Series consists of photographs of Cortes Island people and places which were collected from various sources by Doreen Thompson during her work on Museum exhibits.
Series consists of photographs of Cortes Island people and places which were collected from various sources by Doreen Thompson during her work on Museum exhibits.
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.
Photograph is cut from a larger original with a label pasted to the bottom. Verso says "Dedication of school swing in memory of Don McDevitt, June 1971. Mrs. McDevitt & School Board [missing text] Phil Sampson. Children seen are Christine [missing text] ?racy, Jean & Ernie and wee Freddy [missing text]." School is the Whaletown school".
Identified by Janice Maclean Kerr as:
Front: Lottie McDevitt and Phil Sampson
Children: Back L, Jeannie Halliday, Phillip Bergman, Tracy Prestley with Christine Froese standing in front of her, Johnnie Prestley (behind Lottie's shoulder); the little boy in the front L is Ernie Halliday.
Photograph is cut from a larger original with a label pasted to the bottom. Verso says "Dedication of school swing in memory of Don McDevitt, June 1971. Mrs. McDevitt & School Board [missing text] Phil Sampson. Children seen are Christine [missing text] ?racy, Jean & Ernie and wee Freddy [missing text]." School is the Whaletown school".
Identified by Janice Maclean Kerr as:
Front: Lottie McDevitt and Phil Sampson
Children: Back L, Jeannie Halliday, Phillip Bergman, Tracy Prestley with Christine Froese standing in front of her, Johnnie Prestley (behind Lottie's shoulder); the little boy in the front L is Ernie Halliday.
Verso says "Easter Egg Hunt 1966. Johnny Weiler (back); Janice Maclean, Heather Maclean, Ian Maclean (back), Philip Bergman, Doug McCoy, Sarah Weiler (kneeling)
Verso says "Easter Egg Hunt 1966. Johnny Weiler (back); Janice Maclean, Heather Maclean, Ian Maclean (back), Philip Bergman, Doug McCoy, Sarah Weiler (kneeling)
Photo shows the Whaletown store with the ramp to the wharf to the side. A storage shed is to the left, and the post office can be seen in the background.
Photo shows the Whaletown store with the ramp to the wharf to the side. A storage shed is to the left, and the post office can be seen in the background.
Photograph postcard of the Whaletown Church. This same postcard is found in other fonds (Items 2003.002.024 and 2006.001.001). This one is dated on the back and is in very good condition.
Photograph postcard of the Whaletown Church. This same postcard is found in other fonds (Items 2003.002.024 and 2006.001.001). This one is dated on the back and is in very good condition.
Photograph depicts the Whaletown wharf with a Union Steamship beside it. There is a truck parked on the wharf with several people standing beside it. The sheds on the wharf, the boat dock and the buildings across the bay at the present site of the ferry dock may be clearly seen.
Photograph depicts the Whaletown wharf with a Union Steamship beside it. There is a truck parked on the wharf with several people standing beside it. The sheds on the wharf, the boat dock and the buildings across the bay at the present site of the ferry dock may be clearly seen.
