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 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.
Photograph of Michael Gibbons, taken beside Alice's house at the end of the board walk at Refuge Cove. Alice was the cook at the Hope's logging camp and stayed on after the camp closed.
Photograph of Michael Gibbons, taken beside Alice's house at the end of the board walk at Refuge Cove. Alice was the cook at the Hope's logging camp and stayed on after the camp closed.
Norm Gibbons holding a salmon caught while fishing with Bud Jarvis. Bud Jarvis married Rene Hope's daughter Joan and they were at Refuge Cove for their honeymoon.
Norm Gibbons holding a salmon caught while fishing with Bud Jarvis. Bud Jarvis married Rene Hope's daughter Joan and they were at Refuge Cove for their honeymoon.