"Industries - Logging/lumber" found 55 records

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

Barnet Lumber mill

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15232

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Date: [192-] (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 Barnet Lumber Company mill in operation. C.P.R. railroad tracks are visible in the foreground and trees on the north shore of Burrard Inlet are visible in the distance. Plumes of smoke are rising from the mill chimneys.

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 Barnet Lumber Company mill in operation. C.P.R. railroad tracks are visible in the foreground and trees on the north shore of Burrard Inlet are visible in the distance. Plumes of smoke are rising from the mill chimneys.

History: The Barnet Lumber Company also known as the Barnet mill was in operation between 1925 and 1932. The mill was located on Burrard Inlet in the neighbourhood of Barnet and was one of the most successful local employers in Burnaby until the 1930s when the Great Depression resulted in a strike at the mill. The City of Burnaby eventually assumed control of the site including all of the homes when the company failed to pay it's taxes. The city then dismantled the mill and sold the property in two parts - the eastern section would become the Kapoor Sawmills Limited and the western portion, the McColl-Frontenac Oil Company.

Subjects: Industries - Logging/lumber; Industries - Forestry; Buildings - Industrial - Mills

Names: Barnet Lumber Company

Geographic Access: Burrard Inlet

Accession Code: BV019.32.51

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: No known restrictions

Date: [192-] (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

Barnet Lumber mill, [192-] (date of original), copied 2004 thumbnail

Big timber, big men

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumlibrary924

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Author: Lind, Carol J., 1944-

Publication Date: c1978

Call Number: 634.9 LIN

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection: Reference Collection

Material Type: Book

ISBN: 0888390203

Call Number: 634.9 LIN

Author: Lind, Carol J., 1944-

Place of Publication: Saanichton, B.C.

Publisher: Hancock House

Publication Date: c1978

Physical Description: 153 p. : ill. ; 29 cm.

Library Subject (LOC): Logging

Subjects: Industries; Industries - Logging/lumber

Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 153.) and index.

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

The Clark log carriage

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumlibrary2238

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Author: Clark Bros. Co.

Publication Date: 1900

Call Number: 680 CLA

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection: Special Collection

Material Type: Textual Record

Accession Code: HV977.29.23

Call Number: 680 CLA

Author: Clark Bros. Co.

Place of Publication: Belmont, N.Y.

Publisher: Clark Bros

Publication Date: 1900

Printer: The F. W. Roberts Co.

Physical Description: 16 p. : ill. : 23 cm.

Library Subject (LOC): Logging

Subjects: Industries; Industries - Logging/lumber

Clark portable band mill

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumlibrary4888

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Author: Clark Bros. Co.

Publication Date: 1920

Call Number: 671 CLA

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection: Special Collection

Material Type: Book

Accession Code: HV977.29.6

Call Number: 671 CLA

Author: Clark Bros. Co.

Place of Publication: Olean, N.Y.

Publisher: Clark Brothers Co.

Publication Date: 1920

Physical Description: 8 p. : ill. : 29 cm.

Library Subject (LOC): Lumber; Millwork (Woodwork); Milling machinery; Band saws; Catalogs

Subjects: Industries; Industries - Logging/lumber

Notes: "Bulletin No. 18 A" -- Cover; "More lumber -- From the same amount of logs." -- Cover; "Better prices -- The lumber is better sawn." -- Cover; "Less mfg. cost -- On account of cheap logging, small plant upkeep, and increased production per man." -- Cover

delegate's ribbon

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumartifact78608

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Accession Code: HV972.161.27

1 image

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Accession Code: HV972.161.27

Description: The delegate's ribbon is for the Pacific Logging Congress held in Vancouver, BC, October 6 to 9, 1920. The ribbon is blue-grey with orange text on top half, a circular logo in the middle and text on the bottom half

Marks/Labels: "Eleventh Session / PACIFIC LOGGING CONGRESS", orange printing on top half "OREGON WASH IDAHO MONT CAL BC 1909", orange printing around circle on bottom half "P L C", large orange printing in centre of circle located on bottom half "VANCOUVER, B.C. / OCT 6-7-8-9 / 1920", orange printing along bottom

Subjects: Industries - Logging/lumber; Industries; Industries - Forestry; Personal Symbols; Personal Symbols - Ribbons

Geographic Access: Vancouver

Images

double bit axe head

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumartifact45469

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Accession Code: BV003.28.3

2 images

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Accession Code: BV003.28.3

Description: This split, double bitted, utility axe head was found on Burnaby Mountain by Alfred Bingham in 1920. Mr Bingham bought property on the West side of the mountain in 1920. The axe head is double bladed. The head is very rusty and has been cracked across one side. The remains of the handle are still in the axe eye.

Object History: The axe head was found on the site of Simon Fraser University (SFU), an area logged in the early years of the 20th Century by Gilley Logging. The axe may have been broken by one of their loggers.

Reference: Note from Alfred Bingham, original in accession file. "THIS AXE HEAD WAS FOUND IN 1920 / BY ALFRED BINGHAM ON THE PRESENT SITE / OF THE SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY. IT PROBABLY / WAS USED BY AN EARLY LOGGER. WHO CUT DOWN / SOME OF THE GREAT TREES THAT GREW ON / BURNABY MOUNTAIN. HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO. MANY OF THESE TREES WERE OVER 800 YEARS OLD / Alfred Bingham " hand written in ink on one face of note. "I bought 5 acres of stump land on the / corner of Sherlock, Duthie, & Kitchener Streets in / 1920. & cleared 2 acres & bilt small home, (store?) / my wife and I have lived in Burnaby continually since then / AB" hand written in ink on the reverse face of the note.

Marks/Labels: "1920 FOUND ON BURNABY MTN SITE S.F.U.", written in yellow chalk on one face of the axe head

Subjects: Industries - Forestry; Woodworking Tools and Equipment; Industries - Logging/lumber

Names: Gilley Brothers Logging Company; Simon Fraser University; Bingham, Alfred "Alf"

Geographic Access: Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Images

Early loggers and the sawmill

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumlibrary863

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Author: Adams, Peter

Publication Date: c1981

Call Number: 634.9 ADA

Repository: Burnaby Village Museum

Collection: Reference Collection

Material Type: Book

ISBN: 0865050058; 9780865050051; 0865050066; 9780865050068

Call Number: 634.9 ADA

Author: Adams, Peter

Place of Publication: Toronto

Publisher: Crabtree Pub.

Publication Date: c1981

Series: Early settler life series

Physical Description: 64 p. : ill. ; 29 cm.

Library Subject (LOC): Lumbering; Logging; Sawmills; Juvenile literature

Subjects: Industries; Industries - Logging/lumber

Notes: Text, photographs, and etchings describe the early history of logging in North America.; Includes glossary.; Includes index.

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"