"Canada" found 32 records | Heritage Burnaby

Barge at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15192

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: [1947] (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of a barge filled with sawdust docked outside of the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in the Burrard Inlet. A loading conveyor is visible in front of the barge. Sawdust chips were transported from the sawmill to pulp mills.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of a barge filled with sawdust docked outside of the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in the Burrard Inlet. A loading conveyor is visible in front of the barge. Sawdust chips were transported from the sawmill to pulp mills.

History: Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.

Subjects: Industries - Logging/lumber; Persons - South Asian Canadians

Names: Kapoor Sawmills Limited

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet; Barnet Marine Park

Accession Code: BV019.32.13

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Date: [1947] (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph; See page 62 in book "In the Shadow by the Sea - recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The conveyor that loaded the sawdust chips on to a barge for transport to pulp mills, c. 1940s"

Images

Barge at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd., [1947] (date of original), copied 2004 thumbnail

Boom man with logs

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15195

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: [194-] (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of an unidentified South Asian Sikh boom man standing on a log with a steel pointed pike pole directing logs within a log boom. The log boom was located in Burrard Inlet at the Kapoor Sawmills Limited.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of an unidentified South Asian Sikh boom man standing on a log with a steel pointed pike pole directing logs within a log boom. The log boom was located in Burrard Inlet at the Kapoor Sawmills Limited.

History: Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.

Subjects: Industries - Logging/lumber; Persons - South Asian Canadians; Occupations - Millworkers

Names: Kapoor Sawmills Limited

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet; Barnet Marine Park

Accession Code: BV019.32.16

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Date: [194-] (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph; See page 61 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "A boom man needed to be nimble on his feet to select and move logs to the log slip where they could be haulde up into the mill."

Images

Boom man with logs, [194-] (date of original), copied 2004 thumbnail

Booms and mill

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15187

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: [1950] (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of log boom pond of the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in Burrard Inlet.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of log boom pond of the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in Burrard Inlet.

History: Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.

Subjects: Persons - South Asian Canadians; Industries - Logging/lumber

Names: Kapoor Sawmills Limited

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet; Barnet Marine Park

Accession Code: BV019.32.8

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Date: [1950] (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph; See page 66 in book "In the Shadow by the Sea - recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The vast log boom pond of Kapoor Sawmill, c. 1950"

Images

Booms and mill, [1950] (date of original), copied 2004 thumbnail

Bringing Visibility to the Land: A Tsleil-Waututh Perspective on Community Building

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15665

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: 27 Apr. 2021

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Village Museum fonds

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 video recording (mp4) (47 min., 39 sec.) : digital, col., sd., stereo ; 29 fps

Scope and Content: Item consists of a video recording of a live Zoom webinar hosted by Burnaby Village Museum Curator, Jane Lemke. The webinar is titled "Bringing Visibility to the Land: A Tsleil-Waututh Perspective on Community Building" and is presented by Michelle George, Tsleil-Waututh Nation Cultural and Technic…

1 image 1 video

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Village Museum fonds

Series: Burnaby Neighbourhood Speaker Series series

Subseries: Neighbourhood Speaker Series - Spring 2021 subseries

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 video recording (mp4) (47 min., 39 sec.) : digital, col., sd., stereo ; 29 fps

Material Details: Presenters: Michelle George; Host: Jane Lemke; Date of Presentation: Tuesday, April 27, 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm; Total Number of tracks: 1; Total Length of all tracks: 47 min., 39 sec.; Recording Device: Zoom video communication platform; Recording Note: Film was edited from it's original recorded version (63 min., 29 sec.) to edited version (47 min., 39 sec.) for public viewing on Heritage Burnaby

Scope and Content: Item consists of a video recording of a live Zoom webinar hosted by Burnaby Village Museum Curator, Jane Lemke. The webinar is titled "Bringing Visibility to the Land: A Tsleil-Waututh Perspective on Community Building" and is presented by Michelle George, Tsleil-Waututh Nation Cultural and Technical Specialist. The Zoom webinar is the first in a series of six "Neighbourhood Speaker series" webinars exploring a range of topics shared by Indigenous speakers and knowledge keepers that were presented and made available to the public between April 27 and May 12, 2021. The live webinar was also made available on the Burnaby Village Museum's facebook page. Community members were invited to participate by bringing questions during the interactive online sessions. In this webinar, Michelle George explores the importance of bringing Tsleil-Waututh ways of knowing/knowledge of the land to Burnaby. She grounds her talk with her experience of working with the Burnaby Village Museum on producing the Indigenous History of Burnaby Resource Guide, an award-winning illustrated educational guide. Michelle also speaks to some of the devastating experiences that the Tsleil-Waututh Nation and Indigenous Peoples have suffered since Colonial Settlement and how her Nation has begun to grow in a changing environment. In segments of her talk, Michelle refers to a map titled "Tsleil-Waututh Nation Consultation Area". Following the presentation, Michelle George answers questions from the audience that are moderated by the host, Jane Lemke.

History: Michelle George is a member of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) and currently works as a Tsleil-Waututh Nation Cultural and Technical Specialist for the Treaty, Lands and Resources (TLR) Department. She participates in various projects for the TWN government and community, focusing on Tsleil-Waututh Governance and Community. The goals that she carries in her work are to make sure Tsleil-Waututh culture is included and considered in these Nation-level projects, as well as within the reviews done on external projects within the TWN Consultation area. She has been a member of both the Tsleil-Waututh Land Code Committee and Land Use Planning group. Michelle is also a First Nations Health Authority Traditional Knowledge Keeper, and a past-Elected Councilor for Tsleil-Waututh Nation. Michelle also provides guest lectures at Simon Fraser University, Langara College, and the BC Institute of Technology.

Creator: Burnaby Village Museum

Subjects: Indigenous peoples - British Columbia; Indigenous peoples - Canada - Government relations; Indigenous peoples - British Columbia - Languages; Indigenous peoples - Canada - , Treatment of; Indigenous peoples - British Columbia - First contact with Europeans

Names: Burnaby Village Museum; Burnaby Public Library; George, Michelle; Tsleil-Waututh Nation; George, Chief Daniel "Dan"

Responsibility: Lemke, Jane

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet

Accession Code: BV021.17.1

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: No known restrictions

Date: 27 Apr. 2021

Media Type: Moving Images

Notes: Title based on contents of video recording

Images

Video

Bringing Visibility to the Land: A Tsleil-Waututh Perspective on Community Building, 27 Apr. 2021

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Moving_Images/2021_0017_0001_002.mp4

Fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15202

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of a devasting fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited on January 14, 1947. The ground is covered with snow and smoke and flames are visible rising from the buildings.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of a devasting fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited on January 14, 1947. The ground is covered with snow and smoke and flames are visible rising from the buildings.

History: Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.

Subjects: Industries - Logging/lumber; Natural Phenomena - Fires; Persons - South Asian Canadians

Names: Kapoor Sawmills Limited

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet; Barnet Marine Park

Accession Code: BV019.32.23

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Date: 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph; Information from page 6 of The Province newspaper-Jan. 15, 1947 confirms that the fire occurred on Tuesday, January 14, 1947; See page 67 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The February, 1947 Kapoor Sawmill fire. Maintenance workers were trying to thaw out frozen bearings on a machine with a blowtorch and inadvertently started a fire in oily shavings. all the water pipes were frozen preventing the workers from dousing the intital small flames. Finally, but toolate to prevent the mill's destruction, water was pumped in from the inlet by the Burnaby Fire Department."

Images

Fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15206

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of a fire at Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of a fire at Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947.

History: Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.

Subjects: Industries - Logging/lumber; Natural Phenomena - Fires; Occupations - Fire Fighters; Persons - South Asian Canadians

Names: Kapoor Sawmills Limited; Burnaby Fire Department

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet; Barnet Marine Park

Accession Code: BV019.32.27

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Date: 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph; Information from page 6 of The Province newspaper-Jan. 15, 1947 confirms that the fire occurred on January 14, 1947; See page 67 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The February, 1947 Kapoor Sawmill fire. Maintenance workers were trying to thaw out frozen bearings on a machine with a blowtorch and inadvertently started a fire in oily shavings. all the water pipes were frozen preventing the workers from dousing the intital small flames. Finally, but too late to prevent the mill's destruction, water was pumped in from the inlet by the Burnaby Fire Department."

Images

Fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15207

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: 14 Jan.1947 (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of a fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. A group of bystanders are looking on while firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department fight the blaze.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of a fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. A group of bystanders are looking on while firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department fight the blaze.

History: Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.

Subjects: Industries - Logging/lumber; Natural Phenomena - Fires; Occupations - Fire Fighters; Persons - South Asian Canadians

Names: Kapoor Sawmills Limited; Burnaby Fire Department

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet; Barnet Marine Park

Accession Code: BV019.32.28

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Date: 14 Jan.1947 (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph; Information from page 6 of The Province newspaper-Jan. 15, 1947 confirms that the fire occurred on Tuesday January 14, 1947; See page 67 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The February, 1947 Kapoor Sawmill fire. Maintenance workers were trying to thaw out frozen bearings on a machine with a blowtorch and inadvertently started a fire in oily shavings. all the water pipes were frozen preventing the workers from dousing the intital small flames. Finally, but too late to prevent the mill's destruction, water was pumped in from the inlet by the Burnaby Fire Department."

Images

Fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15209

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: 14 Jan.1947 (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of a fire at the Kapoor Sawmills Limited on January 14, 1947. Mill buildings are engulfed in flames. There is snow on the ground.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of a fire at the Kapoor Sawmills Limited on January 14, 1947. Mill buildings are engulfed in flames. There is snow on the ground.

History: Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.

Subjects: Industries - Logging/lumber; Natural Phenomena - Fires; Persons - South Asian Canadians

Names: Kapoor Sawmills Limited; Burnaby Fire Department

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet; Barnet Marine Park

Accession Code: BV019.32.29

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Date: 14 Jan.1947 (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph; Information from page 6 of The Province newspaper-Jan. 15, 1947 confirms that the fire occurred on Tuesday January 14, 1947

Images

Fire fighters battling fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15203

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department battling the fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. Water was pumped from Burrard Inlet to fight the fire.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department battling the fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. Water was pumped from Burrard Inlet to fight the fire.

History: Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.

Subjects: Industries - Logging/lumber; Natural Phenomena - Fires; Occupations - Fire Fighters; Persons - South Asian Canadians

Names: Kapoor Sawmills Limited; Burnaby Fire Department

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet; Barnet Marine Park

Accession Code: BV019.32.24

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Date: 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph; Information from page 6 of The Province newspaper-Jan. 15, 1947 confirms that the fire occurred on January 14, 1947; See page 67 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The February, 1947 Kapoor Sawmill fire. Maintenance workers were trying to thaw out frozen bearings on a machine with a blowtorch and inadvertently started a fire in oily shavings. all the water pipes were frozen preventing the workers from dousing the intital small flames. Finally, but too late to prevent the mill's destruction, water was pumped in from the inlet by the Burnaby Fire Department."

Images

Fire fighters battling fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15204

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department battling the fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. Water was pumped from Burrard Inlet to fight the fire.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department battling the fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. Water was pumped from Burrard Inlet to fight the fire.

History: Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.

Subjects: Industries - Logging/lumber; Natural Phenomena - Fires; Occupations - Fire Fighters; Persons - South Asian Canadians

Names: Kapoor Sawmills Limited; Burnaby Fire Department

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet; Barnet Marine Park

Accession Code: BV019.32.25

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Date: 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph; Information from page 6 of The Province newspaper-Jan. 15, 1947 confirms that the fire occurred on January 14, 1947; See page 67 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The February, 1947 Kapoor Sawmill fire. Maintenance workers were trying to thaw out frozen bearings on a machine with a blowtorch and inadvertently started a fire in oily shavings. all the water pipes were frozen preventing the workers from dousing the intital small flames. Finally, but too late to prevent the mill's destruction, water was pumped in from the inlet by the Burnaby Fire Department."

Images

Fire fighters battling fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15205

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department battling the fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. Water was pumped from Burrard Inlet to fight the fire.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department battling the fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. Water was pumped from Burrard Inlet to fight the fire.

History: Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.

Subjects: Industries - Logging/lumber; Natural Phenomena - Fires; Occupations - Fire Fighters; Persons - South Asian Canadians

Names: Kapoor Sawmills Limited; Burnaby Fire Department

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet; Barnet Marine Park

Accession Code: BV019.32.26

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Date: 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph; Information from page 6 of The Province newspaper-Jan. 15, 1947 confirms that the fire occurred on January 14, 1947; See page 67 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The February, 1947 Kapoor Sawmill fire. Maintenance workers were trying to thaw out frozen bearings on a machine with a blowtorch and inadvertently started a fire in oily shavings. all the water pipes were frozen preventing the workers from dousing the intital small flames. Finally, but too late to prevent the mill's destruction, water was pumped in from the inlet by the Burnaby Fire Department."

Images

Fleet of Kapoor Sawmills trucks

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15190

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: [194-] (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of a fleet of trucks for Kapoor Sawmills Limited.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of a fleet of trucks for Kapoor Sawmills Limited.

History: Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.

Subjects: Industries - Logging/lumber; Transportation - Trucks; Persons - South Asian Canadians

Names: Kapoor Sawmills Limited

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet; Barnet Marine Park

Accession Code: BV019.32.11

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Date: [194-] (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph; See page 62 in book "In the Shadow by the Sea - recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The fleet of Kapoor Sawmill trucks, c. 1940s"

Images

Fleet of Kapoor Sawmills trucks, [194-] (date of original), copied 2004 thumbnail

Harding and Yasue Yasui

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15218

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: [1926] (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of Harding and Yasue "Margaret" Yasui seated on the steps of their home on the site of the Nichols Chemical Plant.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of Harding and Yasue "Margaret" Yasui seated on the steps of their home on the site of the Nichols Chemical Plant.

History: Sukegoro (Shoyen) Yasui (1884-1972) and his wife Tane (Hirata) Yasui (d.1987) emigrated from Japan to Canada in 1919. Sukegoro and Tane had two children Yasue Margaret (Matsumura) (1921-2019) and Harding Yasui (1923-2008). Sukegoro worked as a burner operator for the Nichols Chemical Company of Barnet B.C. The family lived on the site with five other families in a bunkhouse including the three Kokuryo brothers and their families and the Kojima family. The children attended Barnet School for three years before the family moved to Surrey in 1934 after purchasing farm land. Sukegoro and Tane Yasui grew strawberries and raised chickens on the farm and Sukegoro continued to work shift work at the Nichols plant. In 1942, the Yasui family were interned and sent to work on a sugar beet farm near Lethbridge, Alberta. While living in Picture Butte, Alberta,Yasue married Matsuo Matsumura. Following the war, the whole family moved to Kingston, Ontario where Harding completed his senior year of high school. A few years later, Harding moved to Montreal and his parents joined him.

Subjects: Persons - Japanese Canadians; Persons - Children

Names: Matsumura, Yasue Yasui "Margaret"; Yasui, Harding; Nichols Chemical Company Limited

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet

Accession Code: BV019.32.38

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: No known restrictions

Date: [1926] (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph; Date of photograph [1926] based on birth dates of Yasue "Margaret"- born 1921 and Harding Yasui- born July 1923; In the Shadow by the Sea spells Sukegoro's wife's name as "Lane" (Harata) Yasui, obits for Sukegoro Yasui and his wife use the spelling "Tane" Hirata Yasui.

Images

Harding and Yasue Yasui, [1926] (date of original), copied 2004 thumbnail

Harding and Yasue Yasui in the family car

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15214

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: [1926] (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of Harding Yasui and his sister Yasue "Margaret" Yasui (Matsumura) in the family's 1918 Dodge touring sedan. Harding is seated in the driver's seat and Yasue "Margaret" is seated in the back seat.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of Harding Yasui and his sister Yasue "Margaret" Yasui (Matsumura) in the family's 1918 Dodge touring sedan. Harding is seated in the driver's seat and Yasue "Margaret" is seated in the back seat.

History: Sukegoro (Shoyen) Yasui (1884-1972) and his wife Tane (Hirata) Yasui (d.1987) emigrated from Japan to Canada in 1919. Sukegoro and Tane had two children Yasue Margaret (Matsumura) (1921-2019) and Harding Yasui (1923-2008). Sukegoro worked as a burner operator for the Nichols Chemical Company of Barnet B.C. The family lived on the site with five other families in a bunkhouse including the three Kokuryo brothers and their families and the Kojima family. The children attended Barnet School for three years before the family moved to Surrey in 1934 after purchasing farm land. Sukegoro and Tane Yasui grew strawberries and raised chickens on the farm and Sukegoro continued to work shift work at the Nichols plant. In 1942, the Yasui family were interned and sent to work on a sugar beet farm near Lethbridge, Alberta. While living in Picture Butte, Alberta,Yasue married Matsuo Matsumura. Following the war, the whole family moved to Kingston, Ontario where Harding completed his senior year of high school. A few years later, Harding moved to Montreal and his parents joined him.

Subjects: Persons - Japanese Canadians; Transportation - Automobiles; Persons - Children

Names: Matsumura, Yasue Yasui "Margaret"; Yasui, Harding

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet

Accession Code: BV019.32.35

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: No known restrictions

Date: [1926] (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph; In the Shadow by the Sea spells Sukegoro's wife's name as "Lane" (Harata) Yasui, obits for Sukegoro Yasui and his wife use the spelling "Tane" Hirata Yasui

Images

Harding and Yasue Yasui in the family car

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15215

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: [1926] (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of Harding Yasui and his sister Yasue "Margaret" Yasui (Matsumura) in the family's 1918 Dodge touring sedan. Harding is in the driver's seat and his sister Yasue "Margaret" is beside him.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of Harding Yasui and his sister Yasue "Margaret" Yasui (Matsumura) in the family's 1918 Dodge touring sedan. Harding is in the driver's seat and his sister Yasue "Margaret" is beside him.

History: Sukegoro (Shoyen) Yasui (1884-1972) and his wife Tane (Hirata) Yasui (d.1987) emigrated from Japan to Canada in 1919. Sukegoro and Tane had two children Yasue Margaret (Matsumura) (1921-2019) and Harding Yasui (1923-2008). Sukegoro worked as a burner operator for the Nichols Chemical Company of Barnet B.C. The family lived on the site with five other families in a bunkhouse including the three Kokuryo brothers and their families and the Kojima family. The children attended Barnet School for three years before the family moved to Surrey in 1934 after purchasing farm land. Sukegoro and Tane Yasui grew strawberries and raised chickens on the farm and Sukegoro continued to work shift work at the Nichols plant. In 1942, the Yasui family were interned and sent to work on a sugar beet farm near Lethbridge, Alberta. While living in Picture Butte, Alberta,Yasue married Matsuo Matsumura. Following the war, the whole family moved to Kingston, Ontario where Harding completed his senior year of high school. A few years later, Harding moved to Montreal and his parents joined him.

Subjects: Persons - Japanese Canadians; Transportation - Automobiles; Persons - Children

Names: Matsumura, Yasue Yasui "Margaret"; Yasui, Harding

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet

Accession Code: BV019.32.36

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: No known restrictions

Date: [1926] (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph; See page 128 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "Yasue and Harding Yasui in their family's 1918 Dodge car, 1926"; In the Shadow by the Sea spells Sukegoro's wife's name as "Lane" (Harata) Yasui, obits for Sukegoro Yasui and his wife use the spelling "Tane" Hirata Yasui.

Images

Kapoor Sawmills Limited and living quarters

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15189

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: [1945] (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of the Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Company living quarters are visible on the ridge above.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of the Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Company living quarters are visible on the ridge above.

History: Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.

Subjects: Industries - Logging/lumber; Persons - South Asian Canadians

Names: Kapoor Sawmills Limited

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet; Barnet Marine Park

Accession Code: BV019.32.10

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Date: [1945] (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph

Images

Kapoor Sawmills Limited and living quarters, [1945] (date of original), copied 2004 thumbnail

Kapoor Sawmills Limited, cabins and log booms

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15188

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: [195-] (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Panorama photograph of the Kapoor Sawmills Limited, cabins and log booms in Burrard Inlet. Cabins are located on the lower shore.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Panorama photograph of the Kapoor Sawmills Limited, cabins and log booms in Burrard Inlet. Cabins are located on the lower shore.

History: Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.

Subjects: Industries - Logging/lumber; Persons - South Asian Canadians

Names: Kapoor Sawmills Limited

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet; Barnet Marine Park

Accession Code: BV019.32.9

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Date: [195-] (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph

Images

Kapoor Sawmills Limited, cabins and log booms, [195-] (date of original), copied 2004 thumbnail

Kapoor Sawmills on fire

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15211

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of the Kapoor sawmill on fire on January 14, 1947. Photograph is taken from the shore looking west up Burrard Inlet. There is snow covering the ground.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of the Kapoor sawmill on fire on January 14, 1947. Photograph is taken from the shore looking west up Burrard Inlet. There is snow covering the ground.

History: Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.

Subjects: Industries - Logging/lumber; Natural Phenomena - Fires; Natural Phenomena - Snow; Persons - South Asian Canadians

Names: Kapoor Sawmills Limited

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet; Barnet Marine Park

Accession Code: BV019.32.31

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Date: 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph

Images

Kapoor Sawmills on fire, 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004 thumbnail

Man at saw

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15200

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: [194-] (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of an unidentified man standing next to a saw in operation at Kapoor Sawmills Limited. The large saw blade is in motion cutting through large logs.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of an unidentified man standing next to a saw in operation at Kapoor Sawmills Limited. The large saw blade is in motion cutting through large logs.

History: Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.

Subjects: Industries - Logging/lumber; Occupations - Millworkers; Persons - South Asian Canadians

Names: Kapoor Sawmills Limited

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet; Barnet Marine Park

Accession Code: BV019.32.21

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Date: [194-] (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph

Images

Man at saw, [194-] (date of original), copied 2004 thumbnail

Men on green chain

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15201

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: [194-] (date of original), copied 2004

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of two unidentified men working on the green chain at Kapoor Sawmills Limited. One of the men is Sikh.

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection/Fonds: In the Shadow by the Sea collection

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi

Scope and Content: Photograph of two unidentified men working on the green chain at Kapoor Sawmills Limited. One of the men is Sikh.

History: Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.

Subjects: Industries - Logging/lumber; Occupations - Millworkers; Persons - South Asian Canadians

Names: Kapoor Sawmills Limited

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet; Barnet Marine Park

Accession Code: BV019.32.22

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Date: [194-] (date of original), copied 2004

Media Type: Photograph

Historic Neighbourhood: Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Notes: Title based on contents of photograph; See page 64 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "Men at work on the greeen chain, c. 1940s"

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Barge at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.

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Boom man with logs

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Booms and mill

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Bringing Visibility to the Land: A Tsleil-Waututh Perspective on Community Building

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Fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.

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Fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.

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Fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.

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Fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.

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Fire fighters battling fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.

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Fire fighters battling fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.

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Fire fighters battling fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.

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Fleet of Kapoor Sawmills trucks

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Harding and Yasue Yasui

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Harding and Yasue Yasui in the family car

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Harding and Yasue Yasui in the family car

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Kapoor Sawmills Limited and living quarters

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Kapoor Sawmills Limited, cabins and log booms

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Kapoor Sawmills on fire

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Man at saw

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Men on green chain

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