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Patterson family subseries
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription32
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1898-1952
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Subseries
- Physical Description
- Textual records and photographs
- Scope and Content
- Subseries consists of documents and photographs pertaining to the Patterson family.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1898-1952
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Patterson family subseries
- Physical Description
- Textual records and photographs
- Description Level
- Subseries
- Accession Number
- BHS1986-19
- BHS1986-20
- BHS1988-13
- BHS1995-16
- BHS1996-05
- BHS1996-11
- Scope and Content
- Subseries consists of documents and photographs pertaining to the Patterson family.
- History
- Frances Mabel "May" Webb was born in Cradley, England on December 5, 1872. She sailed from England to Victoria, BC with her parents, Joseph William Webb and Frances Jane Webb (nee Yapp) on the SS Lake Winnipeg in 1889. One of the few possessions that she brought with her was an old wood-rimmed bicycle which she found quite useful after her move to Burnaby. She would ride it all the way from Patterson’s Trail and Westminster Road (today’s Patterson Avenue and Kingsway) to the Woodward’s store in Vancouver where she would place her grocery order. She packed a pearl handled revolver with her in order to scare any bears she might see along her ride. In 1890, Frances married Dugald Campbell Patterson (b. 1860, d. 1931) in Victoria, BC. In 1894, the couple built a pioneer homestead and farm on five acres at what would become the north east section of Central Park. Dugald founded Vulcan Iron Works (later Dominion Bridge Company) in New Westminister in 1903, and the couple settled in the Central Park district. By 1904, the family moved to the Edmonds district where in 1909 she operated the post office that her husband founded. In 1910, they began construction of a new house, complete with tennis courts and a gazebo, on 14 acres purchased for $720. The house is now located at 7106 18th Avenue and is a dedicated heritage building. The couple had seven children: William H. "Bill", Jean, Frances Mabel Lili., Dugald C. Jr, Mary, Charles Bruce, and Alice. The Pattersons were community-minded citizens that served Burnaby through their involvement with local municipal affairs and politics. In 1909, Dugald became the first postmaster of Edmonds. He also served as a School Trustee from 1912-13 and was one of the first residents to lobby Burnaby City Council to preserve the local ravines as parks. They also helped build the Central Park Presbyterian Church, along with other pioneer families. The family name is remembered and honoured by the naming of Patterson Avenue and the Patterson SkyTrain Station located in the Metrotown area. Frances Mabel assisted her husband with an insurance and real estate company that he founded in Burnaby and New Westminster. This experience would prove invaluable, as she would later become an insurance agent for the Wawanesa Insurance Company (founded in 1896). Frances never owned an automobile, so she met her insurance clients all over Burnaby, New Westminster and Vancouver by using the Lower Mainland’s street car system. The insurance profession continued to provide her with a steady income long after her husband’s death. Frances Mabel died in New Westminster, BC on August 30, 1960. Frances Mabel Lili Patterson was born on June 9, 1905 and was the fifth child born to Dugald Campbell and Frances Mabel Patterson. She became the first PBX switchboard operator for the Municipality of Burnaby in the early 1920’s. PBX, or Private Branch Exchange, was the term used for an internal telephone system. Frances later became president of the Professional Women’s Association of New Westminster, and volunteered her time with the May Day celebrations in New Westminster. She was also a dedicated member of the Rebekah Lodge (the women’s division of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows). While in the lodge, she met her future husband, Walter Duke and they married on July 12, 1939. They couple moved to Wenatchee, Washington after getting married, and Frances relocated to Victoria after her husband died. Frances died on January 13, 1974. Doreen Nettie Patterson was born December 12, 1927, the youngest daughter of Charles Bruce Patterson and Elva Eleanore Patterson (nee Elliott). At age 23, Doreen became the first woman from BC to enlist in the new Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service and by the fall of 1951, she had become a Wren in the Royal Canadian Navy. She received her basic training at HMCS Cornwallis and became a radio intelligence operator for the wireless communications base at Naval Radio Station Coverdale near Moncton, New Brunswick. In 1953, she was chosen to serve a term at the naval base in Churchill, Manitoba. She was one of only eleven women to ever serve there. After her career in the navy, Doreen worked in the accounting division for Simpsons-Sears in Burnaby near her grandparent’s original family home at Patterson Avenue and Kingsway. Doreen married Gerard Reitsma on August 18, 1960. Doreen died on April 30, 2000.
- Media Type
- Textual Record
- Photograph
- Notes
- Title based on contents of subseries
- PC171, PC213, PC322, PC326, MSS024, MSS039
Trudi Tuomi subseries
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription126
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [between 1937 and 1945]-1996
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Subseries
- Physical Description
- 1 file of textual records and 5 photographs
- Scope and Content
- Subseries consists of photographs of the squatter community known as Crabtown that ran along the Burrard Inlet, accompanied by articles about growing up in that community.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [between 1937 and 1945]-1996
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Trudi Tuomi subseries
- Physical Description
- 1 file of textual records and 5 photographs
- Description Level
- Subseries
- Accession Number
- BHS1996-20
- Scope and Content
- Subseries consists of photographs of the squatter community known as Crabtown that ran along the Burrard Inlet, accompanied by articles about growing up in that community.
- History
- Gustav and Aune Rintanen came to Vancouver from a mixed farm on the prairies in 1936 with the hopes of finding employment. The couple had two children: nine year old Aili (later Topalian) and eight year old Trudi (later Tuomi), when they moved to a “squatters shack” at North Burnaby’s waterfront Crabtown community in 1937. They paid 50 dollars for their two-room cabin, which was built on a platform and supported by pilings. Though the squatters’ homes that ran along the Inlet were commonly referred to as shacks and Crabtown a slum, in reality they were very neatly kept homes in a community. Crabtown residents rallied together to build a water supply system and trails up the steep bluff with stairs and banisters so children could go to school safely. Before Gustav found a job, he “busied himself with fixing up the place”: building a new chimney, railing, wood shed, clothes line and sauna for his family. By 1940, he was working at the mill near Windermere pool (now New Brighton Park). Aune worked as a dishwasher and prep cook at Ye Olde English Fish and Chips in downtown Vancouver. In 1946, they sold the cabin for two hundred dollars and moved to a small house. All Crabtown squatters were eventually evicted in 1959.
- Media Type
- Textual Record
- Photograph
- Creator
- Tuomi, Trudi Rintanen
- Notes
- Title based on contents and creator of subseries
- PC337, MSS144