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 memoir, written by Captain Frederic (Fred) Vosper, contains family history, photographs, clippings and stories of Vosper's life on Cortes and in coastal British Columbia. It is reproduced here with the kind permission of Patricia Vosper.
Frederic (Fred) Vernon Vosper (1935-2016) was born in Vancouver BC and grew up on the coast, always around boats and water. Occupations included tug boat captain and owner, hard-hat salvage diver, and hand logger. Fred married Patricia in 1956, and they had six children. The Vospers lived in Cortes Bay from 1975 to 1982, and returned to Cortes in 1990, after Fred retired.
Custodial History
A copy of the book was donated to CIMAS in 2021 by Patricia Vosper, who gave permission for the book to be scanned and made available online.
Scope and Content
This memoir, written by Captain Frederic (Fred) Vosper, contains family history, photographs, clippings and stories of Vosper's life on Cortes and in coastal British Columbia. It is reproduced here with the kind permission of Patricia Vosper.
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".
"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.
File contains a key map which was pasted on the front of the envelope indicating the areas researched for Files 12-16; notes on the titles; photocopies of Crown Grants and subsequent title information for:
BC Buildings Corp: 1982, Crown Grant for Block A of SW 1/4 of Sec. 25 (Highways Maintenance Yard)
District Lot 871 (40 acres between Carrington and Coulter Bays): to James Frederick McManus, 1919
To Ernest Henry Vaughn: 1922, Crown Grant for NE 1/4 and NW 1/4 of NE 1/4 of Sec. 24; SE 1/4 of SW 1/4 and SW 1/4 of SE 1/4 of Sec 31
Herbert Proctor: 1928 for fractional SW 1/4 of Sec. 41, bordering Tork Reserve; 159 acres for $159.00 (orig. Crown Grant to Herbert Proctor in 1922)
To William Cowan: 1937, E 1/2 of SE 1/4 of Sec. 26, 89 acres
(Files 12 through 16 are from the same envelope.)
File contains a key map which was pasted on the front of the envelope indicating the areas researched for Files 12-16; notes on the titles; photocopies of Crown Grants and subsequent title information for:
BC Buildings Corp: 1982, Crown Grant for Block A of SW 1/4 of Sec. 25 (Highways Maintenance Yard)
District Lot 871 (40 acres between Carrington and Coulter Bays): to James Frederick McManus, 1919
To Ernest Henry Vaughn: 1922, Crown Grant for NE 1/4 and NW 1/4 of NE 1/4 of Sec. 24; SE 1/4 of SW 1/4 and SW 1/4 of SE 1/4 of Sec 31
Herbert Proctor: 1928 for fractional SW 1/4 of Sec. 41, bordering Tork Reserve; 159 acres for $159.00 (orig. Crown Grant to Herbert Proctor in 1922)
To William Cowan: 1937, E 1/2 of SE 1/4 of Sec. 26, 89 acres
(Files 12 through 16 are from the same envelope.)
File contains photocopies of original Crown Grants, subsequent title changes and maps for:
To Joseph Gregson: 1926, Crown Grant for fractional W 1/2 of Lot 899 and Lot 901 (between Coulter and Carrington Bays), with a water easement for Wailes
To John Nugent McIllree: 1957, Crown Grant of mineral rights to lots at Coulter Bay surveyed as the "Arrow" and "Bullseye" mineral claims
To Hilda Peterson: 1919, Crown Grant for Lot 878, Carrington Bay, 55 acres
(Files 12 through 16 are from the same envelope.)
File contains photocopies of original Crown Grants, subsequent title changes and maps for:
To Joseph Gregson: 1926, Crown Grant for fractional W 1/2 of Lot 899 and Lot 901 (between Coulter and Carrington Bays), with a water easement for Wailes
To John Nugent McIllree: 1957, Crown Grant of mineral rights to lots at Coulter Bay surveyed as the "Arrow" and "Bullseye" mineral claims
To Hilda Peterson: 1919, Crown Grant for Lot 878, Carrington Bay, 55 acres
(Files 12 through 16 are from the same envelope.)
File contains a page of notes, and photocopies of a tax sale notice (1938) and list of properties forfeited for non-payment of taxes, Crown Grants and other title information for the following:
William Walter James: 1926, Crown Grant for NW 1/4 of Sec. 38; 156 acres for $1.00; forfeited to Crown in 1939
Tom Albinson: 1919, Crown Grant for Lot 867; forfeited in 1927
Sadie McMurray: 1917, NE 1/4 of Sec. 39; 160 acres for $160
Peter Police: 1925, fractional NW 1/4 of Sec. 39; 103 acres for $1.00
(Files 12 through 16 are from the same envelope.)
File contains a page of notes, and photocopies of a tax sale notice (1938) and list of properties forfeited for non-payment of taxes, Crown Grants and other title information for the following:
William Walter James: 1926, Crown Grant for NW 1/4 of Sec. 38; 156 acres for $1.00; forfeited to Crown in 1939
Tom Albinson: 1919, Crown Grant for Lot 867; forfeited in 1927
Sadie McMurray: 1917, NE 1/4 of Sec. 39; 160 acres for $160
Peter Police: 1925, fractional NW 1/4 of Sec. 39; 103 acres for $1.00
(Files 12 through 16 are from the same envelope.)
File contains information for the following properties:
E. H. Vaughn: 1893, Crown Grant for fractional N 1/2 of Sec. 22; 90 acres for $90.00.
James P. Allen: 1913, Crown Grant for NW 34 acres of Sec. 23; $170.00
Bernard Robinson Allen: 1919, Crown Grant for SW 1/4 of Sec. 23, 159 acres
Charles Allen: 1912, Crown Grant for SW 1/4 of Sec. 33; 160 acres for $160.00
Harold Marshall Wood: Crown Grant for E 1/2 of NE 1/4 of Sec. 46 (east of Carrington Bay); 81 acres for $1.00.
File contains the following maps, stored in the Map Cabinet:
Subdivision Plan of parcel C & E, NW 1/4 of Sec. 21, 1976
Subdivision of the fractional NE 1/4 of Sec 21, 1966; with names of property owners penciled in
Subdivision Plan of Parcel C and part of Parcel E of fractional NE 1/4 of Sec. 21, 1975
Subdivision Plan of fractional NE 1/4 of Sec. 21 and W 1/2 of SW 1/4 of Sec. 34
(Files 17 through 19 are from the same envelope.)
File contains information for the following properties:
E. H. Vaughn: 1893, Crown Grant for fractional N 1/2 of Sec. 22; 90 acres for $90.00.
James P. Allen: 1913, Crown Grant for NW 34 acres of Sec. 23; $170.00
Bernard Robinson Allen: 1919, Crown Grant for SW 1/4 of Sec. 23, 159 acres
Charles Allen: 1912, Crown Grant for SW 1/4 of Sec. 33; 160 acres for $160.00
Harold Marshall Wood: Crown Grant for E 1/2 of NE 1/4 of Sec. 46 (east of Carrington Bay); 81 acres for $1.00.
File contains the following maps, stored in the Map Cabinet:
Subdivision Plan of parcel C & E, NW 1/4 of Sec. 21, 1976
Subdivision of the fractional NE 1/4 of Sec 21, 1966; with names of property owners penciled in
Subdivision Plan of Parcel C and part of Parcel E of fractional NE 1/4 of Sec. 21, 1975
Subdivision Plan of fractional NE 1/4 of Sec. 21 and W 1/2 of SW 1/4 of Sec. 34
(Files 17 through 19 are from the same envelope.)
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.
Binder contains a photocopy of a Province of BC bulletin on how to pre-empt land (1929), and a list of pre-emptions from the records in the BC Archives in Victoria.
Binder contains a photocopy of a Province of BC bulletin on how to pre-empt land (1929), and a list of pre-emptions from the records in the BC Archives in Victoria.
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.
File contains scanned copies of photographs donated by Jim Palmer for the Carrington Bay exhibit in 2009, depicting the community living in Carrington Bay in the 1970s and 1980s.
Jim Palmer and Jan Gemmel lived in a house on the west side of the log jam between Carrington Lagoon and Carrington Bay. Jim built the house at the property of John and Anna Gregg in Manson's Landing and relocated it onto pilings in Carrington Bay. Jim and Jan later fabricated steel pontoons for it. In 1985 the house was moved onto the floats and towed into Gorge Harbour by Bob Thompson with his boat "Sutil Chief".
File contains scanned copies of photographs donated by Jim Palmer for the Carrington Bay exhibit in 2009, depicting the community living in Carrington Bay in the 1970s and 1980s.
Jim Palmer and Jan Gemmel lived in a house on the west side of the log jam between Carrington Lagoon and Carrington Bay. Jim built the house at the property of John and Anna Gregg in Manson's Landing and relocated it onto pilings in Carrington Bay. Jim and Jan later fabricated steel pontoons for it. In 1985 the house was moved onto the floats and towed into Gorge Harbour by Bob Thompson with his boat "Sutil Chief".
 Slater.pdf?width=280&404=no-doc.jpg)
 Haines.pdf?width=280&404=no-doc.jpg)
