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In the Shadow by the Sea collection
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15208
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [1925-1953] (date of originals)
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 115 photographs (tiffs)
- Scope and Content
- Collection consists of copies of photographs from a selection of Burnaby residents that were obtained for the publication "In the Shadow by the Sea: Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Photographs include; Kapoor Sawmills Limited and the Siddoo family; the Irwin family; the Lauder family; t…
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Fonds
- Physical Description
- 115 photographs (tiffs)
- Scope and Content
- Collection consists of copies of photographs from a selection of Burnaby residents that were obtained for the publication "In the Shadow by the Sea: Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Photographs include; Kapoor Sawmills Limited and the Siddoo family; the Irwin family; the Lauder family; the Yasui family and the Laleune family. The selection of photographs document time living and working in the Barnet area of Burnaby.
- History
- The book, "In the Shadow by the Sea: Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village" was published in 2004 as a historical project under the direction of the Community Heritage Commission. Community Heritage Commission volunteer Harry Pride was the driving force behind this project contacting many former residents of Barnet to obtain photographs and stories for the book. The book documents the history of the settlement of Burnaby's Barnet district including memoirs and photographs of various people who worked and lived there.
- Accession Code
- BV019.32
- Date
- [1925-1953] (date of originals)
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
- Related Material
- See also, City of Burnaby Archives: Burnaby Historical Society fonds - "In the Shadow by the Sea subseries"
- Notes
- Title based on contents of collection
![Siddoo and Teja Families, [194-] (date of original), copied 2004 thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Images/2019/2019_0032_0030_001.jpg?width=280)
Siddoo and Teja Families
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15210
- 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 members of the Teja and Siddoo families at the Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Family members are identified from left to right, front row: Hardev Siddoo and Harjeet Teja Sangara; middle row: Diljeet Teja, Lakhbeer Siddoo, Gurdeb Siddoo, Baldev Siddoo and Gurmeet Teja; back row: Gurdial Sing…
- 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 members of the Teja and Siddoo families at the Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Family members are identified from left to right, front row: Hardev Siddoo and Harjeet Teja Sangara; middle row: Diljeet Teja, Lakhbeer Siddoo, Gurdeb Siddoo, Baldev Siddoo and Gurmeet Teja; back row: Gurdial Singh Teja, Tara Siddoo and Kashmir Siddoo.
- 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. Gurdial Singh Teja (1909-1972) and Harbans Kour Teja (1912-1972) were born in India and emigrated to British Columbia in the early 1930s. Gurdial and Harbans had three daughters, Diljeet, Gurmeet and Harjeet and one son, Hardev. Gurdial worked in sawmills on Vancouver Island until he moved the family to Barnet in 1938 to work at the Kapoor Sawmills Limited. The family lived on the site of the mill and the children attended Barnet school. While living at the mill, the Teja children took lessons in the teachings of Punjabi from Besant Kaur Siddoo. Following the fire in 1947, the Teja family moved to North Vancouver.
- Names
- Kapoor Sawmills Limited
- Siddoo, Lakhbeer
- Siddoo, Gurdeb
- Siddoo, Baldev
- Siddoo, Kashmir
- Siddoo, Tara
- Teja, Diljeet
- Teja, Gurdial Singh
- Siddoo, Hardev
- Sangara, Harjeet Teja
- Teja, Gurmeet
- Geographic Access
- Burrard Inlet
- Barnet Marine Park
- Accession Code
- BV019.32.30
- 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 70 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "..Siddoo and Teja families at Kapoor sawmills, c. 1940s. Back: Gurdial Teja, Tara Siddoo, Kashmir Siddoo. Middle: Diljeet Teja, Lakhbeer Siddoo, Gurdev Siddoo, Baldev Siddoo, Gurmeet Teja. Front: Hardev Teja, Harjeet Teja.
- Photograph was mistaken in identifiying "Hardev Siddoo" as "Hardev Teja" (proper identification provided by family member)
Images
![Siddoo and Teja Families, [194-] (date of original), copied 2004 thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Images/2019/2019_0032_0030_001.jpg)