Wah Shun Company
Wah Shun Company fonds. - 1919-1938.
5 cm of textual records

Administrative history unavailable.

The fonds consists of records created or received by the Wah Shun Company of Vancouver. Fonds includes contracts, correspondence, cheque books, invoices, and photographs.

Title based on the contents of the fonds.

Some correspondence in Chinese.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Walkem, William Wymond, 1850-1919
William Walkem fonds. - 1894-1915.
20 cm of textual records.
7 photographs.

William Walkem, physician and brother of B.C. Premier George Walkem, was born in Montreal. He graduated from medical school at McGill University in 1873. While a student, Walkem served as a reporter for Montreal newspapers. Later he sailed as a seaman to Britain where he tried unsuccessfully to join the Carlist forces in Spain. On his return to Canada, he married and moved to British Columbia to serve as secretary to his brother. He was briefly editor of the Victoria Daily Standard, medical officer for Victoria, for Nanaimo, and for various mining and milling companies, and he served as an M.L.A. for Nanaimo South from 1894 to 1898.

The fonds consists of a number of typewritten manuscripts for short articles by Dr. Walkem as well as clippings of published articles. The fonds also includes Walkem's incomplete autobiography, a scrapbook of clippings relating to his experiences as a M.L.A. and photographs.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Wallich, George Charles, 1815-1899
George Wallich fonds. - 1857-1944.
13 cm of textual records.

George Wallich, son of the Danish biologist Nathaniel Wallich (1786-1854), was a naturalist and physician (M.D. Edinburgh, 1836) who served as an army surgeon in India from 1838 to 1856. He is the author of two works on marine biology, including The North Atlantic Seabed (1862).

The fonds consists of an original copy of Wallich's The North Atlantic Seabed with handwritten notes, a large, handwritten biological note book, personal annotated copies of Wallich's "Original Papers" and "Contributed Papers" (1857-1865), incoming correspondence and clippings. Also included are some records belonging to G. Wallich which relate to the Dooars Planters' Association, an organization of tea growers in India.

Walsh, Anthony
Anthony Walsh fonds. - 1936-1941.
24 items.

Anthony Walsh taught school at the Inkameep Indian Day School at Oliver, B.C. (1936-1941).

The fonds consists of twenty-four incoming letters received by Walsh while at the Inkameep Indian Day School.

Watmough, David, 1926-
David Watmough fonds.- 1941-2009.
8.5 m of textual records and other material

David Arthur Watmough was born August 17, 1926 in Leyton, Essex, near London, England. For half a century Watmough was engaged in writing not only as an author and activist, but additionally as a correspondent with many literary figures, notably W. H. Auden, Margaret Laurence, Timothy Findley, Maria Tippett, and Jane Rule, as well as visual artists John Koerner and Gordon Smith, among others.

The fonds consists of records generated and assembled by David Watmough related to his life and career as a novelist, short story writer, playwright, monodramatist and performer, poet, critic, broadcaster, journalist, and teacher. The fonds includes series of records arranged in twenty divisions, with the greatest portion related to writing and literary production: novels, short stories, plays and dramas, monodramas, poetry and songs, nonfiction books, diaries and journals, essays, collections and anthologies, recordings, reading scripts and performance files, radio and television broadcast scripts and project files, film scripts, lectures, addresses, and orations, journal articles, interviews, and reviews of books, exhibitions and theatre performances, as well as correspondence, finance and business files, subject files including published material about Watmough and copies of published material by him, and ephemera and miscellanea. The arrangement of records in files by the creator has been respected where such order exists. The fonds contains textual records, both manuscript and typewritten as well as computer generated, some printed, published material, an occasional sketch or drawing, several sound recordings of Watmough performing, a small number of electronic records, and a number of photoprints and slides kept with the original files where possible. Some monodramas have been retained in the original bindings provided for performance by the creator.

Title based on contents of fonds.

Includes: published material, sketches, drawings, sound recordings, electronic records, photoprints, and slides.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Wayman, Tom
Tom Wayman fonds. - 1962-1989.
2 m of textual records.
Approximately 200 photographs.

Born in Hawksbury, Ontario, in 1945, but raised mainly in British Columbia, Tom Wayman graduated with a BA from the University of British Columbia in 1966 and an MFA in English and Creative Writing from the University of California at Irvine in 1968. He has been writer-in-residence at a variety of institutions, including at the University of Windsor (1975-76), University of Alberta (1978-79), Simon Fraser University (Spring 1983), and University of Toronto (Spring 1996). He has taught at Colorado State University (1968-69), Wayne State University (1976-77), David Thompson University (1980-82), Banff School of Fine Arts (Summers 1980, 1982), Kootenay School of Writing (1984-87), Okanagan College and Okanagan University College (1990-91, 1992-95), Kootenay School of Arts (1991-92, 1995-98), and Kwantlen College and Kwantlen University College, Surrey (Fall 1983, 1988-present). In the late 1960s, and again in the 1980s, Tom Wayman, along with a group of other young activists, resuscitated the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in the Vancouver area (the local organization for the Vancouver area was termed a General Membership Branch (GMB)). Wayman is also a founder of both the Kootenay School of Writing and the Vancouver Industrial Writers Union. He has written, compiled and contributed to many books and periodicals.

The fonds consists of correspondence, manuscripts, and documents related to the early career of Tom Wayman, from 1962 to 1981. The records concern his writings as a university student, printed collections of his own poetry, and anthologies that he edited. In addition, there are correspondence files generated in the course of his writing career and files pertaining to work writing material.

The sous-fonds consists of records that document the Vancouver GMB's internal business, its relationship with other IWW bodies such as the GEB, its publications and its external activities.

Title based on the contents of the fonds.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Weber, Ephraim, 1870-1956
Ephraim Weber fonds. - [193- - 195-].
1.5 cm of textual records.

Ephraim Weber was born in Bridgeport, Ontario. He later moved to Alberta to homestead with his family. After a few years, Weber returned to his studies in Calgary where he also taught for six months. He then attended Queen's University and the University of Chicago before returning to the Prairies. Weber was the author of articles, short stories, poems and a novel.

The fonds consists of typed and handwritten manuscripts of short stories and poems.

Webster, Arnold Alexander, 1899-1979
Arnold Alexander Webster fonds. - 1926-1966.
1.4 m of textual records.

Arnold Webster was born in Vancouver and raised in Agassiz, B.C. He obtained his M.A. from the University of British Columbia. Webster became a teacher and principal in the Vancouver School Division. He joined the C.C.F. in 1932 and became its B.C. provincial president. He also served on Vancouver Parks Board and as a member of the UBC Senate. In 1953 he succeeded Harold Winch as leader of the provincial C.C.F. and was elected M.L.A. forVancouver East. He served one term as Leader of the Opposition and then retired briefly from politics. On his return after the organization of the N.D.P., he was elected M.P. for Vancouver Kingsway and served from 1962 to 1965.

The fonds consists of biographical material, incoming (1926-1964) and outgoing (1945-1965) correspondence, a typescript and published edition of Webster's textbook Living Together in Canada and subject files. The fonds also includes pamphlets and clippings relating to various subjects.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Weekly Gazette and Home News
Weekly Gazette and Home News fonds. - 1918.
2.5 cm of textual records

The Weekly Gazette and Home News was published as a farmers' newspaper in Point Grey and circulated in the municipalities of Richmond, Delta, and other districts in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. Predecessors of the Weekly Gazette date back to 1908. Dorothy Bell became the publisher and editor of the paper in 1918. Leon Ladner was in charge of the paper's editorial policy. The newspaper merged with the Citizen in 1926 to form the Citizen Gazette.

The fonds consists of correspondence of the Weekly Gazette with its clientele for 1918.

Weeks, Kathleen Stubington
Kathleen Weeks fonds. - [19--].
6.5 cm of textual records.

Kathleen Weeks was born in England but spent most of her life in British Columbia. She wrote historical articles on English history but also enjoyed writing about the history of the Pacific Northwest.

The fonds consists of Weeks' writings which primarily relate to British Columbia history and historical figures. These include "Heroes of Victoria's Streets", "Outposts of Empire: Victoria B.C." and several about Captain Vancouver. The fonds also includes pictures of historical figures and of British Columbia scenery.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Wegener, Alfred, 1880-1930
Alfred Wegener fonds. - 1930-1932.
3 cm of textual records.
10 photographs.

Alfred Wegener was a German geophysicist and meteorologist who worked on the thermodynamics of the atmosphere and originated the theory of continental drift (the Wegener hypothesis), a theory which has won scientific respectability in recent years. He served on and led scientific expeditions to Greenland in 1906-1908, 1912-1917, 1929 and 1930. On the last of these he lost his life.

The fonds consists of transcripts of documents from and pertaining to the Deutsche Groenland (German Greenland) Expedition of 1930-1931 headed by Alfred Wegener and, more specifically, pertaining to his death while attempting to bring desperately needed supplies of petroleum from Weststation to Eismitte.

Wellburn, G. Vernon, collector
G. Vernon Wellburn collection. - 1826, 1871, 1884, 1896.
4 items.

G. Vernon Wellburn, raised in Duncan, B.C., worked for BC Forest Products Ltd. and the Tahsis Co. Ltd. in engineering and logging management at various locations on Vancouver Island and Vancouver. From 1972 to 1975 he lectured in forest harvesting in the Faculty of Forestry at UBC and was the Western Manager of the Forest Engineering Institute of Canada, 1975-1980.

The collection consists of a letter from Sir John Franklin, Great Bear Lake, to Robert McVicar, 1826; a telegram from S.L. Tilley to Hon. Dr. Helmcken, April 1, 1871, referring to the admittance of British Columbia into Confederation, a document signed by Charles Dupont referring to a land transaction to what is now known as Vancouver, and an invitation to the opening of the new Parliament Buildings in Victoria, 1898.

Title source: Title based on the name of the collector

Inventory [PDF] available.

Westcoast Energy Inc. ; Westcoast Transmission Company
Westcoast Energy Inc. fonds. - 1897-2002, predominant 1949-2002.
5.2 m of textual records and other material

Headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, Westcoast Energy Inc. is a natural gas company with operations across North America and interests in international energy companies. Its main activities include natural gas gathering, processing, transmission, storage, distribution and marketing, as well as power generation and other energy services. Its predecessor company, established by Frank McMahon, was incorporated by a special act of Parliament in 1949. By 2000, the company, called Westcoast Energy Inc. since 1988, had a gathering, processing and transmission system consisting of 5,600 kilometres of pipeline and five gas processing plants, including plants at Pine River, Boundary Lake and Saratoga, and three sulphur recovery plants. In March, 2002, Westcoast Energy Inc. was acquired for $8 billion by the U.S. Company Duke Energy.

The fonds consists of records created or accumulated by Wescoast Energy Inc. its predecessor company Westcoast Transmission Company, Limited, and their subsidy companies. Records relate to the activities of these companies and the gas and energy industry in British Columbia and North America, and have been arranged into the following eleven series: legal and financial records (1950-1996); record books and minute books (1949-1980); subject files (1949-2000); corporate publications (1950-2002); publications relating to Westcoast Energy Inc. and its subsidiary companies (1957-2002); books, articles and other publications relating to the energy industry in British Columbia and North America (1897-1996); executive speeches and addresses (1957-1997); photographs and slides (1950s-1994); video recordings (1978-1995); scrapbook (1957); and maps and plans (1945-1994).

Title based on the contents of the fonds.

Includes: 2870 photographs, 270 slides, 67 maps, 7 videotapes and 2 audio reels.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Western Front Society fonds
Western Front Society fonds. - 1973-2003.
16 m. of textual records and other material

The Western Front was founded in 1973 by eight artists who wanted to create a space for the exploration and creation of new art forms. It quickly became a centre for poets, dancers, musicians and visual artists interested in exploration and interdisciplinary practices. One of Canada's oldest Artist Run Centres, the organization is situated in a turn of the century wooden building that houses a gallery, concert hall, dance hall, and production studios for electronic and print media. As a focal point of experimental art practice through the 1970's and 80's, the Western Front, in connection with other centres like it, played a major role in the development of electronic and networked art forms in a national and international context. This included video art, sound-art, the use of telecommunications to establish a global arts network, and the development of interactive technologies to explore the connection between the art-viewer and the art-space. In the 1990's the organization produced a number of multidisciplinary festivals and city-wide collaborative exhibitions including the Electronic Arts Festival, Reinventing the Diva, and Jiangnan. Over the years the organization has become the training ground and springboard for many young artists, especially those working outside the commercial art market. With a staff of ten people plus interns and volunteers, the centre now produces over 100 events a year. Its artist-in-residence program invites artists from many different countries to produce new works in media/electronic art. It maintains five programs (Exhibitions, Front Magazine, Media Arts, New Music, and Performance Art), and publishes monographs, catalogues, audio works and a magazine which serves both as a newsletter to members and as a vehicle for new writing, photography and interdisciplinary performance. The Western Front maintains an extensive archive (video and audio tapes) of work created and presented over the past thirty years, and is committed to preserving the artistic legacy of Canada's artistic community.

The fonds of the Western Front consist of: administrative files including operating and project grants; correspondence; artist and project files relating to events, productions and exhibitions; and promotional and publicity materials. The materials date from 1973 to 2003. Some files include photographs and drawings. The fonds have been arranged into nine series: general programming, administrative, exhibitions, Front Magazine, Luminous Sites, media arts and video program, new music, performance art, and publicity and promotional materials. As much as possible, the files are arranged as they were by the original curators and program administrators. Early records (1973 -n 1983) for all the programs are grouped together. Video program files were separated starting in 1976 when the program began. Following 1983, the programs each had individual curators.

Title based on the contents of the fonds.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Western Miner ; British Columbia Miner ; The Miner
Western Miner fonds. - 1900-1986.
10500 photographs

The Western Miner was first published in the late 1920s as the British Columbia Miner. The publication, which, in the words of its first editor, was intended to be a "high-class journal" devoted to the mining industry in Western Canada, was directed primarily at those whose mining interests lay west of Manitoba, particularly within British Columbia, although copies could be found in most Canadian mining camps. It reported on discoveries, the mine labour situation, progress of the industry, and other issues relating to the mining industry. In January 1931, it became The Miner and in 1944 was renamed the Western Miner.

The fonds consists of photographs of mines, mining activities, and mining personnel created and collected for use in the Western Miner and its predecessor publications, The Miner and the British Columbia Miner. Images include aerial views as well as ground level shots of mine sites, buildings, townsites, mining, milling, smelting and other mineral processing operations. The photographs include exteriors and interiors of mines and buildings, crews at work, and a collection of portraits of company executives, staff and Canadian politicians. Mining equipment is featured including excavators, diamond drills, continuous miners, loaders, shuttle cars, muckers, ore conveyors, and drilling rigs.

Title based on the contents of the fonds.

Inventory [PDF]available.

Weston, Garnett, 1890-1980
Garnett Weston fonds. - [ca. 1890-1980].
13.5 cm of textual records. - 19 photographs.

Born in Toronto in 1890, Weston worked as a police and sports editor for the Vancouver Sun prior to moving to Los Angeles to write for the film industry in 1923. Weston worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood, mostly for Paramount Pictures, for 20 years during which time he authored several plays and novels. Weston continued to write fiction and prose after he moved to East Sooke on Vancouver Island in 1942 with his wife Marion and their son Gray. In addition to over a dozen novels, Weston published a book of poetry in 1970 and his fiction appeared in the Saturday Evening Post.

Fonds consists of clippings, correspondence and manuscripts related to Weston’s personal and professional life, as well as family photographs. Fonds is arranged into series according to type of material.

Title based on the contents of the fonds.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Whaun, Thomas Moore, 1894-1985
Thomas Whaun fonds. - 1914-1984.
26 cm of textual records.
25 photographs.

Thomas Whaun emigrated to Canada from China in 1907 and became a citizen in 1950. He worked in the newspaper industry as an advertising manager for the Canada Morning News and the New Republic Daily. He is known for his nation wide letter writing protest against the Chinese Exclusion Act. Whaun was the first non-white resident of West Vancouver and the first Chinese-Canadian graduate of the University of British Columbia.

The fonds consists primarily of correspondence with accompanying newspaper clippings, diaries and photographs.

Inventory [PDF] available.

White, Howard, 1945-
Howard White fonds. - 1978-1992.
1.3 m of textual records.

Howard White has spent much of his life on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia and at Madeira Park, B.C. He is the founder and editor of the Raincoast Chronicles series of books on British Columbia coast history and culture. In 1984 he incorporated the Harbour Publishing Company. It maintained the direction of Raincaost Chronicles as well as publishing more diverse works. In 1991 White was awarded the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour for Writing in the Rain. His other books include Ghost in the Gears (poetry), The Men There Were Then (poetry), and Patrick and the Backhoe. In addition, he edited The Accidental Airline, Spilsbury's Coast, and Forgotten Villages of the B.C. Coast, as well as writing Bill White's work history, A Hard Man to Beat.

The fonds consists mainly of his personal manuscripts and his activities relating to his work as published by Harbour Publishing Company. Much of his incoming and outgoing correspondence as well as subject files relate to books he has published or is planning in the future. Major writers and/or correspondence include Anne Cameron, Pat Lane, Margaret Laurence and Tom Wayman. A publication log kept by Hubert Evans is also included.

Inventory [PDF] available.

White, William Hale (family)
William Hale White family fonds. - 1840-1917, predominant 1880-1913.
80 cm of textual records
29 photographs

The eldest son of William White, bookseller and printer, of Bedford, William Hale White worked as a civil servant for much of his career as well as being involved with the Westminster Review in the 1850s. His fame as an author rests chiefly upon his pseudonymous autobiographical works, The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford (1881), its sequel Mark Rutherford's Deliverance (1910), and Pages from a journal (1900).

The fonds consists chiefly of Wiliam Hale White's correspondence with family and friends, manuscript notebooks of his books, published and unpublished manuscripts, subject files, clippings, and bound pamphlets on a variety of philosophical and religous topics. The fonds also contains the correspondence of Dorothy Vernon White as well as notebook manuscripts of her books and the correspondence of Cecily Hale-White (daughter of John Hale White).

Title based on the contents of the fonds.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Whitehorn, Alan
Alan Whitehorn fonds. - [1982]-1991.
2 cm of textual records

Alan Whitehorn is a professor of Political Science at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. He is the author of Canadian Socialism: Essays on the CCF-NDP, co-author of Political Activists: The NDP in Convention and has written extensively on Canadian politics both academically and in the popular press.

The fonds consists of writings by Alan Whitehorn on the CCF, NDP, and the Communist Party. Fonds includes articles and manuscripts. Some texts are co-authored by Keith Archer.

Whittaker, John William
Jack Whittaker fonds. - 1896-1956.
2 cm of textual records.

Jack Whittaker worked for 48 years in British Columbia sawmills before his retirement in 1959. His last position with British Columbia Forest Products Ltd. (B.C.F.P.) was superintendent of the Youbou Sawmill on Cowichan Lake, Vancouver Island.

The fonds consists of a typescript of Whittaker's reminiscences, "My Sixty (60) Years in the Forest Industry", a poem by Elsie May Whittaker, a typescript and photocopy of "J.W. Whittaker Remembers Friends at Youbou", and selected photocopies from albums created by Whittaker.

Wigwam Inn
Wigwam Inn fonds.- 1911-1936
1 cm. of textual records.

The fonds consists of unbound pages from the guest register of the Wigwam Inn, North Vancouver as well as several pages of accounts.

The Wigwam Inn was built at Indian Arm in 1911 by Alvo von Alvensleben.

Wilderness Advisory Committee
Wilderness Advisory Committee fonds. - 1985-1986.
20 cm of textual records

Formed in October, 1985 by the Honourable Austin Pelton of the Social Credit government, the Wilderness Advisory Committee received submissions from the public regarding the use of selected wilderness areas throughout British Columbia. The Committee was based out of Vancouver and chaired by Bryan Williams.

The fonds consists of copies of correspondence, briefs, and submissions regarding selected wilderness areas throughout the province sent by interested parties such as MacMillan Bloedal Ltd. and Comino as well as municipalities and concerned private citizens to the Committee. Most of the submissions were dated in December, 1985.

Title based on the contents of the fonds.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Wilkins, Harold T.
Harold Wilkins fonds. - 1925-1954.
13 cm of textual records.
59 photographs.

Harold Wilkins researched and gathered material relating to the history of television in Great Britain.

The fonds consists of photographs, correspondence, printed material and notes gathered and generated by Wilkins pertaining to the early development of television in Great Britain.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Wilkinson family
Wilkinson family fonds. - 1835-1946.
26 cm of textual records.
129 photographs.

Thomas Edward Wilkinson (d. 1914) was a Bishop of the Church of England who served in Northern and Central Europe and in West Africa. The Wilkinson family (Thomas, Margaret and Kenneth) were pioneers in British Columbia.

The fonds consists of photographs, correspondence, legal documents and personal memorabilia pertaining to the Wilkinson family and to the lumbering industry in British Columbia. It includes the will of Reverend Thomas Edward Wilkinson.

Inventory [PDF] available.

William Bennett Memorial Collection
William Bennett Memorial Collection. - 1931-1955.
6 cm of textual records.

William Bennett was a former leader of the B.C. Communists.

Collection contains documents and leaflets relating to communist movements in British Columbia, Canada, and internationally, from the collection of William Bennett, as well as others.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Williams, Mary Elizabeth, b. 1877
Mary Williams fonds. - 1935-1950.
6.5 cm of textual records.

Mary Williams was born in Westville, Nova Scotia. From childhood she loved music and reading and in her late teens wrote her first two published poems. In 1906 she married A. Hugh Williams and then moved to Winnipeg where she taught music and wrote poetry.

The fonds consists of the unpublished manuscripts of It Seems to Me, Faith and Fancy, and Broken Crystals. These typescripts date from the period 1935-1950 when Williams was travelling across Canada. The fonds also includes printed and published poems (1936-1945).

Wilson, Ethel, 1888-1980
Ethel Wilson fonds. - [193--196-].
2.1 m of textual records.
22 photographs.

Ethel Wilson was born in South Africa. In 1890, after her mother died, she was taken to England; then in 1898, when her father died, she moved to live with her grandmother in Vancouver. Wilson received her teacher's certificate in 1907 and then taught in Vancouver public schools until 1920. In 1921 she married Dr. Wallace Wilson. She began writing in 1937, but she did not produce much work until 1947, when her first novel Hetty Dorval was published. Her most productive period was from 1947 to 1957 when she wrote her four other novels. Mrs. Golightly and Other Stories, Wilson's last published work, appeared in 1961 at the same time that she received a special medal from the Canada Council.

The fonds consists of correspondence (both personal and business), manuscripts of novels, short stories (some untitled), and poetry, as well as reviews of Ethel Wilson's work, contracts, photographs, awards, diaries (1938-1942) and subject files. Files created by MacMillan Company of Canada relating to the publication of some of Wilson's novels are also included in the fonds. These include subject files relating to Hetty Dorval, The Innocent Traveller, The Equations of Love, Love and Salt Water and Mrs. Golightly and Other Stories as well as articles of short works and articles, newsclippings and correspondence relating to Ethel Wilson.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Wilson, Herbert Emerson, 1881-1969
Herbert Emerson Wilson fonds. - 1935-1982.
12 cm of textual records.

Herbert E. Wilson was born in Ontario and served in the Boer War. He became a Baptist minister but later embarked on a career as a safe cracker. He was imprisoned for twenty years in San Quentin, California. Following his release he worked as a newspaper columnist, artist, Museum of Crime curator, author and literary agent. His brother was Edward Arthur Wilson, known as Brother Twelve, a religious cult leader.

The fonds consists of correspondence and literary typescripts which chronicle Wilson's varied career as a minister, criminal and prisoner.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Winch, Ernest Edward, 1879-1957
Ernest Edward Winch fonds. - 1905-1956.
50 cm of textual records.

Ernest Edward Winch was born in Harlow, England, in 1879. He died at the Vancouver General Hospital in January, 1957. And during his restless life that stretched between those poles of destiny he established himself not only as a politician, and an uncompromising socialist at that, but primarily as a friend of the poor and the week. Settling permanently in the Lower Mainland of B.C. in 1910, Ernest Winch, bricklayer, joined the Bricklayer's and Stonemason's International Union, No. 1, Vancouver. During the next fifteen years he was an active unionist, especially as an organizer in the International Longshoremen's Association, B.C. Loggers Union, and Lumber and Camp Worker's Industrial Union of the One Big Union. He also served a term as secretary of the Vancouver, New Westminster, and District Trades and Labour Council.

His files reflect various interests in the cause of humanity ranging from capital punishment to the protection of fur-bearing animals. The files also contain much valuable information on the activities of the C.C.F. and his role within the party. To a lesser extent, the files contain information on his earlier activities within the labour movement and events during the depression of the 1930's.

Please note that the box numbers refer to boxes in the Angus MacInnis Memorial Collection.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Winch, Harold, 1907-1993
Harold Winch fonds. - 1928-1993.
10 cm of textual records.

Harold Winch was born in Loughton, Essex, England, and died in White Rock, B.C. Trained originally as an electrician, he served as MLA for Vancouver East from 1933 to 1953 as a member of the CCF. He was provincial party leader from 1938 to 1953. He then served as MP from 1953 to 1972. He was also the Chairman of the Boag Foundation, a founding member of the Immigrant Services Society, a director of the New Vista Society, and a life member of both the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals. He was also involved in forming the B.C. Shuffleboard Association.

The fonds consists of records generated by Harold Winch in carrying out his many activities as well as by those writing about him. Fonds includes correspondence, transcripts, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, and manuscripts.

Winson, John William, b. 1874
John Winson fonds. - 1912-1967.
6.5 cm of textual records.

John Winson was a Justice of the Peace, Police Magistrate, Chairman of the Fraser Valley Regional Library, amateur botanist and journalist for the Vancouver Province, for which he wrote under the pseudonym "Wildwood".

The fonds consists of Winson's correspondence, a personal reminiscence of Winson by his wife (Ethel Leaf Winson), and another memoir entitled "From Small Beginnings," together with a historical account of Lady Tweedsmuir's visit to Abbotsford in 1939. In addition, there are other brief manuscript memoirs by Mrs. Winson, clippings of J.W. Winson's journalistic articles (some relating to A.W. Findlay), miscellaneous clippings, documents confirming Winson's various appointments and the copyright to Wildwood Trails.

Women's Christian Temperance Union of British Columbia
Women's Christian Temperance Union of British Columbia fonds. - 1938-1970.
1.8 m of textual records.

The American National Woman's Christian Temperance Union was formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1874. The Canadian branch of the organization was established in Ontario in 1875 and the World W.C.T.U. in 1883. The organization enjoyed some success in North America with the passage of Prohibition laws in 1918. In Canada there were fewer than 4,000 members in 1985.

The fonds consists of convention reports (1963-1969), some correspondence, a script for a C.B.C. broadcast (1953), two essays, an article and scrapbooks of clippings (1938-1960).

Inventory [PDF] available.

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom fonds. - 1917-2006.
68 cm of textual records.

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom was founded in 1915 at The Hague by women active in the suffrage movements in Europe and America who wished to end the First World War and to insure that no further wars occurred. The League began its work in Canada in 1920 in Vancouver, led by Dorothy Steeves and Laura Jamieson, with Lucy Woodsworth, Agnes McPhail and Violet McNaughton among its members. The League's work has been to promote peace education and to campaign for disarmament and anti militarism. During World War II it opposed the introduction of military cadet training in schools and it has investigated textbooks which glorified war. During World War II and its aftermath, however, the movement declined with only the Vancouver branch surviving.

The fonds consists of correspondence, much of it by Sheila Young or addressed to her, concerning various international issues; among the addressees are Prime Minister Trudeau and various cabinet ministers and other politicians, newspapers, commissions and organizations, government departments and agencies, and businesses. The records of the 11th, 13th-18th, and 20th International Congresses of the W.I.L.P.F. are also included, as well as printed material on military expenditures, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, peace, and the polar regions.

An accession was added in 2007 containing printed material, minutes, correspondence from 1988-1997, financial and other operations records, ephemera, and records relating to the creation of the Canadian section and the drafting of its constitution.

Women's Missionary Society of the Methodist Church. Japanese Auxiliary
Women's Missionary Society of the Methodist Church, Japanese Auxiliary fonds. - 1911-1925.
2 cm of textual records.

Administrative history unavailable.

The fonds consists of minutes and membership rolls.

Wong, Foon Sien, d. 1971
Foon Sien Wong fonds. - 1907-1971.
8 m of textual records.

Foon Sien Wong was a spokesman for the Chinese Canadian community in Vancouver. In 1945 he advocated the granting of the franchise to Chinese Canadians after they became subject to the World War II military draft. On many occasions, he travelled to Ottawa to pursue the rights of Chinese Canadians, particularly urging the lifting of the strictures on Chinese immigration which often separated members of families from one another. He also served for a time on the Vancouver Consultative Committee on Redevelopment, and throughout his life, fought unflaggingly to end discrimination against, not just Chinese Canadians, but all minority groups.

The fonds consists primarily of clippings and articles relating to international affairs, Chinese customs preserved in Canada, life in Vancouver's China Town and social and political problems confronted by Chinese Canadians. The fonds also includes correspondence as well as printed and published material.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Wood and English Ltd
Wood and English Ltd fonds. 1935.
6 cm of textual records.

Wood and English Ltd was a lumber and sawmill company which operated in the small town of Englewood on Vancouver Island's north eastern coast. The company existed from approximately 1925 to 1945.

Fonds consists of 1 financial ledger book which details an appraisal conducted of Wood and English's physical assets in 1940.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Woods, Leonard, 1919-
Leonard Wood fonds.

Woodsworth, Bruce, 1914-
Bruce Woodsworth fonds. - 1936-1939.
5 cm of textual records

Bruce Woodsworth was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on November 24, 1914 to Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) pioneer J.S. Woodsworth and Lucy L. (Lillian) Staples Woodsworth. In 1936, Mr. Woodsworth graduated from UBC with a Bachelor of Arts (Hon.) in Geology. From 1936 to 1939, the Anglo-American Exploration Company employed Mr. Woodsworth to work in Northern Rhodesia for the purpose of prospecting, surveying and mapping the area. While in Northern Rhodesia, Mr. Woodsworth engaged in big game shooting which he later wrote of in several articles. In 1939, Mr. Woodsworth began graduate work in both economic and political science at McGill University, and returned to British Columbia in 1940 to take a teachers' training course at UBC, from which he earned an academic certificate. Mr. Woodsworth married Fannie E. J. Williams in Toronto in 1944. An ardent CCF supporter, Bruce Woodsworth first became involved with the party through his father. At the age of 16, before the CCF was even formally founded, Mr. Woodsworth delivered campaign literature for J.S. Woodsworth in Winnipeg North Centre. In 1939, he became a member of the CCF and canvassed for many candidates, took part in CCF clubs, and attended various speeches and conferences that the party promoted.

The fonds consists of correspondence, field circulars, financial records, licenses, a map, and miscellaneous items made or received by Bruce Woodsworth between 1939 and 1939 regarding his employment in Northern Rhodesian and Nyasaland in mining ventures.

Title based on the contents of the fonds.

Inventory [PDF]available.

Woodward, Eugene Sidney, 1880-1970
Eugene S. Woodward fonds. - 1910-1969.
56 cm of textual records.

Eugene S. Woodward came to Victoria, B.C. from England in 1908. He became president of the Victoria Trades and Labour Council and elected to City Council in 1921. A self-educated economist, he served briefly as an advisor to the Social Credit government in Alberta in 1936 before turning to a career in journalism as an editorial writer and columnist.

The fonds consists of correspondence, articles, speeches, radio scripts, briefs to government commissions, as well as newspaper clippings and printed material, and drafts of his book, Adventures in Free Enterprise: The Shape of Things to Come (1965).

Inventory [PDF] available.

Woodward, Mary Millicent McManus, 1901-1971
Mary Millicent McManus Woodward fonds. - 1925-1935.
12.5 cm of textual records

Biographical information unavailable.

The fonds consists of postcards acquired in her travels, mainly in Europe and including Vienna, Paris, and various locations in Italy as well as Canada, United States, New Zealand, Japan, and Barbados. There is also a small amount of correspondence.

Title based on the contents of the fonds.

Woolmer, J. Howard, 1929-
J. Howard Woolmer fonds. - 1967-1969, 1973-1984.
26 cm of textual records.

J. Howard Woolmer was born in Montreal in 1929. As a professional bookseller in New York, he developed an interest in the works of Malcolm Lowry and began a collection of books and periodicals with material by or about Lowry. In 1969, Woolmer published A Malcolm Lowry Catalogue which included two previously unpublished Lowry poems introduced by Earle Birney. In 1983, Woolmer published Malcolm Lowry: A Bibliography.

The fonds consists of correspondence, drafts and research materials arising from the production of his two publications.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Work, John, 1792-1861
John Work fonds. - 1851.
1 cm of textual records.

John Work (originally "Wark") was born in Cork, Ireland and joined the Hudson's Bay Company in 1814. He served first at York Factory and then in the Severn River district. In 1823 he was sent to the Pacific coast, for which region he became chief trader in 1830, and was stationed at Fort Simpson from 1832-1852. He was appointed chief factor in 1846 and was frequently in charge of trading missions, including one to Sacramento, California. From 1853 until his death he lived in Victoria and was a member of the Vancouver Island House of Assembly.

The fonds consists of Work's handwritten diary of a trip from Fort Simpson to the Queen Charlotte Islands (May 1851) to investigate the reported gold discoveries there.

W.R. Menchions Co. Ltd.
W.R. Menchions fonds. - 1914-1935.
10 cm of textual records.
12 plans.
1 photograph.

W.R. Menchions was one of the best-known wooden boat builders in Canada. Born in 1871 in Bay Robert, Newfoundland, Menchions found employment as a boat builder and a fisherman there. In 1896 he came to Vancouver where he soon established what became one of the port's leading boatyards.

The fonds consists of plans of fishing vessels built by W.R.Menchions for various companies and individuals including a seine patrol and towboat (1914-1915), cannery tender (1924-1926), seine boat (1925), and specifications and contracts for gasoline boats, seine boats and fishing boats (1914-1935). The fonds also includes one photograph of the vessel "Frieda" of the Kakiak Fishing Co.

Inventory [PDF] available.

Wright, Harold Madison, 1908-
Harold Wright fonds. - 1942-1980.
6 m of textual records.

Harold Wright was born in Winnipeg. He received an M.A. in geology from the University of B.C. (1933) and an M.Sc from the University of Utah (1936). He returned to Vancouver, where he established Wright Engineering Ltd., a mining and metallurgy firm. Wright was also very active in athletics. He represented Canada in the 1932 Olympic Games and later, as a businessman, played a major role in Canada's successful bid for the 1976 Summer Games. Wright became president of the Canadian Olympic Association. He also served as director of the Commonwealth Games Association of Canada and the British Columbia Sports Federation.

The fonds consists of professional and personal records (1942-1965) as well as records of the Canadian Olympic Association (1969-1980), the Canadian Field Hockey Association (1963-1972), the Committee Organisateur de les Jeux Olympique (1970-1976), and the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (1952-1976).

Inventory [PDF] available.

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