A. Bonar Balfour peony and gladioli catalogs and price list (1926) and typewritten report given by Gladys Ballantyne to the Whaletown Women's Institute, 1925. These items probably came into Douglas's possession with the Whaletown Women's Institute papers which she was using while writing a history of the Women's Institutes and, because of personal interest, were subsequently kept by her with her gardening information.
A. Bonar Balfour peony and gladioli catalogs and price list (1926) and typewritten report given by Gladys Ballantyne to the Whaletown Women's Institute, 1925. These items probably came into Douglas's possession with the Whaletown Women's Institute papers which she was using while writing a history of the Women's Institutes and, because of personal interest, were subsequently kept by her with her gardening information.
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 two catalogs of the "Curiouser & Curiouser" exhibit in the Cortes Island Museum, 2019/2020, curated by Christian Gronau.
Modelled loosely on the fabled cabinets, boxes, rooms and chambers of the Renaissance, this exhibition was an invitation to reawaken the unreserved and almost childlike interest and curiosity of age when Europeans shook off the shadows of the Dark Ages and awoke to the fascination of the external world. When people of intellect and time to spare went (for better and for worse) in search of adventure, discovery and illumination, to all the corners of the Earth. They came back with stories full of wonder and brought back specimens full of mystery and promise. Their curiosity changed forever the ways in which humans look upon the world.
File contains two catalogs of the "Curiouser & Curiouser" exhibit in the Cortes Island Museum, 2019/2020, curated by Christian Gronau.
Modelled loosely on the fabled cabinets, boxes, rooms and chambers of the Renaissance, this exhibition was an invitation to reawaken the unreserved and almost childlike interest and curiosity of age when Europeans shook off the shadows of the Dark Ages and awoke to the fascination of the external world. When people of intellect and time to spare went (for better and for worse) in search of adventure, discovery and illumination, to all the corners of the Earth. They came back with stories full of wonder and brought back specimens full of mystery and promise. Their curiosity changed forever the ways in which humans look upon the world.
"Granite and Fossils" is a compilation of informatioin about Cortes Island fossils created by Christian Gronau for the Cortes Island Museum in 2002 and updated in 2016 and 2023. It has been digitized as Volume 1 and Volume 2.
Christian Gronau studied palaeontology and geology in Germany. He came to Canada in 1972 and
worked in the mining sector in the N.W.T. (among other places), where he met Aileen.
Christian and Aileen (C&A) moved together to Cortes Island in 1978, where they lived for 34 years on a
water-access-only property, without hydro or telephone (Swamp’s Edge), supporting themselves as beach-
only shellfish farmers (Last Farm Oysters). Throughout, C&A have been avid naturalists, continuing this
tradition from their present home at the south-end of Cortes Island (Tanglebank).
Scope and Content
"Granite and Fossils" is a compilation of informatioin about Cortes Island fossils created by Christian Gronau for the Cortes Island Museum in 2002 and updated in 2016 and 2023. It has been digitized as Volume 1 and Volume 2.
