Cortes Island Museum maintains informational files on subjects of local interest as a research resource. Contents of files may contain clippings or photocopied newspaper and magazine articles, correspondence (including printed email correspondence) and other non-archival material. This is a dynamic file, with changes made on an on-going basis.
Cortes Island Museum maintains informational files on subjects of local interest as a research resource. Contents of files may contain clippings or photocopied newspaper and magazine articles, correspondence (including printed email correspondence) and other non-archival material. This is a dynamic file, with changes made on an on-going basis.
This series contains material donated to the Library. It includes memoirs, and research and writings on aspects of Cortes Island social and natural history.
This series contains material donated to the Library. It includes memoirs, and research and writings on aspects of Cortes Island social and natural history.
Fonds consists of sixty prints and slides dating from 1951 to 1971. It includes scenes of of Cortes Island school students, logging, and the Union Steamship. Most photographs are from the Whaletown area. There are 16 slides of a logging camp at the Quatam River in Ramsey Arm, BC.
The Maclean family (parents Don and Doris, and children Janice, Heather and Ian) lived in Whaletown from 1961 to 1973.
Don Maclean's parents, John and Edna Maclean, lived for many years in Edmonton, Alberta. When their son came home from the war they bought property near Coulter Bay and moved to Cortes Island. Don Maclean became a fisherman, eventually living on his fishing boat.
Doris Lancaster Maclean was born and raised in Victoria, B.C. In the late 1940s she answered a call from the Anglican Church to come and do Vacation Bible School with the Columbia Coast Mission on Cortes and nearby islands.
Doris and Don married in 1954. They moved to Cortes Island in 1961 when Don was hired to operate the Columbia Coast Mission boat, the "Alan Greene". They lived in the Mission house in Whaletown, next to the church. Don Maclean acted as a Lay Reader for the Columbia Coast Mission in the 1960s when no clergymen were available, holding services in the three Anglican churches on the island.
In 1967 the Diocese sold the "Alan Greene" and the Macleans were required to move out of the mission house. Maclean built a house on the beach of what used to be called Jardine’s property, although by this time it was owned by a cousin of Doris Maclean. He was hired as the Industrial First Aid man on site for the building of the Whaletown Ferry dock and after that worked as a clam digger.
The Maclean family left Cortes in 1973 and moved to Regina, SK. The house that Don built was rented for a couple of years and then sold and moved to a new location; it burned down a few years later.
Custodial History
Twenty-seven photographs and 15 slides were mailed to CIMAS by Janice Maclean Kerr in 2019; two more photos were mailed in Apr. 2021; 16 slides were mailed in Sept. 2021
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of sixty prints and slides dating from 1951 to 1971. It includes scenes of of Cortes Island school students, logging, and the Union Steamship. Most photographs are from the Whaletown area. There are 16 slides of a logging camp at the Quatam River in Ramsey Arm, BC.
File consists of two CDs containing .pdf and .doc files. Subjects include: aquaculture; Director's Reports; Ferry Advisory Committee; SMT (Senior Management Team) meetings; Whaletown Creek; Advisory Planning Committee minutes, RDCS restructuring, and other RDCS business.
The CDs are stored in the CD Album and there is a print-out of the directory files in Folder 7-31.
Files in .doc format have been migrated to PDF files for purposes of preservation and access.
File consists of two CDs containing .pdf and .doc files. Subjects include: aquaculture; Director's Reports; Ferry Advisory Committee; SMT (Senior Management Team) meetings; Whaletown Creek; Advisory Planning Committee minutes, RDCS restructuring, and other RDCS business.
The CDs are stored in the CD Album and there is a print-out of the directory files in Folder 7-31.
Files in .doc format have been migrated to PDF files for purposes of preservation and access.
File contains two letters, written in pencil, to "Mother and Dad" by "Freddie" (surname unknown) on July 9, 1942 (7 pages) and July 13, 1942 (5 pages). Freddie was aboard the mission ship "John Antle", based in Whaletown with Canon Alan Greene, and writes of his experiences as part of the mission patrol. Places visited include Redonda Bay, Alert Bay, Rock Bay, Surge Narrows and Cortes Island settlements.
Donated by Bill Bartlett, of the Gerald Wellburn Philatelic Foundation, Victoria BC, in 2021. The letters were part of a stamp collection given to the Foundation. Bartlett recognized the connection to Cortes Island and mailed the letters to the Museum.
Scope and Content
File contains two letters, written in pencil, to "Mother and Dad" by "Freddie" (surname unknown) on July 9, 1942 (7 pages) and July 13, 1942 (5 pages). Freddie was aboard the mission ship "John Antle", based in Whaletown with Canon Alan Greene, and writes of his experiences as part of the mission patrol. Places visited include Redonda Bay, Alert Bay, Rock Bay, Surge Narrows and Cortes Island settlements.
Series consists of one file containing a typed transcript of the funeral service of Lydia Matilda Hague (Jan. 11, 1863 - Apr. 16, 1947), which was held in Merritt, B.C. and a "Baby's Record" card for "baby girl Milne" (born Feb. 23, 1958) with instructions for supplemental feeding.
Slipped under the door of the Museum, July 26, 2021. There was no accompanying note.
Scope and Content
Series consists of one file containing a typed transcript of the funeral service of Lydia Matilda Hague (Jan. 11, 1863 - Apr. 16, 1947), which was held in Merritt, B.C. and a "Baby's Record" card for "baby girl Milne" (born Feb. 23, 1958) with instructions for supplemental feeding.
Fonds consists of one scrapbook with 20 pages of photographs depicting Cortes Island people and places. Photographs, with penciled captions, are pasted onto the pages. Pages have been interleaved for conservation.
There are also nine loose photographs of relatives from a later accrual, and a file of textual records from a third accrual.
Eleanor (Christensen) Milne is a third generation Cortes Islander. Her parents are Mabel (Lowe) and Buster Christensen; her grandparents are Henry and Lydia (Heay) Hague. The Christensen/Hague families lived in the Manson's Lagoon area.
Custodial History
Album was donated to CIMAS by Eleanor Milne in 2004, and an accrual of nine photographs was donated in 2019.
Textual records were donated anonymously to the Museum in 2021 and have been described as part of this fonds as they are Milne/Hague family records.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of one scrapbook with 20 pages of photographs depicting Cortes Island people and places. Photographs, with penciled captions, are pasted onto the pages. Pages have been interleaved for conservation.
There are also nine loose photographs of relatives from a later accrual, and a file of textual records from a third accrual.
Series contains two books : "The Whale People", written by Roderick Haig-Brown and illustrated by Mary Weiler, and an annotated guide book to birds which belonged to Brigid Weiler as a child.
Series contains two books : "The Whale People", written by Roderick Haig-Brown and illustrated by Mary Weiler, and an annotated guide book to birds which belonged to Brigid Weiler as a child.
Series consists of family trees of Cortes Island settler families, with notes on related people and events. These trees are intended to help identify links between families on Cortes. Sources include online databases (e.g. Family Search.org, Ancestry.com and Canada Archives), CIMAS Archives and Information files, interviews and correspondence with family members.
Families researched include: Aldrich; Barrett; Borden; Byers; Cafferata; Froud; Hawkins; Hayes, Ashford and Griffin; Heay; Manson; Marquette; Middleton; Nichols; Percival and Saunders; Petznick; Pickles; Smith; (Carr) Smith& Marflett; Tiber; Tooker; Valley.The family trees and notes are kept in a binder labelled "Cortes Family Trees Project", located above the public access computer in the May Ellingsen Archives Room. Files are not available online due to privacy concerns.
We acknowledge that these trees are of white settler families and reflect colonization of ancestral homelands and displacement of the Indigenous Peoples who have thrived here for generations. We would welcome the opportunity to add those families to our records.
Family trees were researched by Bernice McGowan (1387 Bodington Rd, Whaletown, BC) in 2022. The Manson family tree was provided to CIMAS by Greg Johnson (2837 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6K 1X2; phone # 604 897 5925) in 2022.
Scope and Content
Series consists of family trees of Cortes Island settler families, with notes on related people and events. These trees are intended to help identify links between families on Cortes. Sources include online databases (e.g. Family Search.org, Ancestry.com and Canada Archives), CIMAS Archives and Information files, interviews and correspondence with family members.
Families researched include: Aldrich; Barrett; Borden; Byers; Cafferata; Froud; Hawkins; Hayes, Ashford and Griffin; Heay; Manson; Marquette; Middleton; Nichols; Percival and Saunders; Petznick; Pickles; Smith; (Carr) Smith& Marflett; Tiber; Tooker; Valley.The family trees and notes are kept in a binder labelled "Cortes Family Trees Project", located above the public access computer in the May Ellingsen Archives Room. Files are not available online due to privacy concerns.
We acknowledge that these trees are of white settler families and reflect colonization of ancestral homelands and displacement of the Indigenous Peoples who have thrived here for generations. We would welcome the opportunity to add those families to our records.
This series contains early film works of George Sirk, shot on 16mm and Super 8 film and digitized by Doug McCaffry, of ScanLab, in 2022. Films include Cortes Island short films, two feature documentaries, and two longer films shot in Australia. They were shown at a film festival presented by Cortes Cinema and the Cortes Island Museum on July 17, 2022: "Out of the Archives: The Early Film works of George Sirk".
From the program notes: "George's films showcase a snapshot - in moving pictures - of some madcap antics, dramatization, and documentaries of life on Cortes during that period [1975-1981] and were inspired by the great humourists of silent film; Chaplin, Keaton and Jacques Tati (Monsieur Hulot), and likewise delight in stitching reality. Mostly shot in sequentially edited (in the camera, like the great film makers mentioned), rehearsals were key to smooth transitions and conserved valuable film stock."
This series contains early film works of George Sirk, shot on 16mm and Super 8 film and digitized by Doug McCaffry, of ScanLab, in 2022. Films include Cortes Island short films, two feature documentaries, and two longer films shot in Australia. They were shown at a film festival presented by Cortes Cinema and the Cortes Island Museum on July 17, 2022: "Out of the Archives: The Early Film works of George Sirk".
From the program notes: "George's films showcase a snapshot - in moving pictures - of some madcap antics, dramatization, and documentaries of life on Cortes during that period [1975-1981] and were inspired by the great humourists of silent film; Chaplin, Keaton and Jacques Tati (Monsieur Hulot), and likewise delight in stitching reality. Mostly shot in sequentially edited (in the camera, like the great film makers mentioned), rehearsals were key to smooth transitions and conserved valuable film stock."
Karl Triller (September 30, 1928 - February 27, 2022) was born in Hungary and immigrated to Canada as a young man in the early 1950s. He worked in northern Ontario for a couple of years before moving to BC, where he worked as a baker and cook in forestry camps.
He married Elizabeth Wolf in 1956 and they had four children: Margaret in 1956, Rudy in 1958,Terry in 1960 and Fred in 1962. Around 1964 they settled in Courtenay,and Karl worked for Safeway for the next 16 years. Karl and Elizabeth divorced in the late 1970s.
Karl took early retirement at the age of 52 and moved to Cortes Island. He had always loved castles, and the granite rock of his property on Manzanita Road was the perfect place to build one. He designed, built and furnished a five-story, eight-bedroom German medieval-style castle of cement blocks over the course of 12 years. The castle featured eight bedrooms, a large dining hall, and a dungeon in the basement. The castle opened for business in the early 1990s, serving as a bed-and-breakfast and a venue for banquets and parties.
Karl took an active part in community life, and was crowned King of Cortes in Dec 2000. His duties included leading the Cortes Island Day parade and presiding at community Christmas dinners.
