"Wales" found 2 records | Heritage Burnaby

Scope and Content: Subseries consist of records pertaining to the Baldwin family home. Included in the fonds are newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and photographs of the house taken by Basil King.

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Date: 1964-2002

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Historical Society fonds

Series: Community Archives Collection series

Subseries: Baldwin family subseries

Physical Description: Textual records and photographs

Description Level: Subseries

Accession Number: BHS1998-03

Scope and Content: Subseries consist of records pertaining to the Baldwin family home. Included in the fonds are newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and photographs of the house taken by Basil King.

History: In 1959 Dr. William "Bill" Baldwin (d. 1987) and his wife Ruth (d. 2009) bought a cottage and approximately two and a half acres of land on the shores of Deer Lake for $16,000. The cottage and land had been owned by one of Dr. Baldwin’s colleagues at Burnaby Hospital. The couple lived in the cottage with their two young children John (b.1958) and Susan (b.1959) for a few years before deciding to renovate and expand their home. William was close friends with Arthur Erickson, the two having gone to Prince of Wales High School and McGill University together. Ruth decided that they needed a lakeshore home rather than a renovation on their cottage and Arthur Erickson would be the man to design it. Local builder Torstein Kravik completed the house in 1965. The home is considered an early example of Erickson’s design aesthetic, demonstrating his vision of "site, light and cadence." It is thought to be the best example of West Coast contemporary architecture in Burnaby. In 2001, at the age of seventy-eight, Ruth approached the City of Burnaby about buying the property,on the condition that the house be protected and that Ruth could continue to rent the home. The City purchased it and gave it Heritage designation. As of 2010, the Baldwin home and garden is on lease to The Land Conservancy of BC (TLC) to serve as a “guest house.” It is available for lease to local residents and visitors for overnight stays.

Media Type: Photograph; Textual Record

Creator: Baldwin, Ruth

Notes: Title based on contents of subseries; Photo catalogue 357, MSS145

Interview with Elsie Ansdell by Eric Damer September 18, 2012 - Track 3

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory289

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Date Range: 1939-2012

Length: 0:07:05

Summary: This portion of the recording pertains to Elsie (Brown-John) Ansdell's early years of marriage while also a member of the work force. She talks about her own children; their early years spent in South Burnaby.

1 image 1 audio

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Summary: This portion of the recording pertains to Elsie (Brown-John) Ansdell's early years of marriage while also a member of the work force. She talks about her own children; their early years spent in South Burnaby.

Date Range: 1939-2012

Photo Info: Elsie Brown-John (bottom, far right) with her class at Kitchener Street School, [1936]. Item no. 549-001.

Length: 0:07:05

Interviewer: Damer, Eric

Interview Date: September 18, 2012

Scope and Content: Recording is an interview with early Burnaby resident Elsie (Brown-John) Ansdell conducted by Burnaby Village Museum employee Eric Damer, September 18, 2012. Major themes discussed are: settling in Burnaby and the early years of the Brown-John family.

Biographical Notes: Elsie (Brown-John) Ansdell’s father, a trained carpenter and cabinet maker, Victor Brown-John came to Canada from Wales in 1910. He cleared three lots at Napier and Gilmore Streets and built a two-roomed house. In 1912, he was joined by his wife and two eldest sons, Victor and Archie. Twin boys, Frank and Roy, were born in 1914 in the Burnaby home and their fifth son, Clive, was born in 1915. From 1916 to 1919 Victor John-Brown left Burnaby to serve overseas. Elsie Brown-John (later Ansdell) was born in 1921. Her younger brother, Gwyn "Jerry" was born in 1923. In 1925 Victor Brown-John suffered a fatal accident while working as a longshoreman in Northern British Columbia. Elsie attended Kitchener Elementary and North Burnaby High School. She married during the Second World War and moved to South Burnaby to raise her family whilst continuing to work in various department stores both in Vancouver and Burnaby.

Total Tracks: 4

Total Length: 33:02

Interviewee Name: Ansdell, Elsie Brown-John

Interview Location: Burnaby Village Museum

Interviewer Bio: Eric Damer is a lifelong British Columbian born in Victoria, raised in Kamloops, and currently residing in Burnaby. After studying philosophy at the University of Victoria, he became interested in the educational forces that had shaped his own life. He completed master’s and doctoral degrees in educational studies at the University of British Columbia with a particular interest in the history of adult and higher education in the province. In 2012, Eric worked for the City of Burnaby as a field researcher and writer, conducting interviews for the City Archives and Museum Oral History Program.

Collection/Fonds: Community Heritage Commission Special Projects fonds

Series: Burna-Boom Oral History Project series

Transcript Available: None

Media Type: Sound Recording

Images

Elsie Brown-John (bottom, far right) with her class at Kitchener Street School, [1936]. Item no. 549-001. thumbnail

Audio Tracks

Track three of recording of interview with Elsie Ansdell

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Oral_Histories/_Unrestricted/MSS171-001/MSS171-001_Track_3.mp3

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Baldwin family subseries

Interview with Elsie Ansdell by Eric Damer September 18, 2012 - Track 3

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