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Pioneer Days interviews September 22, 1971 - Track 3
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory268
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date Range
- 1918
- Length
- 0:08:35
- Summary
- This portion of the recording includes Lillian Frederica “Lillie” Lewis's memories of her marriage to fellow Burnaby resident, Bertie Blaine Porter. Lillie is being interviewed in front of an audience at Heritage Village (now Burnaby Village Museum). The audience briefly discusses tram fare.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Summary
- This portion of the recording includes Lillian Frederica “Lillie” Lewis's memories of her marriage to fellow Burnaby resident, Bertie Blaine Porter. Lillie is being interviewed in front of an audience at Heritage Village (now Burnaby Village Museum). The audience briefly discusses tram fare.
- Date Range
- 1918
- Length
- 0:08:35
- Names
- Porter, Bert
- Subjects
- Ceremonies - Weddings
- Interview Date
- September 22, 1971
- Scope and Content
- Recording is of interviews with Lillian May (Davies) Jones, Ada Evelyn (Lewis) Groves, Lillian Frederica (Lewis) Porter, and Elsie Wilson during the Pioneer Days celebration at Heritage Village (now Burnaby Village Museum) on September 22, 1971. Major themes discussed are: personal memories and occupations of interviewees family members.
- Biographical Notes
- Lillian May Davies was born June 28, 1891 to George and Rachel (Mills) Davies. She was one of four children. George Davies married Rachel Mills September 12, 1888 in Winnipeg and headed west to make their home. George’s brother Richard Davies had already bought property at the corner of 16th Street and 3rd Avenue (now 12th Avenue) when Rachel and George moved in and built a house next door. George Davies went to work for Gilley Bros. Logging Co. in Burnaby. Lillian May Davies married John Henry Jones on July 29, 1909 at the Methodist Church in Burnaby which had opened only a few weeks before (the Joneses were the first couple to be married there). Their reception was held in the Davies’ family garden. On June 3, 1910, Lillian and John’s first child, Arnold Jones was born. In 1919 they adopted their second child, John Sheldon Jones whose birth parents had died of influenza. John and Lillian built a home on the lot next to Lillian’s parents and lived there for forty-eight years. After her husband’s death in 1956, Lillian moved one lot over and remained living there for over twenty years. Lillian May (Davies) Jones died in Surrey on June 24, 1981 at the age of eighty-nine for over twenty years. Lillian May (Davies) Jones died in Surrey on June 24, 1981 at the age of eighty-nine. Ada Evelyn Lewis was born on September 11, 1899. She was one of nine Lewis children. Ada's father came to Victoria BC from San Francisco. He met his wife in Victoria and moved to New Westminster where he was a typesetter on the first edition of the Columbian newspaper. He continued to work for the Columbian until his retirement. Her family owned the East Burnaby Fruit Farm at 17th Avenue between 2nd and 4th Street where they harvested apples, plums and pears. Ada attended East Burnaby School in 1905 and remembers being a pupil of Miss Draper. Ada E. Lewis married and became Mrs. Ada Evelyn Groves. Lillian Frederica “Lillie” Lewis was born in 1896 to William Henry and Emma (Smith) Lewis at the family farm at 4th Street and 18th Avenue. The family grew to nine, eldest to youngest; Albert, Lizzie, Minnie, Walter, Ernest, Lillie and Evelyn. Lillie’s mother, Emma (Smith) had the distinction of being the first girl of European descent to be born at Fort Victoria. Lillie’s father, William Henry Lewis helped to print the very first edition of the Vancouver Province in 1898. Lillie attended Douglas Road School and remembers being a pupil of Ellen Lister. Lillian Frederica “Lillie” Lewis married Bertie Blaine Porter at Lulu Island on November 7, 1918. They lived in Vancouver for a short time before returning to Burnaby to raise their four children. For most of his working life Bert operated a steam roller for the municipality. Lillian Frederica (Lewis) Porter died May 18, 1988 at the age of ninety-two. Elsie Wilson was born August 16, 1898 to Annie and her second husband William Wilson. Annie’s first husband Samuel W Walmsley died December 20, 1895 at the age of thirty-five, leaving Annie a widow at twenty-seven with two young children Annie age four and Samuel age six. Annie Walmsley married her second husband William Wilson on April 17, 1897. Elsie attended West Burnaby public school (later Kingsway West elementary) and remembers picking raspberries at various Burnaby farms for seven seasons.
- Total Tracks
- 4
- Total Length
- 0:24:19
- Interviewee Name
- Jones, Lillian May Davies
- Wilson, Elsie
- Porter, Lillie Lewis
- Groves, Ada Evelyn Lewis
- Interview Location
- Burnaby Village Museum, Burnaby
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Oral history subseries
- Transcript Available
- None
- Media Type
- Sound Recording
- Web Notes
- Interview was digitized in 2010 allowing it to be accessible on Heritage Burnaby. The digitization project was initiated by the Community Heritage Commission with support from City of Burnaby Council and the BC History Digitization Program of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, University of British Columbia. It was recognized by the Heritage Society of BC with an award in 2012.
Audio Tracks
Track three of recording of Pioneer Days interviews
Track three of recording of Pioneer Days interviews
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Oral_Histories/_Unrestricted/MSS137-020/MSS137-020_Track_3.mp3Interview with Toki Miyashita by Rod Fowler February 27, 1990 - Track 10
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory525
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date Range
- 1989-1990
- Length
- 00:06:41
- Summary
- This portion of the interview is about Toki Miyashita’s description of how Toko Nuburi and his son [Shusei] worked to create the pole carvings in 1989. She also relates that seeing Toko, a man of the north of Japan, explains her own physical characteristics
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Summary
- This portion of the interview is about Toki Miyashita’s description of how Toko Nuburi and his son [Shusei] worked to create the pole carvings in 1989. She also relates that seeing Toko, a man of the north of Japan, explains her own physical characteristics
- Date Range
- 1989-1990
- Length
- 00:06:41
- Subjects
- Celebrations - Centennial
- Ceremonial Artifacts - Totem Poles
- Woodworking Tools and Equipment
- Geographic Access
- Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area
- Interviewer
- Fowler, Rod
- Interview Date
- February 27, 1990
- Scope and Content
- Recording is of an interview with Toki Miyashita, conducted by Rod Fowler. Toki Miyashita was one of eleven participants interviewed as part of the SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee's oral history series titled, "Voices of Burnaby". The interview is about Toki Miyashita’s family’s internment during WWII, her awakening interest in Japanese culture after the war, her subsequent interest in teaching others about Japanese crafts and arts, and becoming a helpful intermediary between Burnaby and visitors from Japan. The interview explores her interest in the Ainu of Japan and their possible link to the aboriginals of BC, her impressions of the Ainu carver Nuburi Toko, and her involvement in the events surrounding the creation of the sculpture “Playground of the Gods” for Burnaby Mountain. The interview also contains interesting details about the art of Japanese flower-arranging. To view “Narrow By” terms for each track expand this description and see “Notes”.
- Biographical Notes
- Toki Miyashita was born in Richmond B.C., ca. 1935, at the Nelson Brothers “fishery”, a second generation Canadian descended from the Oikawa family who settled on Don and Lion Islands (Oikawa-shima). In 1942 the Japanese Canadians in BC were forcibly moved from the coast and their belongings confiscated. Toki Miyashita, her parents, two brothers, and grandparents were first taken to Hastings Park where her father was separated from the family to work in road camps, and the rest of the family were interned in New Denver. Her resourceful grandmother moved the family to land outside the internment camp, growing a large garden from seeds brought with her. In 1946 the family moved to Kamloops and in 1958, after finishing high school, Toki Miyashita moved to Montreal to be with relatives and a small Japanese community. At this time she became interested in Japanese culture and took a Japanese language course at age 22. She learned about Japanese flower-arranging (Ikebana), paper folding (Origami), silk doll making (from a Russian Jew), and how to wear a kimono. She began demonstrating these arts in schools and to other groups, which she continued doing when she, her husband and two young children moved to Burnaby in 1969. Toki Miyashita has been called an unpaid “ambassador” of Japanese culture to the Lower Mainland. She has acted as liaison between Burnaby and her sister city Kushiro in Japan, which involved her in the creation of the Ainu sculpture “Playground of the Gods” on Burnaby Mountain for Burnaby’s Centennial. Toki Miyashita is a recognized Master in Ikebana Sogetsu, a school of flower-arranging, and has served on the board of the Vancouver Ikebana Association. She also served on Burnaby’s Family Court in the 1980s.
- Total Tracks
- 11
- Total Length
- 01:34:10
- Interviewee Name
- Miyashita, Toki
- Interviewer Bio
- Rod Fowler returned to university as a mature student in the 1980s after working about twenty years in the field of economics and computerization in business in England, Europe and Western Canada. He graduated with a BA from SFU in both History and Sociology in 1987, his MA degree in Geography in 1989, and his PhD in Cultural Geography at SFU. He taught courses in Geography, Sociology, History and Canadian Studies at several Lower Mainland colleges, before becoming a full time member of the Geography Department at Kwantlen University College.
- Collection/Fonds
- SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee fonds
- Transcript Available
- Transcript available
- Media Type
- Sound Recording
- Web Notes
- Interviews were digitized in 2015 allowing them to be accessible on Heritage Burnaby. The digitization project was initiated by the Community Heritage Commission with support from City of Burnaby Council.
Audio Tracks
Track ten of interview with Toki Miyashita
Track ten of interview with Toki Miyashita
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Oral_Histories/_Unrestricted/MSS187-017/MSS187-017_Track_10.mp3