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.
Back, L to R: Bruce Campbell, Duane Campbell, Bonnie Killian, Joan Disney, Peggy Newsham, Wendy Knudson, Kate Hathaway, Donna Norman
Front: David Blinzinger, Conductor; Bruce Ellingsen, Jack Killian, Fay Raymont, Velma Bergman, (ID), Rebecca Campbell
Back, L to R: Bruce Campbell, Duane Campbell, Bonnie Killian, Joan Disney, Peggy Newsham, Wendy Knudson, Kate Hathaway, Donna Norman
Front: David Blinzinger, Conductor; Bruce Ellingsen, Jack Killian, Fay Raymont, Velma Bergman, (ID), Rebecca Campbell
Photograph of the senior room at Manson's Landing school with students, including Patrick Lihou, Gary Burnett, Victor Laurentieff and Brig Weiler (back turned) seated at their desks. Photo has been cut.
Photograph of the senior room at Manson's Landing school with students, including Patrick Lihou, Gary Burnett, Victor Laurentieff and Brig Weiler (back turned) seated at their desks. Photo has been cut.
Photograph of a crowd of people on the government dock at Manson's Landing, likely waiting for the arrival of a Union Steamship. They are standing in front of a building sided with vertical shake boards, with "Cortes Island" and "Telegraph Office" signs on its side. View is looking along the Spit.
Photograph of a crowd of people on the government dock at Manson's Landing, likely waiting for the arrival of a Union Steamship. They are standing in front of a building sided with vertical shake boards, with "Cortes Island" and "Telegraph Office" signs on its side. View is looking along the Spit.
Photograph of Emmeline Pickles and two others, labelled on the back "Mrs. Pickles, Dad and I". From an envelope "May Ellingsen photos Manson's Landing")
Photograph of Emmeline Pickles and two others, labelled on the back "Mrs. Pickles, Dad and I". From an envelope "May Ellingsen photos Manson's Landing")
Photograph of Emmeline Pickles and her children at Smelt Bay, with the O'Donnell's boat house in the background. (From an envelope "May Ellingsen photos Manson's Landing")
Photograph of Emmeline Pickles and her children at Smelt Bay, with the O'Donnell's boat house in the background. (From an envelope "May Ellingsen photos Manson's Landing")
Photograph of Marjorie Pickles at her wedding, taken outside near St. James Church and the school. Photograph is described by May Ellingsen on a separate piece of paper. (From an envelope "May Ellingsen photos Manson's Landing")
Photograph of Marjorie Pickles at her wedding, taken outside near St. James Church and the school. Photograph is described by May Ellingsen on a separate piece of paper. (From an envelope "May Ellingsen photos Manson's Landing")
Photograph of members of the Manson's Landing Women's Institute outside the home of Rose Tiber in Tiber Bay. Jack ??, who provided transportation, is also in the photo.
L to R: Eva Freeman, Mary Jeffery, Isla (Cowan) Forrest, Flo McKay, Anna Middleton, Mary Cowan
L to R kneeling: Betty Jeffery holding Joan Jeffery (daughter of Nellie Jeffery), Julia Smith, Rose Tiber
Photograph of members of the Manson's Landing Women's Institute outside the home of Rose Tiber in Tiber Bay. Jack ??, who provided transportation, is also in the photo.
L to R: Eva Freeman, Mary Jeffery, Isla (Cowan) Forrest, Flo McKay, Anna Middleton, Mary Cowan
L to R kneeling: Betty Jeffery holding Joan Jeffery (daughter of Nellie Jeffery), Julia Smith, Rose Tiber
Photograph of Eva Freeman's 90th birthday party, at Manson's Landing Community Hall.
L to R: Peggy Newsham, Ian Disney, Pierette Milstead, Lottie McDevitt, Betty Jeffery, Hazel Hansen, Dolly Hansen, Nesta Stackhouse, Dan Campbell
(Photographs .315 - .318 are from the same envelope.)
Photograph of Eva Freeman's 90th birthday party, at Manson's Landing Community Hall.
L to R: Peggy Newsham, Ian Disney, Pierette Milstead, Lottie McDevitt, Betty Jeffery, Hazel Hansen, Dolly Hansen, Nesta Stackhouse, Dan Campbell
(Photographs .315 - .318 are from the same envelope.)
Photograph of group of students and parents on graduation day at the Manson's Landing school. Identified people include Tom Lambert, Johnny Manson, Anna Tiber, Babe Tiber, Hazel and Etta McKay, Stuart Lambert, Jack Hayes, Stuart and Elizabeth Lambert, Mike Murwood (?), Patsy McCleanen, the Pickles kids, Helen MacDunst (?). This is a reproduction; #13550 on back (CR reference #?)
Photograph of group of students and parents on graduation day at the Manson's Landing school. Identified people include Tom Lambert, Johnny Manson, Anna Tiber, Babe Tiber, Hazel and Etta McKay, Stuart Lambert, Jack Hayes, Stuart and Elizabeth Lambert, Mike Murwood (?), Patsy McCleanen, the Pickles kids, Helen MacDunst (?). This is a reproduction; #13550 on back (CR reference #?)