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.
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.
Series contains information on historic Crown Grants and subsequent title changes compiled by Doreen Thompson during her research for the CIMAS Windows on Whaletown exhibit in 1999. The area covered includes the northern part of Cortes Island, from just south of Gorge Harbour. Material includes maps, photocopies of original Crown Grants and other title documents, lists of subdivisions, and notes on changes of title.
Records were organized by Section or Plan number in large envelopes with a cover map and notes about the properties researched on the envelope back. They trace the ownership of parcels of land from the first grant or purchase from the Crown to 1999. Original order has been maintained.
Series contains information on historic Crown Grants and subsequent title changes compiled by Doreen Thompson during her research for the CIMAS Windows on Whaletown exhibit in 1999. The area covered includes the northern part of Cortes Island, from just south of Gorge Harbour. Material includes maps, photocopies of original Crown Grants and other title documents, lists of subdivisions, and notes on changes of title.
Records were organized by Section or Plan number in large envelopes with a cover map and notes about the properties researched on the envelope back. They trace the ownership of parcels of land from the first grant or purchase from the Crown to 1999. Original order has been maintained.
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.
Photograph postcard of the Whaletown Church. Originally from the collection of Gilean Douglas.
Note - There is a digital enlargement of this postcard in the oversize box. This same postcard is found in other fonds (Items 2003.002.024 and 2019.023.013).
Photograph postcard of the Whaletown Church. Originally from the collection of Gilean Douglas.
Note - There is a digital enlargement of this postcard in the oversize box. This same postcard is found in other fonds (Items 2003.002.024 and 2019.023.013).
The post office was built in this location (on the property of 315 Whaletown Rd) in 1947. In 1981 it was moved across the road next to the parking area of the Whaletown store.
Likely originally from the collection of the Weiler family.
The post office was built in this location (on the property of 315 Whaletown Rd) in 1947. In 1981 it was moved across the road next to the parking area of the Whaletown store.
Likely originally from the collection of the Weiler family.
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