Vera Jackson Pel collection
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription97233
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1949-1973
- Collection/Fonds
- Vera Jackson Pel collection
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 1 cm of textual records.
- Scope and Content
- Collection consists of papers collected by Vera Jackson Pel related to her time as a clerk at the Royal Bank in Burnaby.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1949-1973
- Collection/Fonds
- Vera Jackson Pel collection
- Physical Description
- 1 cm of textual records.
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Record No.
- MSS069
- Accession Number
- 2010-09
- Scope and Content
- Collection consists of papers collected by Vera Jackson Pel related to her time as a clerk at the Royal Bank in Burnaby.
- History
- Vera Jackson’s parents Harold Joseph Jackson and Florence Colocott married in 1925 and bought a brown, wooden, shingled house at 3507 Booth Avenue, Burnaby, in 1926. Vera Rose Jackson was born at Mrs. Scott’s private hospital on Kingsway near Central Park on December 4, 1927. Her brother Ronald Harold Jackson was born on June 21, 1929. In 1934, the family moved to 2706 Cassie Avenue (later renumbered 6457). Vera attended Miss Edith Hall’s Kindergarten on Grange Street until she was old enough to enter Kingsway West as a grade one student. The family were members of the West Burnaby United Church and Vera and her brother Ron both went to Sunday school in the old Church basement. Vera attended Burnaby South High School where she met her future husband, Fred Pel. They married on April 13, 1951, and had four sons, David, Fred (Elsie), Jon (Nancy), Al (Steffany), and an adopted daughter, Angela. Vera and Fred faithfully attended First Christian Reformed Church. Vera was active in the church, leading Bible studies, as well as teaching ESL. Her students appreciated her and stayed in touch for many years. She also took on the role of archivist to help document the church's history. In 1944, Vera started a job at the Royal Bank in Burnaby. Besides the manager and the accountant, the entire staff at the branch were young women fresh out of school, as the men had left to serve during World War II. She worked at the Royal Bank from 1944 until 1952. During her time as clerk, she witnessed two armed robberies, one in May of 1946 and the other in January of 1948. Vera passed away on July 16, 2023.
- Media Type
- Textual Record
- Creator
- Pel, Vera Rose Jackson
- Notes
- Title based on contents of collection
- MSS069
Walker family fonds
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription78708
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1948-1957 (date of originals); 2013
- Collection/Fonds
- Walker family fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 38 photographs (7 jpeg : col., 300 dpi ; 7 jpeg : col., 96 dpi ; 10 jpeg : b&w, 300 dpi ; 12 jpeg : b&w, 96 dpi). 1 drawing (jpeg) : col., 300 dpi ; 2 maps (jpeg) : col. ; 96 dpi ; 397.67 KB of textual records.
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of 41 jpegs of original photographs (some include annotation), maps, and newspaper clippings pertaining to Scotty Walker, his family and the Inter-City Driving Range that he created.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1948-1957 (date of originals); 2013
- Collection/Fonds
- Walker family fonds
- Physical Description
- 38 photographs (7 jpeg : col., 300 dpi ; 7 jpeg : col., 96 dpi ; 10 jpeg : b&w, 300 dpi ; 12 jpeg : b&w, 96 dpi). 1 drawing (jpeg) : col., 300 dpi ; 2 maps (jpeg) : col. ; 96 dpi ; 397.67 KB of textual records.
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Accession Number
- 2013-15
- Scope and Content
- Fonds consists of 41 jpegs of original photographs (some include annotation), maps, and newspaper clippings pertaining to Scotty Walker, his family and the Inter-City Driving Range that he created.
- History
- Scotty Walker purchased the property at 974 12th Avenue in 1948 under the Veteran’s Land Act (VLA) grant from the government. He was in the Air Force during the Second World War. Previous to the purchase he ran a trucking business in New Westminster and lived at 1421 Nanaimo Street. The family consisted of Scotty, his wife Elizabeth, and three children, Alex, Barbara, and James. The land was overgrown with trees, scrub bushes, and a general swampy area. Scotty had the plan to build a Golf Driving Range, but it would take a lot of work. He owned three acres and leased three acres from the Lady of Mercy Church. Then they started working the land. The trees and scrub bush had to be removed and it was all done by hand. As the weather warmed and the swamp dried somewhat, Scotty got the idea to do selective burning. After many times doing this in small sections, the wind changed and the fire was headed for some houses on Tenth Avenue. The fire departments from New Westminster and Burnaby showed up and he was severely punished. It created other problems too. The land was swampy and when it dried, it was a peat bog, so the fire would burn down and turn up all over the place. That winter when the rains came, the land flooded and froze. The kids in the neighbourhood took advantage of the open spaces and brought out their skates. They had a great time. Some pigs were purchased with the idea that they could help dig up the roots and could be butchered later. Well they cleared the roots, but the kids all said they would not eat the pigs. The pigs were sold as they had become like pets. The land was then bulldozed into a berm on the 12th Street side of the land and a fence was built on top of the hill. The Walkers still had to clear the roots and branches that accumulated on the berm. The big problem was snakes. There were pits of water snakes that had been moved with the bulldozing. The family is not sure what happened with the snakes but eventually they moved. The area that would have been to the left of the property was still a swamp, so maybe they went there. The Walkers built drainage ditches through the land and let it drain to the natural slope toward Eighth Street. Construction on the Golf Range started and the grass was seeded. The “Inter-City Golf Range” opened on June 16, 1951. It had been a long hard road for the whole family but it worked out quite well. There was no automatic machine picking up balls, it was all done by hand and washed in a washing machine. Eventually they got Shag Bags that helped some but it was a huge job. The Golf Range ran for a few years and then Burnaby had a very sunny summer and the sun was in the patrons' eyes. So Scotty decided to move the buildings to the 12th Avenue part of the land. The club house and coffee shop was moved. The family took the building apart board by board and reconstructed it at the other end of the land. This worked well. All this had been accomplished on a shoestring budget as there was no big money behind anything. The Walkers cut the grass with gas hand mowers, washed the balls with the washing machine, and worked very long hours. Then the Catholic Church decided not to renew the lease. The family had worked so hard and now Scotty’s dream was dashed. It was a devastating time. Eventually the property was sold to the Christian Brothers and the buildings to Gus Brown in Richmond. The church bought the land for $25,000, in 1957. The end of the dream was very hard on everyone. Eventually life went on. It is sad that Scotty was just so far ahead of his time. He was a small man about 5’6" and about 140 pounds but had dreams as big as anyone and worked like three men to accomplish his dream. The cleared land was eventually developed into Saint Thomas Moore School. Biography provided by B. Kromm
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Creator
- Walker family
- Notes
- Title based on contents of fonds
- Photo catalogue 557