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Interview with Charles A. Purdon and May E. Purdon July 9, 1975 - Track 4
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory94
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date Range
- 1932-1943
- Length
- 0:07:55
- Summary
- This portion of the interview pertains to Charles and May Purdon's memories of the Burnaby government going into receivership. The Purdons discuss their neighbours' jobs and the employment situation at the time.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Summary
- This portion of the interview pertains to Charles and May Purdon's memories of the Burnaby government going into receivership. The Purdons discuss their neighbours' jobs and the employment situation at the time.
- Date Range
- 1932-1943
- Length
- 0:07:55
- Subjects
- Officials - Commissioners
- Geographic Access
- Edmonds Street
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Edmonds (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Interviewer
- Bradbury, Dr. Bettina
- Interview Date
- July 9, 1975
- Scope and Content
- Recording is a taped interview with Charles A. Purdon and May E. Purdon by SFU graduate student Bettina Bradbury July 9, 1975. Major themes discussed are: the Depression and Canadian politics. To view "Narrow By" terms for each track expand this description and see "Notes".
- Biographical Notes
- May Eliza was born in London, England in 1907. She came out to Regina with her family when she was eleven. Charles A. Purdon was born February 28, 1904 in London, England. He came to Canada in 1925 from China where he had been working as an accountant for the previous three years. Charles first came to Vancouver and joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) but within a week he was sent to Regina. This is where he met May. May and Charles got married in 1926 and Charles began working as an accountant for the Saskatchewan Wheat Growers, then for the Canadian Wool Growers before being laid off. In October of 1930, Charles and May left Regina for Vancouver Island. Charles drove himself out and May rode the train with her children; twin boys and a daughter, only one year apart. They settled at May’s parent’s second house in Coombs. The Purdons arrived in Burnaby in December of 1932 and rented a house on Edmonds Street. Charles was unable to do road work and instead found work through the Liberal Party and also with the Municipal engineers indoors on a number of projects. In 1938 the Purdons were able to get into a reverted house built by Ernie Winch at Maple Avenue (then Jubilee) and Nelson Avenue that had nine bedrooms. They paid ten dollars a month to the municipality for use of this property. May Eliza Purdon died April 6, 1983 at the age of seventy-six.
- Total Length
- 1:40:03
- Interviewee Name
- Purdon, Charles A.
- Purdon, May Eliza
- Interviewer Bio
- Bettina Bradbury teaches history and women's studies at York University. She is the author of Wife to Widow. Lives, Laws and Politics in Nineteenth-century Montreal. (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, June 2011), 520p; Working Families. Age, Gender and Daily Survival in Industrializing Montreal. (Toronto: Canadian Social History Series, McClelland and Stewart, 1993); (Republished Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1996) (3rd edition, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007). These interviews were undertaken after she completed her MA at Simon Fraser University in 1975 with the support of an LIP grant.
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Oral history subseries
- Media Type
- Sound Recording
- Web Notes
- Interview was digitized in 2010 allowing it to be accessible on Heritage Burnaby. The digitization project was initiated by the Community Heritage Commission with support from City of Burnaby Council and the BC History Digitization Program of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, University of British Columbia. It was recognized by the Heritage Society of BC with an award in 2012.
Audio Tracks
Track four of interview with Charles A. Purdon and May E. Purdon
Track four of interview with Charles A. Purdon and May E. Purdon
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Oral_Histories/_Unrestricted/100-13-19/100-13-19_Track_4.mp3
R.M. Edgar House
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/landmark543
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Description
- The R.M. Edgar House is a particularly large wood-frame Craftsman-inspired bungalow on the south shore of Deer Lake, built as a family estate home. It has a symmetrical front elevation, a deep wrap-around verandah, and a pyramidal roof with massive dormers on each face. Set on a large lot and isola…
- Associated Dates
- 1912
- Formal Recognition
- Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
- Other Names
- Robert McBeth & Maude Edgar Residence
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Other Names
- Robert McBeth & Maude Edgar Residence
- Geographic Access
- Deer Lake Drive
- Associated Dates
- 1912
- Formal Recognition
- Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
- Enactment Type
- Bylaw No. 9807
- Enactment Date
- 23/11/1992
- Description
- The R.M. Edgar House is a particularly large wood-frame Craftsman-inspired bungalow on the south shore of Deer Lake, built as a family estate home. It has a symmetrical front elevation, a deep wrap-around verandah, and a pyramidal roof with massive dormers on each face. Set on a large lot and isolated from its neighbours, the house is surrounded by a manicured naturalistic landscape.
- Heritage Value
- The R.M. Edgar House represents an alternative reading of the aesthetic and lifestyle values of those who settled on these lakeside estates in the early twentieth century. By comparison with the grand mansions, set in formally landscaped gardens, on the north shore of Deer Lake, the R.M. Edgar House demonstrates a reverence for the natural, wooded environs, and a deliberate orientation near a stream running through the property. The house is important for its connection with Robert McBeth Edgar, not only a successful and wealthy businessman (partner in the real estate firm Hampton and Edgar) but also an active supporter of the Liberal party, Dominion Returning Officer for Vancouver, and Burnaby Councillor for six years; his contribution to Burnaby and British Columbia was far-reaching and significant. The house illustrates the desire for a simpler lifestyle and retreat into nature of those who settled on the south shore of Deer Lake and also this community's attraction for those of an artistic temperament. Maude Edgar was a poet and broadcaster; and the Edgar's daughter - Ann, known as 'Bebe' - was an accomplished sculptress. This was the first house built on the south shore of Deer Lake.
- Defining Elements
- Key elements that define the heritage character of the R.M. Edgar House include its: - overall bungalow massing and its location facing Deer Lake and backing onto a wilderness of Douglas Fir and moss-covered rocks, with a stream running through the site - remnants of the original landscaping such as the box hedge, rockeries and granite retaining walls - the surrounding naturalistic landscape augmented by ornamental cedars, maples, and rhododendrons - square floor plan with a deep enclosed verandah under a prominent broad hipped roof - symmetrical gable dormers - internal brick chimneys, including one at the centre peak of the roof - Craftsman-influenced exterior with such characteristics as: woodwork brackets on the square verandah pillars; deep overhanging roof eaves; and exposed rafter tails - multiple-assembly 12-paned casement wooden-sash windows in the dormers with 6-paned transoms - rustic Arts and Crafts interior with such items as Douglas fir paneling and large granite fireplace in the Drawing Room
- Locality
- Deer Lake Park
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Burnaby Lake (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Morley-Buckingham Area
- Function
- Primary Current--Single Dwelling
- Primary Historic--Estate
- Community
- Burnaby
- Cadastral Identifier
- P.I.D. No. 001-178-024 and P.I.D. No. 001-178-016 Legal Description: Parcel 'D' (Explanatory Plan 4272) District Lot 85, Group 1, New Westminster District and Parcel 'W' (Explanatory Plan 255) District Lot 85, Group 1, New Westminster District
- Boundaries
- The R.M. Edgar House is comprised of a single municipally-owned property located at 6450 Deer Lake Drive, Burnaby.
- Area
- 11,661.30
- Contributing Resource
- Building
- Landscape Feature
- Ownership
- Public (local)
- Documentation
- Heritage Site Files: PC77000 20. City of Burnaby Planning and Building Department, 4949 Canada Way, Burnaby, B.C., V5G 1M2
- Street Address
- 6450 Deer Lake Drive
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