Donald N. Brown subseries
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription35
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1925 (date of original)-1995
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Subseries
- Physical Description
- Textual records and other material
- Scope and Content
- Subseries consists of photographs taken by Freeman Donald N. Brown while involved in Burnaby Historical Society activities and textual records pertaining to his career with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Also included in the subseries are documents and photographs from his involvement with vari…
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1925 (date of original)-1995
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Donald N. Brown subseries
- Physical Description
- Textual records and other material
- Description Level
- Subseries
- Accession Number
- BHS1987-03
- BHS2003-04
- BHS1992-20
- BHS1995-09
- BHS2000-10
- BHS1991-41
- BHS2001-12
- BHS2004-01
- BHS2004-12
- Scope and Content
- Subseries consists of photographs taken by Freeman Donald N. Brown while involved in Burnaby Historical Society activities and textual records pertaining to his career with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Also included in the subseries are documents and photographs from his involvement with various community groups including the Oakalla Lands Citizens' Committee, renovations of Burnaby Village Museum, and the restoration of Interurban tram no. 1223.
- History
- Donald Neil "Don" Brown was born in Birmingham, England. In 1922, while still an infant, he and his family moved to Winnipeg, Canada. On September 8, 1939, Don left his Senior Matriculation classes to join the Royal Canadian Engineers. Two weeks later, he eloped with his high school sweetheart, Helen J., just months before he was to be shipped overseas with the 3rd Contingent of Canadian Troops. He served in the army with the Royal Canadian Engineer’s 12th Field Company and saw action in both Sicily and Italy. In 1945, Don returned to obtain his Senior Matriculation and a year of university studies before re-enlisting in the army as a Second Lieutenant. He spent the next two years stationed in Chilliwack with Helen and their first child. In 1947, he left the army to join the ranks of the British Columbia Provincial Police force, embarking on a three-decade long career. His first assignment brought him to Burnaby where he served from 1947-1954, first as a member of the BC Police Department and then as a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman. In 1954, Don was transferred to Regina, Saskatchewan and then to Ottawa, Ontario to serve in the Crime Detection Laboratories. He became a qualified Examiner of Questioned Documents and provided expert testimony in handwriting, counterfeiting, graphic arts, and alterations. He attained the rank of first Corporal, and then Sergeant in the RCMP. He was transferred to Vancouver to be the Second in Charge of a new laboratory and head of the Document Section in July, 1963. On December 9, 1967, Helen Brown ran as an independent for the position of Alderman on the Burnaby Council. She was not elected. In May 1970, Don was promoted to Sub-Inspector and transferred to Edmonton to take command of the new Crime Detection Laboratory. By 1972, he was promoted to full Inspector. Transferred back to Vancouver in 1975, Don became the Officer-in-Charge of a new Crime Laboratory and took over the National Police Services pilot project for British Columbia. He was rewarded for this work with a promotion to Superintendent in September 1975. In 1976, after a distinguished 35 years combined service to the armed forces and the police, Don retired and founded his own laboratory to carry on his work in the field of questioned documents. He became a Fellow (Emeritus) of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, a Life Member (Emeritus) and Past Director of the Canadian Society of Forensic Sciences, a Member of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Document Examiners. After his retirement, Don became involved in local politics and, with the blessing of his wife and six children, joined the Burnaby Voters’ Association as their Secretary. In 1978 he was elected to a two-year term as a Burnaby School Trustee. During the next municipal election in November 1979, he successfully ran for Alderman. Don Brown served Burnaby as Alderman from 1979 to 1985. During this time, Don also became a member of the Community College for the Retired, the Horsemen’s Society and the Burnaby Historical Society. He also gave his support to Arts Council programs and numerous other community functions over the years and author "Why?: The Last Years of the British Columbia Policy 1858-1950" about the BC Provincial Police. In 1991, Don was appointed as Chair of the Burnaby Centennial Committee, dedicating himself to making Burnaby’s Centennial celebration a memorable success. His contributions were always supported by his wife Helen, and their work during the Centennial Year was just one example of the strength of their 66-year partnership. They were both formally recognized for their efforts when they were chosen to receive the Kushiro Cup and named the Citizens of the Year in 1992. Also that year, Don was a recipient of the Canadian 125 Medal and one year later, in March 1993, Donald Brown was awarded Burnaby’s highest honour and was made a Freeman of the City of Burnaby. Don passed away in 2009.
- Media Type
- Textual Record
- Photograph
- Moving Images
- Creator
- Brown, Donald N. "Don"
- Notes
- Title based on contents of fonds
- PC194, PC241, MSS098, MSS148
William Holmes fonds
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription10416
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [1841]-1994
- Collection/Fonds
- William Holmes fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 2 photographs (calotype) + 1 photograph : b&w + 6 photographs : col. + 5 p. textual records + 1 newspaper clipping
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of photographs pertaining to the William Holmes family, family grave markers in cemetery in Ireland along with original correspondence, land title certificates and a newspaper clipping. Fonds is arranged in series: 1) William Holmes family photographs series 2) William Holmes family…
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- William Holmes fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 2 photographs (calotype) + 1 photograph : b&w + 6 photographs : col. + 5 p. textual records + 1 newspaper clipping
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of photographs pertaining to the William Holmes family, family grave markers in cemetery in Ireland along with original correspondence, land title certificates and a newspaper clipping. Fonds is arranged in series: 1) William Holmes family photographs series 2) William Holmes family records series 3) Holmes family cemetery photographs series
- History
- William Holmes was the first non-Indigenous resident of Burnaby and was born in Kilkenny Ireland January 4, 1812. In 1833, at the age of 20 yrs, William Holmes immigrated to Canada from Ireland in with his parents, Joseph and Jane (McCullough) Holmes and ten other family members including two of his married brothers and their wives, two sisters with their husbands and two unmarried brothers. This was the first group of thirteen to leave Ireland and set up homesteads in Canada near the shores of Lake Huron. The family settled on land concessions in Huron County, Ontario about 14 km southeast of Goderich. The area in Huron County was first founded in 1832 by John and Samuel Holmes and the community was known as Holmes Hill before becoming Holmesville [ca. 1850]. In 1837, William Holmes is noted as owning Lot 23, Concession IX, Goderich Twp. Much of the village of Holmesville grew up around the five road concession near the border of his brother’s farm so William decided to open a store. The Holmesville post office opened on March 1, 1855 and William was appointed the first post master which he operated until May 1857. William met and married Mary Richardson in 1841 and the couple had three daughters: Jane (1844-1926) (married Charles Studdert Finlaison in New Westminster in 1863); Anne Maria (Annie) (1846-192?) (married John Gunther Jennings in New Westminster in 1865 and married Robert Johnson in New Westminster in 1877) and Elizabeth (1848-1934) (married Thomas Carrington of Lakes District in 1867). William’s wife, Mary (Richardson) Holmes died in Holmesville sometime between 1848 and 1853. Following the death of his first wife, Mary, William married Charlotte McCullough (McCulloch). The couple had four daughters; Arabella Charlotte Amelia (1854-1943) (married Arthur Robert Green in 1887); Laura (1855-1867); Arabella Henrietta (1857-1929) (married Clark Wesley Gillanders in 1880) and Mary (1863-1864). During the late 1850s, William became aware of the gold rush and opportunities opening up in British Columbia so left for the west coast in 1858 at the age of 46 yrs. In preparation for his move to the west coast of Canada, William obtained a letter of introduction from top government officials of Canada. William Holmes arrived in British Columbia in 1859. Upon arriving, he first worked running pack trains from Harrison Mills to Lillooet. After earning some money, he decided to re-invest it in land. His first pre-emption of land occurred on January 21, 1860 for 160 acres situated on North Road from the Military Camp to Burrard Inlet and distancing 25 chains south of the Brunette River and 20 chains south of the river with the land extending in a westerly direction. On March 17, 1860, Holmes received a Crown Grant for this and other land in the immediate area totalling 415 acres of which was known as Lot No. 1, Group 1, Rural Land, New Westminster District. The balance of land was situated on the east side of the Brunette River – Lot 13, with 344 2/3 acres of which he made an application to purchase on June 26, 1860, and a Crown Grant dated March 16, 1861 covering 86 acres. Holmes also pre-empted land in Port Moody and Pitt Meadows in 1860 and 1861. The name of “Brunette River” is officially attributed to William Holmes who referred to the river as “Brunette” due to it’s dark colour originating from the peat lands above the lake. Following his purchase of property, he sent for his wife Charlotte, their three daughters and her three step daughters (from William’s first marriage). Charlotte and the six children made the long trip to B.C. by ship and rail, crossing the Isthmus of Darien at Panama. They arrived in B.C. in October 1861 and moved into a one room log cabin built by William. The cabin stood on the North Road at the foot of Sapperton, on a bluff overlooking the Brunette River. Eventually the family moved to a larger dwelling but the original cabin remained on the site until the 1890s when it was burned after being used as a sick house. Mr. Holmes was instrumental in organizing the first Orange Lodge in British Columbia. He was a prominent Orangeman who joined the order in 1840 and was the first master in the order of the City of New Westminster when the Lodge No. 1150 was established there. Charlotte Holmes died in New Westminster in 1893 at the age of 70 years and William Holmes died in New Westminster September 11, 1907 at the age of 95 years.
- Responsibility
- Holmes, William
- Accession Code
- HV971.46
- BV997.50
- Date
- [1841]-1994
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Textual Record
- Related Material
- See also: Reference file: Persons - Holmes, William
- Notes
- Title based on contents of fonds