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Royal Bank exhibit series

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription17800
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Date
1974-1999
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum fonds
Description Level
Series
Physical Description
127 photographs + 4 cm of textual records
Scope and Content
Series consists of records and photographs pertaining to the history, acquistion, restoration, opening and exhibit of the Royal Bank building that was relocated from it's original location at Britannia Beach to Heritage Village (Burnaby Village Museum) in 1976. Fonds is arranged into the following…
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum fonds
Series
Royal Bank exhibit series
Description Level
Series
Physical Description
127 photographs + 4 cm of textual records
Scope and Content
Series consists of records and photographs pertaining to the history, acquistion, restoration, opening and exhibit of the Royal Bank building that was relocated from it's original location at Britannia Beach to Heritage Village (Burnaby Village Museum) in 1976. Fonds is arranged into the following subseries: 1) Royal Bank history and restoration records subseries 2) Royal Bank building photographs subseries 3) Royal Bank exhibit photographs subseries
History
The Royal Bank Main Branch Vancouver opened a sub branch operation at Britannia Beach in 1923. The bank provided twice monthly banking service at Britannia Beach and Town site (later named Mt. Sheer) until a permanent branch was established. The new branch building was completed and opened for business on December 1, 1950. The building was designed by bank manager, Mr. Fred Schwab in a simple and traditional design. Since there was no railway and Britannia was only accessible by boat, accommodations for the employees was incorporated into the design. This consisted of two rooms located at the rear of the branch building. The building was furnished with artifacts from the Royal Bank’s central warehouse and soon after with fixtures from the Royal Bank in Nelson including desks and a partition around the manager’s office which was cut down to fit. The bank had two old “Royal Bank of Canada” signs, one hung over the main entrance and the other located over the gable facing Howe Sound. A memorial plaque mounted on the wall inside the bank was one of 1,495 erected in memory of employees of the Royal Bank who died during World War I. The plaque was dedicated to Goldwin William Harron, who worked as a teller at the Royal Bank and was killed in action on July 5, 1916. Goldwin William Harron was born in Kitchener, Ontario in 1897 and later moved to Venn Saskatchewan and enlisted from the Venn Branch of the Royal Bank in October 1915. He first served with the 53rd Battalion and later joined the 28th Battalion. Fred Schwab served as bank manager between December 1, 1950 to August 1956 and Ken Moir served as bank manager from August 1956 until March 1958. When copper prices dropped in 1958, the Howe Sound Mining Co. closed down the mine and many miners and their families left the area. In 1964, Anaconda Mines purchased the Howe Sound Mining Co. and later reopened the mine. After 1958, the Britannia Beach branch continued to be operated as a sub-branch of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh branch serving Britannia Beach and vicinity until 1974. In 1975, the Royal Bank building was donated to Heritage Village by Anaconda Britannia Mines. On April 24, 1976, the building was transported by barge up Howe Sound to North Vancouver and then up the Fraser River to New Westminster where it was then loaded onto a truck and transported to the Heritage Village site. The building and much of the labour was donated along with $15,000 from the Royal Bank of Canada. The bank safe, oak panelling and some of it’s original furnishings came with the building and were incorporated into the building and the Heritage Village Museum collection. A new building foundation and basement were constructed for the Royal Bank building before it was placed at the south end of Hill Street inside Heritage Village. The basement interior finishing, including wiring and plumbing was undertaken and completed by the Burnaby Centennial Lions Club as a service club charitable project. The Lions Club raised funds for the project and in turn were also granted the use of the completed basement space as a meeting room which they referred to as the “Lion’s Den”. The Royal Bank building and exhibit officially opened on the site of Heritage Village Museum May 23, 1977. The ribbon cutting was done by former bank managers Fred Schwab and Ken Moir. Speakers at the opening ceremony included; Royal Bank representative, M.D. Pollock, President of the Century Park Museum Association, Ted Burnham with closing remarks by Burnaby Mayor, Tom Constable. During the opening ceremony, a presentation of keys for the “Lions Den” was made by Burnaby Centennial Lion’s Club President, Erchil Nordby to Century Park Museum Association President, Ted Burnham and Controller of Anaconda Britannia Mines, Anaconda Canada Ltd. J. MacDonald delivered a speech regarding the donation of the bank building.
Accession Code
BV020.5
BV022.1
Date
1974-1999
Media Type
Photograph
Textual Record
Architectural Drawing
Related Material
Century Park Museum Associaton fonds
Burnaby Village Museum fonds
Arrangement
The majority of the records were created and managed by Heritage Village Museum staff. Records follow the arrangement maintained by both Heritage Village Museum staff (1974-1989) and later, Burnaby Village Museum staff (1990-2020).
Notes
Title based on contents of series
Further accruals are expected
Some records within this collection are subject to FIPPA
Less detail