Fraser Wilson subseries
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription58314
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [19--]-1969
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Subseries
- Physical Description
- Textual records nd graphic material
- Scope and Content
- Subseries consists of one photographic album of locations in Vancouver photographed in the 1880s, sixteen original illustrations by Fraser Wilson and three files of textual records, including the comic book "Bill Northwood".
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [19--]-1969
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Fraser Wilson subseries
- Physical Description
- Textual records nd graphic material
- Description Level
- Subseries
- Accession Number
- BHS1988-06
- BHS1985-23
- BHS1991-25
- Scope and Content
- Subseries consists of one photographic album of locations in Vancouver photographed in the 1880s, sixteen original illustrations by Fraser Wilson and three files of textual records, including the comic book "Bill Northwood".
- History
- Fraser Wilson was born in Vancouver on July 1, 1905 and brought up in the Grandview area, with fond memories of berry picking in the wilds of North Burnaby as a child. He left school in 1923 and, although interested in art, he didn’t try to make it a career until a double hernia forced him to stop working in factories and start apprenticing for commercial artists, later opening a sign shop of his own. In 1926 he worked in Australia as a set decoration painter, but had to return to Vancouver when his father fell ill in 1927. Wilson was a political cartoonist for the Vancouver Sun newspaper from 1937 to 1947. When he moved to Burnaby in April of 1943 he was also the artist and author of the cartoon-type serial “Bill Northwood - the personification of the modern Resource Manager” which served to teach the community why forests are important and should be preserved. He lost his job at the Vancouver Sun in 1947; he was the chairman of the Co-ordinating Committee of Newspaper Unions which was involved in the Vancouver Province strike and his publisher didn’t approve. Soon after, Bill White, then-president of the Marine Workers’ and Boilermakers Union, asked Wilson to decorate the Marine Workers’ Auditorium at 3337 West Pender, the Union's hall. The mural that Wilson painted depicts the BC labour movement to honour British Columbia’s workers. This mural launched a new career for Wilson; to this day, hospitals and libraries across British Columbia display his work in lobbies. In 1988, when the building housing the Marine Workers’ Auditorium was sold to a new owner, Fraser Wilson’s mural was removed from the wall, restored by Ferdinand Petrov of the Vancouver Centennial Committee, and installed permanently at the new Maritime Labour Centre on Victoria Drive in Vancouver. Throughout the 1960s, Wilson served as president of the Burnaby Historical Society. He ran for City Council as a Burnaby Citizens Association candidate in 1969 and 1970. Fraser Wilson died on 31 July 1992.
- Media Type
- Textual Record
- Photograph
- Creator
- Wilson, Fraser
- Notes
- PC492, MSS062
- Title based on contents of subseries
Fred Blake subseries
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription65815
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1942- [1997]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Subseries
- Physical Description
- Textual records
- Scope and Content
- Subseries consists of an essay written by Fred Blake entitled "Growing Up in North Burnaby," a hand-drawn map of Gilmore School, an RCAF pamphlet, an Emergency Rescue Training Pocket Manual and a Handbook for Auxiliary Firemen.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1942- [1997]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Fred Blake subseries
- Physical Description
- Textual records
- Description Level
- Subseries
- Accession Number
- BHS2003-15
- BHS2005-01
- Scope and Content
- Subseries consists of an essay written by Fred Blake entitled "Growing Up in North Burnaby," a hand-drawn map of Gilmore School, an RCAF pamphlet, an Emergency Rescue Training Pocket Manual and a Handbook for Auxiliary Firemen.
- History
- Thomas Blake and his wife Gertrude came to Burnaby in 1921 with their three children: Thomas "Tom", Susie and Frederick "Fred" (b. 1912). They lived at 4456 Pandora street, owning that lot and the adjoining 66 foot lot on the west. The Municipality cleared a trail, later putting down a one-plank sidewalk and bringing in a half-inch water line for the family. The Blake family lived in two wall tents for a few years while they cleared their land and built their house. In 1921 at the age of nine, Fred Blake attended Gilmore School where he learned about different woods and how to use hand tools. In 1927, he attended North Burnaby High School in a commercial course were he learned typing, shorthand, book-keeping a commercial law. Throughout his teenage years, Fred worked at Armour Photo Finishing, developing rolls of film and collecting and delivering the films and finished prints. Thomas Blake worked part-time for the Burnaby Advertiser and part-time for the Vancouver Sun to pay his way through university and become a Burnaby school teacher. In 1927, at the age of sixteen, Fred began his firefighting career as a volunteer, with the first major fire of his career taking place December 31, 1927 at the 4600 block of Albert Street. He continued as a volunteer until 1934 when he went to the logging camps as a steam fireman in the Queen Charlotte Islands and on the coast. In the early 1930s, Fred was a member of the Army of the Common Good, and with the falling crew cut second growth timber on Capitol Hill for firewood to be shared with other members. The Army also produced over 125 tons of vegetables from its own gardens to feed children and youth who were near starvation from lack of adequate relief funds from the municipality. The Army was in operations for ten years and during that time the members organised the Credit Union movement of British Columbia and drew up the Credit Union act thorough the Vancouver Co-operative Council. They also started Co-Op stores and the Co-Op Wholesale Society. During this time, while on Relief (now welfare) Fred also worked for the municipality on the two projects of the clearing of Confederation Park and the clearing of Lougheed Highway. Fred re-joined the Burnaby fire department on April 1, 1939, as a paid member at No. 1 Hall. He came up through the ranks to become Training Officer for the department in 1949 and full time training officer with the rank of District Chief in 1952. Fred was promoted to Assistant Chief in 1966. He retired from service March 1, 1972.
- Media Type
- Textual Record
- Creator
- Blake, Fredrick "Fred"
- Notes
- MSS150
- Title based on contents and creator of subseries