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Morris family subseries

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription90
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date
May 1942
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Historical Society fonds
Description Level
Subseries
Physical Description
3 photographs
Scope and Content
Subseries consists of photographs of the Dr. Morris family and home at Marine Drive and Boundary Road.
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date
May 1942
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Historical Society fonds
Series
Community Archives Collection series
Subseries
Morris family subseries
Physical Description
3 photographs
Description Level
Subseries
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Accession Number
BHS1992-08
Scope and Content
Subseries consists of photographs of the Dr. Morris family and home at Marine Drive and Boundary Road.
History
Wesley Gardiner Morris was born in Summerside Prince Edward Island in 1884; his wife Laura Maude Weegar was born in Maxville, Ontario in 1886. Wesley graduated from McGill University in 1914, becoming a doctor, and received a gold medal in Chemistry. The couple was married in Maxville, Ontario in 1914 and lived in their first home in Chauvin, Alberta before moving to Burnaby in 1916. They lived on Imperial Street until their new home at 4265 Trafalgar Street (now 4241 Maywood Street) was built. Dr. Wesley Morris practiced medicine at his office at the corner of Kingsway and Sussex in part of Miss George’s Drugstore. During and following the Depression years, Dr. Morris was often paid in kind by his patients or they would pay off their bills by assisting with jobs around the family home. The couple lived in the home on Trafalgar Street raising their six daughters: Margaret, Betty, Dorothy, Jessie, Gertrude and Muriel until the Depression when they were forced to sell their home and move to ‘the ranch’ on Marine Drive. The ranch covered 13 acres of property on either side of Marine Drive from Boundary Road east including a ravine with a creek. Dr. Morris was known for his skill in setting fractures and due to his expertise he was called to an accident in the 1940s at the McMillan Bloedel mill on the Fraser River. Except for Gertrude (Ramage) all of their daughters graduated from Burnaby South High School. Following graduation from high school, Margaret (Sheldon) completed a business course, while both Betty (Purrot) and Dorothy (Johston) became nurses. Jessie (Hunter) joined the R.C.A.F. and after learning Morse code was posted to communications. Gertrude taught piano lessons and later received her real estate license. All of the girls were married in the 1950s and moved away from the property on Marine Drive with the exception of Muriel who was still in high school. Laura suddenly took ill in 1945 and died. Soon after her passing, Wesley purchased a lot at 4648 Marine Drive (DL 175) and built a small two bedroom home for himself and daughter Muriel. The old family home was rented, then sold, and later demolished around 1980. Dr. Wesley Morris died in 1960 and was buried alongside his wife Laura at Ocean View Memorial Cemetery in Burnaby. After her father died, Muriel continued to live in the small house later marrying Tom Di Guistini who settled there with her. Tom died in 1981 just two years before Muriel’s retirement as the secretary of Magee Secondary School in Vancouver. Soon after retirement, Muriel sold their home on Marine Drive and moved to a condominium near Central Park.
Media Type
Textual Record
Photograph
Creator
Morris, Dr. Wesley Gardier
Morris, Laura Maude Weegar
Notes
Title based on contents of subseries
PC278
Less detail