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.
CD (2006.001.041) contains transcripts of interviews with Bert Summers, Beth (Martin) Slater, Betty Jeffery, Bill and Mary Block, Bill Guthrie, Bob Martineau, Don Levey, Frank Hayes, Fred Tomlinson, George Gardner, Heay family, Ken Summers, Otis Coulter, Pat (Fuller) Haines and Violet Herrewig. A Directory List for the CD is in folder 1-41. The transcripts may be viewed on the Archives computer, in the folder "2006.001.041 - Doreen Thompson, interview transcripts".
CD (2006.001.041) contains transcripts of interviews with Bert Summers, Beth (Martin) Slater, Betty Jeffery, Bill and Mary Block, Bill Guthrie, Bob Martineau, Don Levey, Frank Hayes, Fred Tomlinson, George Gardner, Heay family, Ken Summers, Otis Coulter, Pat (Fuller) Haines and Violet Herrewig. A Directory List for the CD is in folder 1-41. The transcripts may be viewed on the Archives computer, in the folder "2006.001.041 - Doreen Thompson, interview transcripts".
Fonds consists of records of Friends of Cortes Island Society and includes meeting minutes, administrative documents, correspondence, notes, and publications created by FOCI between 1996 and 2001. It comprises 15 files arranged into 9 series; original order has been maintained.
Friends of Cortes Island Society, also known as FOCI, registered as a society in 1990, with the mandate of protecting the physical environment of Cortes Island and adjacent land in the context of ongoing and proposed residential and industrial development.
FOCI "exists to monitor and preserve the health of local ecosystems, and to provide educational programs that foster a greater understanding of the natural environment". Their purposes are as follows:
To identify environmentally sensitive areas, particularly on Cortes and neighbouring islands.
To monitor and protect wildlife and the safeguarding of its natural habitat.
To promote the protection of the forests, lakes, streams and critical watersheds and the enhancement of fish stocks where appropriate.
To promote the study and preservation of the cultural heritage and historical landmarks of the area.
To provide educational programs that relate to ecological understanding and appreciation of the environment.
FOCI has worked with many local and provincial organisations, most notably Cortes Ecoforestry Society (CES). Other colleagues include Linnaea Farm Society, Southern Cortes Community Association, Whaletown Community Club, BC Parks, Environmental Youth Team, the Cortes Island Museum & Archives Association, and EcoAction Community Funding Program.
Custodial History
Records were donated by Sarah Downey, on behalf of FOCI, on 27 August 2013.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of records of Friends of Cortes Island Society and includes meeting minutes, administrative documents, correspondence, notes, and publications created by FOCI between 1996 and 2001. It comprises 15 files arranged into 9 series; original order has been maintained.
Series consists of materials related to the application for and granting of funds from Environmental Youth Team, for training Cortes Island youth in forestry and surveying.
Series consists of materials related to the application for and granting of funds from Environmental Youth Team, for training Cortes Island youth in forestry and surveying.
File contains grant application, submitted to the Environmental Youth Team in partnership with Cortes Ecoforestry Society Youth Initiative. Includes letters of support from BC Parks, Cortes Ecoforestry Society, Linnaea Farm Society, Southern Cortes Community Association, and Whaletown Community Club.
File contains grant application, submitted to the Environmental Youth Team in partnership with Cortes Ecoforestry Society Youth Initiative. Includes letters of support from BC Parks, Cortes Ecoforestry Society, Linnaea Farm Society, Southern Cortes Community Association, and Whaletown Community Club.
Series consists of an application by Cortes Environmental Youth Inititative for funding to engage youth in community education, consultation, and assessment of clean water and wastewater issues. Grant application was made to the EcoAction Community Funding Program, in the categories of "Advocacy and Education to Advance Conservation and Environmental Causes," and "Environmental Research".
Series consists of an application by Cortes Environmental Youth Inititative for funding to engage youth in community education, consultation, and assessment of clean water and wastewater issues. Grant application was made to the EcoAction Community Funding Program, in the categories of "Advocacy and Education to Advance Conservation and Environmental Causes," and "Environmental Research".
Series consists of Mark Clare Preston's application to Human Resources & Development Canada (HRDC) for benefits to attend the second year of Selkirk College's Forestry Technician program, with supporting documents and correspondence.
Series consists of Mark Clare Preston's application to Human Resources & Development Canada (HRDC) for benefits to attend the second year of Selkirk College's Forestry Technician program, with supporting documents and correspondence.
Series consists of files pertaining to the relationship between FOCI and CES, including collaboration and mutual aid. See Series 1 of this fonds for documents pertaining to the E-Team Work Crew grant awarded to FOCI and CES.
Series consists of files pertaining to the relationship between FOCI and CES, including collaboration and mutual aid. See Series 1 of this fonds for documents pertaining to the E-Team Work Crew grant awarded to FOCI and CES.
Series consists of newsletters and a directory, published by Sedley Sweeny to work towards "cooperation between like-minded people aimed at local self-sufficiency."
Series consists of newsletters and a directory, published by Sedley Sweeny to work towards "cooperation between like-minded people aimed at local self-sufficiency."
File contains one (1) spiral-bound directory of Cortes Islanders. It lists names, contact information, guild memberships, facilities, education to offer, and interests.
File contains one (1) spiral-bound directory of Cortes Islanders. It lists names, contact information, guild memberships, facilities, education to offer, and interests.
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.