorge Harbour Community Hall Society, including minutes of meetings, financial statements and administrative records and correspondence. It is arranged into five series: Minutes, Financial, Administrative Records, Correspondence and Programs.
The Gorge Harbour Community Hall Society was formed in 1930, when residents decided to build a community hall. The young people of the area formed the Gorge Harbour Dramatic Society and put on plays and dances to raise funds. The Hall was built on land donated by George Beattie. Volunteers split shakes for the roof and did all the building, with Charlie Allen as supervisor and Bill Ballantyne as work boss. The Hall opened on Nov. 11, 1933, with an Armistice dance.
The Gorge Harbour Hall Society disbanded in 1952 and handed responsibility for the Gorge Hall over to the Whaletown Community Club. From this time, the Gorge Hall replaced the Church Hall as the main venue for weddings, dances, meetings and parties for both the Whaletown and Gorge Harbour communities.
Custodial History
Records of the Gorge Harbour Community Hall Society were turned over to CIMAS by Gillian Milton, who collected them from the home of Gilean Douglas in 1993. Douglas' husband, Philip Major Douglas, was president of the Whaletown Community Club when it took over the Gorge Harbour Community Hall and presumably had the records in his possession at that time.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of records of the Gorge Harbour Community Hall Society, including minutes of meetings, financial statements and administrative records and correspondence. It is arranged into five series: Minutes, Financial, Administrative Records, Correspondence and Programs.
Series consists of 2 files of minutes of meetings of the Gorge Harbour Community Hall Society, and proxy votes from the 1952 meeting at which the society was disbanded.
Series consists of 2 files of minutes of meetings of the Gorge Harbour Community Hall Society, and proxy votes from the 1952 meeting at which the society was disbanded.
Series consists of the Gorge Harbour Community Hall Society Declaration and Bylaws (1938), an insurance policy (1950) and reports to the Registrar of Companies (1948-1952).
Series consists of the Gorge Harbour Community Hall Society Declaration and Bylaws (1938), an insurance policy (1950) and reports to the Registrar of Companies (1948-1952).
Series consists of a report on a Gorge Hall dance (1949), a program of a presentation by the Girls' Drama Club (1950), miscellaneous notes, and a summary of the operations of the Gorge Harbour Community Hall Society compiled by Philip Major Douglas, president of the Whaletown Community Club, in 1952.
Series consists of a report on a Gorge Hall dance (1949), a program of a presentation by the Girls' Drama Club (1950), miscellaneous notes, and a summary of the operations of the Gorge Harbour Community Hall Society compiled by Philip Major Douglas, president of the Whaletown Community Club, in 1952.
Resolution changing the Gorge Harbour Community Hall Society to the Whaletown Community Club; Constitution, certification under the Societies Act; Aims and Objects; agenda for annual meeting
Resolution changing the Gorge Harbour Community Hall Society to the Whaletown Community Club; Constitution, certification under the Societies Act; Aims and Objects; agenda for annual meeting
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.
File contains digitized copies of photographs from Norm Gibbons' photograph album of Refuge Cove. For the stories behind the photos, see 2003.007.001, a recording of Norm and Lisa Gibbons talking about their experiences living at Refuge Cove.
File contains digitized copies of photographs from Norm Gibbons' photograph album of Refuge Cove. For the stories behind the photos, see 2003.007.001, a recording of Norm and Lisa Gibbons talking about their experiences living at Refuge Cove.
Buildings, from L to R: Norm and Doris Hope's house, far left; small house where the store keeper lived; the old store; fuel tanks with house to their right; teacher's cottage and school building at far right. In front are several fish boats; the dock with a freight shed; a barge for ice storage and fish-buying; float houses near the school.
The Hope's house is the only one of these buildings still there (2023). The old store burned down in 1968.
Buildings, from L to R: Norm and Doris Hope's house, far left; small house where the store keeper lived; the old store; fuel tanks with house to their right; teacher's cottage and school building at far right. In front are several fish boats; the dock with a freight shed; a barge for ice storage and fish-buying; float houses near the school.
The Hope's house is the only one of these buildings still there (2023). The old store burned down in 1968.
Photograph of the original store at Refuge Cove, taken from the head of the ramp by Norman and Doris Hope's house. To the right of the store is a fuel tank and a shed used for storing the tools needed for the tanks, drums of oil, etc. The store burned down in 1968.
Photograph of the original store at Refuge Cove, taken from the head of the ramp by Norman and Doris Hope's house. To the right of the store is a fuel tank and a shed used for storing the tools needed for the tanks, drums of oil, etc. The store burned down in 1968.
Doris Hope provided a fish and chips dinner for the Refuge Cove community every Friday, cooking on two large propane burners set up on the back porch of her house,
Doris Hope provided a fish and chips dinner for the Refuge Cove community every Friday, cooking on two large propane burners set up on the back porch of her house,
The Hopes are standing beside the cook house at their logging camp in Lewis Channel. Their water spaniel Stinky once swam home to Refuge Cove from Squirrel Cove, a distance of 3.7 miles.
The Hopes are standing beside the cook house at their logging camp in Lewis Channel. Their water spaniel Stinky once swam home to Refuge Cove from Squirrel Cove, a distance of 3.7 miles.
