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Friends of the BC Archives Newsletter Vol. 15, No. 3 April 2016
The Archives: A Part of the Royal British Columbia Museum’s History Dr. Patricia Roy Recently, the Royal British Columbia Museum commissioned me to write the history of the Museum
and the BC Archives. Although the research is far from complete, I am learning a great deal about these
complementary institutions and how the Archives changed over time. Until it moved into the present
building, the Museum confined itself to Aboriginal history and the flora and fauna of the province.
Thus, the Archives became “the official attic and basement of the province” with its own small museum
of historical curios including among other things a model of the first E&N locomotive, a bellows, and a
Spode cake stand. When the Museum prepared its Modern History galleries, the Archives contributed
these artifacts and others ranging from a small earthenware crucible from the New Westminster Mint,
to dining room furniture used by the W.F. Tolmie family at Fort Victoria.
The little museum was open to the public, but initially, the manuscripts of the Archives were not.
Later, the Archives were open during normal office hours to bona fide researchers. Those who were
especially trusted by the archivist could come in on weekends and after hours. (continued on page 2…)
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When one such researcher forgot the fountain pen he used to take notes, it was returned to him
without any suggestion that he should not use ink. Much to the consternation of researchers, the
provincial government in 1957 decreed that all government employees should have their lunch hour
from 12 noon to 1:10 p.m. That directive closed the Archives for over an hour every day. Willard
Ireland, the archivist responsible for planning the current building, suggested making security
arrangements to give researchers round-the-clock access, seven days a week. Ireland got many of the
features he wanted for the new building. Alas, such access was not one of them.
Technology changed archival and research methods. Before the photocopier was perfected the
Archives employed copyists in London and elsewhere to make typewritten copies of relevant
documents and to transcribe handwritten documents in its own possession. Until there was a minor
scandal, some of the Archives’ typists supplemented their modest incomes by taking documents home
and typing copies for researchers. Photostats were possible, but they were expensive. Microfilming
came during the Second World War when the provincial government feared losing vital records in a
bombing raid. Photocopiers appeared about 1956, but the copies tended to fade to nothing within a
few years. Technology also affected cataloguing. As librarians with a finite number of records, the
early archivists catalogued manuscripts almost as if they were books. The annual reports of the
Archives and Library often indicated the number of cards typed. Until Finding Aids began to appear in
the 1970s, card indexes were the rule. The card catalogue of Colonial Records in the Reference Room
is a relic of this. With the advent of the computer, the Finding Aids went on line making it possible for
researchers to plan their research before coming to the Archives. And now we have AtoM!
- Patricia Roy, FBCA Board Member
2 3 Changes to the FBCA Board of Directors
In February 2016, Michael Layland and Christopher Petter stepped down from our Board of Directors.
Michael first joined the Board in 2008 and served twice as president (2011-2013; 2015-2016). As an
invited speaker to FBCA meetings, Michael shared his knowledge of early exploration and map-making
on several occasions. He helped to organize and participated in the FBCA’s very successful symposium
to commemorate the 170th anniversary of the founding of Fort Victoria.
Chris Petter joined the Board in 2014, after retiring as Head of Special Collections and Digital
Initiatives Librarian at the University of Victoria’s McPherson Library. There, he helped to create
UVic’s Digital Collections, a valuable online resource for historical research on British Columbia. His
contributions to the FBCA include a detailed inventory of our executive records.
We appreciate their service and are pleased that they will continue as members of the Friends of the
BC Archives.
- Patrick Dunae, FBCA Interim President
BC Archives, A-09542 – Reading Room, Northwest Collection, Archives, 1949. 3
Upcoming FBCA Events
4 5 Recent FBCA Events The De Cosmos Enigma (January 17, 2016) Gordon Hawkins, author of the recently published The De Cosmos Enigma, explored the biography of
B.C.’s second premier, the controversial and outspoken Amor De Cosmos, about whose professional
life much is known and about whose personal life little can be found.
After 10 years of research in Nova Scotia, California, and BC Hawkins was able to piece together the
story of a self-made loner who rose to prominence as a newspaper editor and influential politician
through his own determination to acquire influence, wealth and power. However, impressive as his
career was, he was little mourned at his passing and Hawkins argued that he has received less public
recognition than he deserves.
Although virtually none of De Cosmos’ personal correspondence exists, Hawkins’ research uncovered
some prime influences on the man. He admired and followed formative journalists Joseph Howe in
Nova Scotia and James King in California; Howe in his fierce support for Representative Government
and King’s fearless anti-corruption crusade in San Francisco.
Hawkins believes that Smith/De Cosmos had an epiphany on his long and arduous 1400 mile, 8-week
horseback trek across the US to the California gold fields. Citing a one and a half page account written
by his brother, which can be found in the BC Archives, De Cosmos related how he had a “near death
experience” in the desert where he drank some alkaline water. Says his brother, “he arrived a different
person” and promptly recreated himself by formally changing his name to Amor De Cosmos. In
California for 10 years, he relentlessly pursued business opportunities in photography and mining
speculation. Although restlessness and impatience may have always been part of his nature, his
irascibility and ferocity seem to have been given free reign by this transformation.
(continued on page 6…)
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Within weeks of arriving in Victoria, even before founding the British Colonist, he was lighting a fire
under the autocratic HBC family-compact running the Colony. But he remained true to principles of
being loyal to Empire, fairness and being a fearless supporter of Responsible Government. De Cosmos’
drive and reforming zeal seems to have won him success in business and as a politician but it does not
seem to have produced any long term
friendships or public acclaim. He served
as an MLA, became B.C.’s second Premier
and was an MP for many years. But De
Cosmos was ruined by a financial
contract to build a dry dock. He also
misused his office for personal financial
advantage and withdrew from politics an
embittered man. BC Archives, PDP00811 - Amor De Cosmos Advocates Union With Canada, #18. Hawkins reflected on the character of the
man and how he was harshly judged by contemporaries. John Helmcken said that: ‘humility was not
one of his strengths’. Gilbert Sproat thought him ‘haughty, and rude’…with an ‘irregularity of thought
and aim…’ His 1975 biographer, George Woodcock, thought he was probably a manic depressive and
psychotic. But Hawkins is kinder in judging him a determined bachelor, a loner, more interested in
issues than people and not simply driven by ambition. De Cosmos had elements of greatness, but he
was also flawed. Cerebral and enigmatic, he became over time more eccentric, bitter, sad and peculiar.
But Hawkins’ talk proved that he deserves to be judged by the “human element of time and content” as
a complex, and multifaceted individual, whose ideas helped to shape Victoria, BC and Canada.
- Chris Petter, FBCA Member
6 7 Road to Ruin: James Douglas & the Obfuscation of the Cariboo Wagon Road (February 21, 2016)
Dr. Frank Leonard is a former instructor in History at Douglas College and an adjunct associate
professor in the Department of
History at the University of
Victoria. He is an expert in the
history of transportation and has a
formidable knowledge of historical
records, as he demonstrated in the
informative and entertaining
illustrated presentation. Drawing
on British Colonial Office records
and correspondence, maps, and BC Archives, E-01935 - The Cariboo Wagon Road; Fraser River.
reports from the BC Archives, he unravelled the tangled and sometimes duplicitous financial reports
on the construction and early operation of the Cariboo Wagon Road. He suggested that Governor
Douglas was misleading in his reports to superiors in the Colonial Office and, ultimately, it was his
blunders with the Cariboo Wagon Road that prompted his dismissal as governor. Dr. Leonard’s
interpretation of these events challenged the traditional, celebratory view of Douglas’s administration
of the mainland colony of BC.
- Patrick Dunae, FBCA Interim President
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The Mighty AtoM! (March 20, 2016)
In March, senior staff from the Royal BC Museum gave FBCA members a special demonstration of the
new BC Archives search engine called Access to Memory, or AtoM. Presenters from the museum
explained the need to transition to a new system as the previous “blue and white” search interface had
become cumbersome and outdated. For those still working through the new system, museum and
archives staff shared some simple yet vital tips for getting the best results. One of the most important
of these was an emphasis on the use of search operators. Search operators must be entered in
uppercase. For example, if you are looking for files related to the CPR in Vancouver, the search
operator AND should be used to narrow the results (e.g.: Vancouver AND CPR). Quotation marks
should be used when searching for phrases and/or call numbers (e.g. "Craigdarroch Castle” or " E-
01935”). The museum and archives staff have developed handy guides for users wishing to better
orient themselves to the new system.
• Brief guide to AtoM: http://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/help/atom/atom-manual.pdf
• Extended guide to AtoM: http://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/help/atom/bc-archives-collection-search-
guide.pdf
- Kelly Black, FBCA Board Member
8 9 FBCA now on Facebook!
The FBCA continues to expand our digital presence. We are pleased to announce that we now have a
Facebook page. If you have a Facebook account, please “Like” our page:
https://www.facebook.com/FriendsofTheBCArchives/
We have also recently expanded the content on our website, featuring summaries of all FBCA talks
from 2000 to 2015! You can find those summaries here:
https://friendsofbcarchives.wordpress.com/past-programmes-speakers/
FBCA Contact Information Email: [email protected] Website: https://friendsofbcarchives.wordpress.com/ Twitter: @BCArchives Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FriendsofTheBCArchives/
Address: Friends of the British Columbia Archives, B.C. Archives Royal British Columbia Museum, 675 Belleville St. Victoria, B.C. V8W 9W2
The Friends Programs are held in the Newcombe Conference Hall at the Royal British Columbia Museum, 675 Belleville Street, Victoria, from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. on Sundays. For more information about these events contact Ron Greene, Treasurer of the Friends of the BC Archives at 250-598- 1835. Events are free for members, $5.00 for non-members, payable at the door.
Please call (250) 356-7226 in advance for information about access for persons with disabilities.
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