Category Archives: biography
William Henry Wood, Jr.
William Henry Wood, Jr. was born in England in 1872 and immigrated from Chesterfield to Vancouver in about 1888 with his parents W. H. Wood, Sr. and Jane Oliver. He was one of a family of two boys and five … Continue reading
Posted in biography, politics
Tagged 102nd Battalion, BC Tel, Burnaby School Board, City of Vancouver Alderman, conservative party, empire building, Esther Giffen, Esther Wood, Frank J. Russell, John Morton, liberal party, New Westminster and Burrard Inlet Telephone Company, The Province, Vancouver News-Advertiser, W. C. Nichol, Ward System, Wee Willie Winkie, WWI
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Fred Tibbott, Local Composer
Alfred (Fred) Noel Tibbott was born to David Tibbott (1869-1955) and Kezia Lewis (1868-1936) in 1893. He had two brothers and a sister: A. Victor (1894-?), Leonard (1900-1979) and Thelma (later Hargreaves) (1905-1994). Their parents immigrated to Canada from Wales. … Continue reading
Posted in biography, music
Tagged A. Paul Michelin, A. Victor Tibbott, Alfred (Fred) Noel Tibbott, bc, Calvin Winterr, composers, David & Kezia.Tibbott, Elwood Ward Co., George Rex, great war, history, Le Roy Publishing, Leonard Tibbott, mental illness, Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, musician, Printer, Shaughnessy Military Hospital, shell shock, Thelma Tibbott (nee Hargreaves), vancouver, Wales
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Romance in Death Notices?
One doesn’t often find stories of romance in the obits. But in early September 1922, if one looked in the local newspapers, you would certainly have found one. It was the love story told of Captain Murdock & Jessie McLennan, … Continue reading
Cora McFarland, Public School Teacher
Very little is known today about Cora Helen McFarland (1878-1966). She was born and raised in New Brunswick by John and Isabella McFarland and attended the University of New Brunswick (UNB). She earned a Bachelor’s degree from the UNB with … Continue reading
Misspellings of My Surname . . . Let Me Count the Ways!
Aurey, Aury, Owrey, and Awray. I have found all of these mis-spellings of the surname of Peter Alpaugh Awrey (1824-1906). (Oddly, his middle name — which seems to me more challenging — was never misspelled in official documents!) The good … Continue reading
Posted in biography, First Baptist Church, Vancouver
Tagged 522 Homer, Alexandra Orphanage, bc, Caradoc Evans - first person buried in Mountain View Cemetery, David & Martha Evans, Emerson Manitoba, Farmer, history, Joy Evans, Life Deacon, Ontario, Peter Alpaugh Awrey, Rachel Awrey, vancouver, wooden sidewalks
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Jean Campbell Haynes (nee Archibald)
I came across Jean Archibald yesterday when I was at The Paper Hound Bookshop. Not in person, mind you. She died in 1974. But I encountered her through her bookplate on a book that I purchased. Kim Koch, one of … Continue reading
Posted in biography, books/reading
Tagged Arthur George Archibald, Baker Street Irregulars, bc, Blaine, bookplate, Bowman Storage, calgary, Co-operative Society for the Visually Handicapped, Colin Haynes, detection, Ex Libris, gold medal, history, Jean Campbell Haynes (nee Archibald), Kim Koch, Muriel Mae Archibald, Parkinson & Archibald, The Paper Hound Bookshop, True crime, vancouver
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The First VAIW Post (February 2014): 1885 Brockton View
This photograph (CVA Wat P38) was the work of Lauchlan A. Hamilton. In my judgement, it is one of the most attractive early images available from the digital collection of the City of Vancouver Archives (CVA). Mr Hamilton lived in … Continue reading
Posted in biography, boats/ships
Tagged bc, Burrard inlet, Deadman's Island, history, Lauchlan Hamilton, stanley park, vancouver
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Rev. Arthur J. Hadley: “Let’s Go!”
Update My very good friend, Art Hadley, died on Christmas Day, 2016. He had a special connection with Vancouver, although he and his wife, Edna, spent relatively little time in the Greater Vancouver area, recently. In their retirement, they settled in … Continue reading
The Mysterious Joseph Langer
Update (June 2020) Information on [J. F.] Langer is . . . difficult to find. There’s nothing on him in the City of Vancouver Archives, nothing in the Special Collections Division of the Vancouver Public Library, precious little elsewhere. — … Continue reading
Posted in biography, businesses, theatre/vaudeville/cinemas
Tagged 3290 Granville, bc, Chuck Davis, gold cyanidation, gold mining, Henrietta Maria (Hattie) Langer, history, Ivan Ackery, Jennie Louise Langer, Joseph Francis Langer, orpheum theatre, Salvador, Suburban Theatres, Townsend & Townsend, vancouver, westendvancouver.wordpress.com, Woodland Drive
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Dr. Ray Starr Goodwin
According to handwritten information on the back of this photo, it is an image of First Baptist Church young people on an outing to Deep Cove ca1904-05. The only person named is “Ray Starr Goodwin”, but he isn’t identified except … Continue reading
Posted in biography, First Baptist Church, Vancouver, politics
Tagged bc, C. H. Goodwin, Deep Cove, Emma Augusta Goodwin, Fairview Baptist Church, Flora Goodwin Green, history, Howard Charles Green, John diefenbaker, North Pacific College of Pharmacy and Dentistry, Ray Starr Goodwin, Robert F. Green, Sarah Goodwin, vancouver, VW&Y railroad
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Remembrance Services Past at First Baptist Church
Update I was browsing through images in the Vancouver Public Library historical photos database this morning; I saw the image above and almost immediately recognized it for what it was (and what had, apparently, been forgotten or mislaid in the … Continue reading
Who IS this Woman?
Who was this attractive woman with such a determined countenance¹? If you were to ask this question at the City of Vancouver Archives — where this photograph has resided, probably, for most of its life — staff there might, quite … Continue reading
Charles Schooley: City Paymaster and Prominent Baptist
Update (Originally posted August 2014): Charles Abraham Schooley (1850-1931) was born in Port Colborne, Ontario. He studied law for a couple of years but ultimately withdrew from that course of study due to illness. He then was one of the … Continue reading
J. H. Carlisle: A Man of Firsts
Update First Posted July 2015 J. H. Carlisle (1857-1941) accomplished several “firsts”. He was the first Sunday School Superintendent of First Baptist Church (FBC), before it was formally organized; his name was the first listed among the charter members of FBC when the … Continue reading
Bolivia Bound: The Story of Howard & Mary Plummer
Howard’s Early Years Arthur Howard Plummer (1900-1970) had his first taste of a mission career when he was 8 years old. In 1908, he accompanied his parents from their home in England to Wenchow, China, where his father, Dr. William … Continue reading
Posted in biography, churches, First Baptist Church, Vancouver, USA
Tagged Arthur Howard Plummer, Baptist Young People's Union, bc, BC Faculty of Agriculture, Caroline Lodge, Dr. William Edwin Plummer, Hastings East Baptist Sunday School, history, Lulu Helen Plummer, Mary Evangeline Pattullo Plummer, Neil Whaley, Rev. D. G. McDonald, Rev. Dr. J. Willard Litch, Rev. W. M. Robertson, Rothesay, Strathmore Lodge, Theodore Plummer, vancouver, Wenchow
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Early Submariner Dies in Hospital
What an odd assortment of people to see with a work party in Burrard Inlet’s First Narrows! I would expect to see most of the men here pictured, but not the four young women and three kids. We are able to … Continue reading
Lionel Haweis: Artist
Lionel T. J. Haweis (1870-1942) was born in England to Rev. Hugh Reginald Haweis (1838-1901) and Mary Eliza Haweis (nee Joy) (1848-1898). Hugh preached at St James Church, Marylebone in London, but was known widely as a lecturer and author … Continue reading
Fate’s Temptress
Mary Warburton (ca1871-1931) was a Vancouver nurse with a penchant for walking where she needed to go, regardless of distance or season. Two of her trips were reported in the news – one from Hope to Princeton in 1926; the … Continue reading
Posted in biography, hospitals/health care
Tagged bc, Constable Daugherty, Constable W. Gill, history, Hope, Jack Haysburg, Mary Warburton, Michael Kluckner, nurse, Podunk Davis, princeton, Squamish, vancouver
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John Goss: Baritone, Art Advocate, Politician, and Marxist
John Goss (1894-1953) was an Englishman by birth, but for most of his later years, he made Vancouver his home. In the 1920s and ’30s, Goss toured in the U.K., the U.S. and Canada as a recital singer, gradually building a … Continue reading
An Audi Baritone: Update
Originally published October 2014. Who is the apparent rock star above? A fellow who, in his day, was a household word: American opera baritone, John Charles Thomas. Today, his vocal stylings are not quite forgotten (although his name is all … Continue reading
Posted in biography, music, people
Tagged bc, history, john charles thomas, kellys appliances, photography, vancouver
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Cecil Akrigg and Stan Lowe Go for a Climb
Cecil Akrigg and Stan Lowe were in their 20s when they made these images to remember their adventures in and around the Lion’s Gate Bridge ca 1939. No mention is made as to whether their climb up the bridge tower (of … Continue reading
Posted in biography, bridges/viaducts, people
Tagged bc, history, lions gate bridge, photography, vancouver
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Ye Little Brown Inn
Yesterday, I was looking at a printout of Sheet 16 of Goad’s Fire Insurance Atlas of Vancouver (March 1920) when I noticed the name of a business that was new to me: “Little Brown Inn”. What could that be, I … Continue reading
Posted in biography, cafes/restaurants/eateries
Tagged 606 Granville, 745 Dunsmuir, bc, history, Log Cabin Lunch, vancouver, white lunch, Ye LIttle Brown Inn
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A. J. Davis, Vancouver Painter
The painting above was purchased by my good friend, Wes, at a thrift store, recently. He didn’t know who the artist was nor anything of his story. He just liked the painted rendering of the portrait. A bit of digging online revealed that the painting … Continue reading
Henry (“Harry”) S. Van Buren
Henry Samuel Van Buren (1885-1977) was a Vancouver business owner from the late ’20s until the late ’40s. He seems to have had two principal businesses: VB Grocery (from 1926 until about 1935) and Western Merchandise Brokers (during the 1940s). Henry Samuel … Continue reading
Mudge the Poultry Man
William Mudge’s business was known in early Vancouver as Mudge & Son and (probably better) as Mudge the Poultry Man. As indicated in the latter name, he specialized in providing chicken products to hard-working, hungry Vancouverites. He hung his shingle … Continue reading
Posted in biography, businesses, P. T. Timms, street scenes, stuart thomson
Tagged bc, City Market, cobble hill, history, poultry, seed potatoes, vancouver, William Mudge
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Val Quan
Late-breaking information on Val Quan (June 13, 2016): See comment from Bonnie, Val’s grand-daughter. She kindly provided some additional details. The information she supplied has been incorporated below. Val Quan (sometimes spelled Quon), his second wife, Pauline, and their family … Continue reading
Posted in biography, churches, First Baptist Church, Vancouver, people
Tagged bc, history, Pauline Quan, Val Quan, vancouver
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J. Q. A. Henry Declines FBC Vancouver’s Call
This post is a footnote to the history of First Baptist Church, Vancouver. Neither These Sixty Years (1947) by W. A. Carmichael nor Our First Century (1986) by Leslie J. Cummings (the two official histories of the church) makes mention of a call from … Continue reading
John Morton
CVA 677-509 – [Studio portrait of John] Morton and second wife Ruth Morton 190- John Morton (1834-1912) was one of the first residents – arguably the first resident, although others have laid claim to the distinction – of modern-day Vancouver. … Continue reading
Posted in biography, churches, First Baptist Church, Vancouver, people
Tagged bc, Bruce A. Woods, Convention Baptists, Donald O. Anderson, Fellowship Baptists, history, John Morton, Mountainview Christian Fellowship, Regular Baptists, Robert K. Burkinshaw, Ruth Morton Memorial Baptist Church, Ruth Mount Morton, vancouver
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Rev. Dr. Elbert Paul, First Baptist Pastor
This is an image of a Senior Minister of First Baptist Church, Elbert Paul (1902-1985). He served the church for nineteen years (1932-51), the longest period to date. He took on the pastorship in a time of significant challenge: it … Continue reading
Vancouver DIDN’T Need Vander Zalm, as it Turned Out.
This image is from one of three Non-Partisan Association TV advertisements made for Vancouver mayoral candidate in 1984, Bill Vander Zalm, and the other NPA candidates for City Council that year. You may well have forgotten (or not realized) that ‘the … Continue reading
Posted in biography, people, politics
Tagged bc, Bill Vander Zalm, Don Bellamy, George Puil, Gordon Campbell, history, Mike Harcourt, Philip Owen, vancouver
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Concert Pianist, Conductor, Theatre Manager…
Maynard Joiner lived a long and fruitful life. He was born on one coast of North America (in Boston) in 1894 and died on another (in Vancouver) in 1990. By the time he was 10, he was considered a child prodigy. His forté was as … Continue reading
Early “Black Friday”
The cover of the pamphlet shown above speaks to an earlier – and, frankly, to a more logically negative – meaning associated with the term “Black Friday” than is typical in 2015. The text in the pamphlet (shown below) makes it … Continue reading
Dr. Telford
There were, in fact, three men known as “Dr. Telford” in early Vancouver and the three were brothers – dentist George (1876-1920); James Lyle (1889-1960), an M.D. who was CCF MLA for Vancouver East and later became the 24th mayor … Continue reading
George Marsden, Early Photographer
George Marsden was a young Vancouver photographer with his own local business, for a brief time. There are just two images in the City of Vancouver Archives online collection (none in Vancouver Public Library’s historical photos) that are attributed to him, … Continue reading
Nominee for Silliest Pioneer Surname…
While I was riding a city bus across Greater Vancouver this afternoon, I was looking for inspiration for this post from a PDF copy of the ca1908 Elite Directory of Vancouver. Among the items I spotted is my nominee for one of the … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, biography, businesses
Tagged bc, BC Assay and Chemical Supply Co., Cave & Co., Cave-Browne-Cave, history, vancouver
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The Gifted Mr. Bradbury
A real pleasure for me in this photo-historical adventure I’ve called VanAsItWas is in discovering and re-discovering crisp, well-exposed images that speak of an attention to detail and a real concern (whether consciously or not) for issues that would ultimately be … Continue reading
Reg Rose
Reg Rose was born in England in 1901 and came to Canada in 1912. After serving in the Royal Canadian Volunteer Reserves, 1916-19, and taking several short-term jobs, he began working for the YMCA, serving in Calgary, Lethbridge and Edmonton as the Secretary of that organization. In … Continue reading
Zukerman’s Bassoon
This portrait shows Greater Vancouver solo bassoonist, George B. Zukerman, in his prime in 1951. There are online bios of GBZ available here and here (and elsewhere). Here is Zukerman playing his “calling card”, Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto in B-Flat Major (First Movement), among a … Continue reading
Posted in biography, music, people
Tagged bassoon, CBC Radio 2, classical music, George B. Zukerman, This is My Music
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Congregational Church Picnic?
The image below is an early one from the City of Vancouver Archives (CVA). On the glass positive of the image, there are notes; these are difficult to make out, but I’m pretty sure it reads as follows, starting at the … Continue reading
A Man of Influence from UBC
The undergraduate pictured third from the left in the UBC photo above would become an Ottawa ‘mandarin’ within a few years of the date this exposure was made. In 1929, Norman Robertson joined the Department of External Affairs in Ottawa, and by 1941 … Continue reading
Posted in biography, people, politics
Tagged bc, department of external affairs, history, jack granatstein, mandarins, norman a. robertson, ottawa, vancouver
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We’re Here for Joe
This image was made during the 1978 Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) at Hastings Park. It takes me back to the beginnings of my political awareness, Joe Clark’s all-too-brief period as the last of the Red Tory leaders of the Progressive … Continue reading
Posted in biography, people, politics
Tagged bc, Fraser Valley, history, PNE, Progressive Conservative Party, Robert L. Wenman, vancouver
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Banjo King at Tea for Opening of Burrard Bridge
This image puzzled me at first. When I first saw it, I assumed that the people were at the head table of the tea following the opening ceremonies of the Burrard Bridge. But why would world-renowned vaudeville banjoist (centre), Eddie … Continue reading
Posted in biography, people, Photographers, stuart thomson
Tagged banjo, bc, eddie peabody, history, mayor ld taylor, vancouver, vaudeville
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Aimee Semple McPherson in Vancouver
The image above shows Aimee Semple McPherson with a welcoming crowd shortly after arriving in 1930 at Vancouver’s Great Northern Railway Depot (demolished in 1965, the GNR Depot was just north of the CN Rail Depot which still stands and today serves as the long-distance bus … Continue reading
Posted in biography, books/reading, churches, people, stuart thomson
Tagged aimee semple mcpherson, anna d. britton, bc, canadian foursquare church, David Raymond Elliot, evangelist, great northern railway, history, L.I.F.E. college, matthew avery sutton, minnie kennedy, pacific life college, pentecostal, vancouver
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The Unsung Legacy of Eliza Chalk (1862-1915)
The following article was written for the 125th anniversary of First Baptist Church in 2012. It was one in a series called “Who Was Who in the Pew”. It is reproduced below with a couple of minor edits, but is … Continue reading
Precursors
Charles Bradbury (1871-1950) is the amateur photographer who made this image. Camera Workers has this to say about him: Originally from Great Britain, Bradbury emigrated to Canada from Borneo. A telegrapher, he photographed throughout the Vancouver region as well as along the … Continue reading
Posted in biography, interiors, people
Tagged alexander street, caligraph typewriter, charles bradbury, cpr, glass insulator, james h. field, telegraph
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Story Behind a Cavity
Behind the real estate cavity shown above, there is the beginning of a story about a Vancouver personality. The cavity is, I’m convinced, the location in the 1920s of the Hotel Martinique Smoke Shop at 1184 Granville Street. Today, the wall on … Continue reading
Rheumatic Olympian (1928)
In 1928, at the Olympic Games in Amsterdam, 20-year-old Vancouver native, Percy Williams, won the 100-metre race on July 30th and the 200-metre on August 1. As Ivan Ackery recounts in his memoirs of a life in Vancouver theatres, Fifty … Continue reading
Jack Peach
Jack Peach (1913-93) was, I now realize, an important early influence on my love of historical subjects. Growing up in southern Alberta, my bedroom radio was typically tuned to CBC Calgary in the morning and I remember hearing Jack Peach’s historical … Continue reading
Posted in biography, broadcasting
Tagged air canada, alberta, bc, calgary, canada post, cbc, history, mail, radio, tca, vancouver
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The Helliwells
This image shows an interior room of the home at 916 Cardero Street in Vancouver in about 1908. The BC directory for that year indicates that this was the home of John F(rederic) Helliwell. (An exterior photo of the home appears at the … Continue reading
“Just like the money in a Canada Savings Bond.”
Famous American crooner, Bing Crosby, drove a Caterpillar earth mover for the groundbreaking ceremony in 1948 of the Sunset Memorial Community Centre in south Vancouver. Crosby came to the city to record his Philco radio show as a fundraiser for the centre at the request … Continue reading
Posted in biography
Tagged bc, Bing Crosby, history, Jimmy McLarnin, Philco Radio Show, Sunset Community Centre, Sunshine Community Centre, vancouver
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Tweedsmuirs in Lotusland: A Few Notes
John Buchan (b. 1875) was raised in Scotland. He was a writer of many novels — including, most famously, The 39 Steps — biographies, histories, articles, and poems. He was invited by King George V to become his representative in Canada (on the advice of then Canadian Prime … Continue reading
Harding, His Memorial, and the Vulcan Invocation
I have been reading a well-written book by Robert A. Hood entitled By Shore and Trail in Stanley Park. This volume, published in 1929, is a charming and helpful collection of Hood’s poems and vignettes pertaining to the Park. (1) … Continue reading
Vancouver As It Was: A Photo-Historical Journey 