Creelman Family Fonds (MS-2-775)
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Dalhousie University Archives Finding Aid - Creelman Family fonds (MS-2-775) Generated by the Archives Catalogue and Online Collections on January 23, 2017 Dalhousie University Archives 6225 University Avenue, 5th Floor, Killam Memorial Library Halifax Nova Scotia Canada B3H 4R2 Telephone: 902-494-3615 Email: [email protected] http://dal.ca/archives http://findingaids.library.dal.ca/creelman-family-fonds Creelman Family fonds Table of contents Summary information ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Administrative history / Biographical sketch .................................................................................................. 4 Scope and content ........................................................................................................................................... 5 Notes ................................................................................................................................................................ 5 Access points ................................................................................................................................................... 5 Collection holdings .......................................................................................................................................... 6 Correspondence of the Creelman Family (1893-1985) ................................................................................ 6 T. Wilson Creelman (1913-1934) .............................................................................................................. 6 Annie MacKay Creelman (1898-1948) ..................................................................................................... 9 William "Mack" Mackay Creelman (1919-1983) ................................................................................... 20 Nancy Little Johns Creelman (1952-1961) ............................................................................................. 33 Other Relatives (Bulk, 1903-1927) ......................................................................................................... 37 Mack, Nancy & Family (1954-1985) ...................................................................................................... 38 Diaries (1897-1954) .................................................................................................................................... 41 T. Wilson Creelman (1921-1927) ............................................................................................................ 42 Annie MacKay Creelman (1897-1943) ................................................................................................... 42 William "Mack" Mackay Creelman (1933-1944) ................................................................................... 44 Nancy Littlejohns Creelman (1953-1954) ............................................................................................... 45 Family Memorabilia (Bulk, 1912-1983) .................................................................................................... 45 Dalhousie Memorabilia ............................................................................................................................... 54 Genealogical Material (1899-1980) ............................................................................................................ 55 Military Career (1912-1994) ...................................................................................................................... 57 Family Photographs (1903-1985) ............................................................................................................... 60 Imperial Oil (1913-1919; 1930) .............................................................................................................. 61 The South American Years (1920-1927) (1920-1927) ........................................................................... 63 Colombia ................................................................................................................................................ 64 Barranca Bermesa (now Barrancabermeja) (1920s) .......................................................................... 67 Peru (1925-1927) ................................................................................................................................... 73 Department of Defense and NRE (1942-1973) ....................................................................................... 74 Halifax Degausing Ranges (1942-1950) ............................................................................................... 75 NRE People (1942-1950) ...................................................................................................................... 76 Family & Friends (1900-1985) ................................................................................................................ 79 Family in Halifax (1900-1950) ............................................................................................................. 82 Family in Ontario (1915; 1927-1933; 1956-1978) ............................................................................... 86 Dalhousie University Archives Page 2 Creelman Family fonds Mack Creelman (1920-1985) ................................................................................................................ 90 Helen Gertrude (Nancy) Little Johns Creelman (1942-1955) .............................................................. 91 Places Visited (ca. 1950-1985) .............................................................................................................. 100 Ontario (1956-1978) ............................................................................................................................ 103 Dalhousie University Archives Page 3 MS-2-775 Creelman Family fonds Summary information Repository: Dalhousie University Archives Title: Creelman Family fonds Reference code: MS-2-775 Date: 1887-1999 (date of creation) Language: English Physical description: 2.71 m of textual records and graphic material Note [generalNote]: Preferred citation: [Identification of item], Creelman family fonds, MS-2-775, Box [box number], Folder [folder number], Dalhousie University Archives, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Administrative history / Biographical sketch Note Annie MacKay (1876-1944) married Thomas Wilson Creelman (1879-1933) in 1915. Annie was the eldest daughter of Roderick MacKay (1849-1936) and Margaret (Maggie) Gray Murray (1852-1942) of Pictou County. The MacKays settled in Pictou County and called their homestead "Dunrobin." They had nine children: Annie (Feb. 20, 1876- September 24, 1944), Alexander (Nov. 24, 1877 – 1899), Murdoch Arthur (June 1881-Dec. 1971), Isabella Bertha (Nov. 25, 1883-Dec17, 1963), Katherine Mary (June 22, 1891-January 1963), Ina Ethel (February 3, 1894-June 4, 1986), Allister Murray (August 1900-February 12, 1922), Murdoch David (1880), Angus Herdman (1888). Alexander MacKay drowned while attending Dalhousie. Allister died of tuburculosis. Murdoch David and Angus died in infancy. Annie MacKay and Thomas Creelman met in Halifax, where Thomas worked for The Imperial Oil Company, as an accountant and Annie worked as a part-time teacher. They married in 1915 and moved to Ontario where Thomas was transferred. He was employed with The Imperial Oil Company until he passed away in 1933. While he was employed with the oil company he was transferred to various places. He was in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto and Sarnia, Ontario, Winnipeg, Manitoba and he spent 5 years in South America. Annie and Thomas had one son, William MacKay Creelman. William MacKay (Mack) Creelman, (1918-1985) was born in Sarnia, Ontario. After his Father died in 1933 he moved with his mother to Halifax. He completed his high school at the Halifax Academy in 1936 and came to Dalhousie to study math and physics. He received his BSc and 1940 and his MSc in 1942. We was a member of the Engineering Institute of Canada. After graduating from Dalhousie University in 1942 with a M.Sc. in Physics, Mack Creelman joined the Halifax Naval Group of the National Research Council which became the Naval Research Establishment (NRE) in the spring of 1943. He also joined the Navy. He continued with NRE until 1945 when he was appointed to the staff of the Commodore Superintendent HMC Dockyard as Supervising Inspector, Electrical Anti-Mining (Maritimes) responsible for all electrical mine countermeasures in the Atlantic Command. He retired from Dalhousie University Archives Page 4 MS-2-775 Creelman Family fonds the Navy as a Lieutenant (L) RCN (R) in the fall of 1946 and joined the staff of the Manager, Electrical Engineering HMC Dockyard with the same duties as a naval officer. Through his work at the Naval Research Establishment in Halifax, Mack met his wife H.G. (Nancy) Littlejohns (1923-1963). They married in June 1954, they had three children, June, David and William. Nancy passed away with cancer in July 1963. In 1955, Creelman transferred to Naval Headquarters to head the degaussing section of the Electrical Engineer-in-Chief in Ottawa. Four years later, he was named head of the Passive Protection Section, Director Maritime Facilities and Resources at NDHQ. He retired in 1983 after 40 years’ service. Please see also “Memoirs of WMC” MS-2-775, Box 8, Folder 13. Scope and content This accession contains