Conference Between Officials of the Greater Vancouver Water Board, Municipality of Burnaby, and Municipality of Richmond and City of New Westminster re Water Power
North Burnaby’s first park began its life as the Capitol Hill subdivision during the land boom of 1909. In 1914 the boom went bust and many owners of unoccupied lots failed to pay the property taxes owing and the land became the property of the Municipality of Burnaby. By 1922, Burnaby had so many lots that it decided to reserve land for future park use and dedicated a narrow 26 acre site adjacent to the ravine. During the 1920s, the Heights area boomed again and many new residents wanted a playground for their children. A local women’s group took on the cause and enlisted local residents and businesses to raise the necessary funds. On June 25, 1927 crowds gathered to officially dedicate “Confederation Park” named in honour of the Diamond Jubilee of Canada’s Confederation (1867-1927).
The Mortimer-Lamb House is a one and one half-storey, Arts and Crafts-style residence with a steeply pitched, side-gabled roof. The original cottage form has been enlarged with a later addition on the west side of the house. Located next to the Burnaby Lake Regional Park Wildlife Rescue Care Centre…
The Mortimer-Lamb House is a one and one half-storey, Arts and Crafts-style residence with a steeply pitched, side-gabled roof. The original cottage form has been enlarged with a later addition on the west side of the house. Located next to the Burnaby Lake Regional Park Wildlife Rescue Care Centre, the house has picturesque views of Burnaby Lake.
Heritage Value
Built circa 1922, the Mortimer-Lamb House is valued for its association with first owners, Harold Mortimer-Lamb (1872-1970), and his wife, Katherine Mary Mortimer-Lamb (1873-1939). Born in Leatherhead, Surrey, England, Harold Mortimer-Lamb immigrated to Canada in 1889. Seven years later in Vancouver, he married Katherine Mary Lindsay, a native of Winnipeg. Mortimer-Lamb was a key figure in the B.C. mining industry, serving as Secretary of the Mining Association of B.C. between 1900 and 1945, and also as the Secretary of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. In addition to his professional life, Mortimer-Lamb was a pioneer art photographer and was among Canada's leading art critics, and this house served as a central gathering place for renowned Canadian artists of the day. Mortimer-Lamb’s daughter, Molly Lamb Bobak (born 1922), became a renowned watercolourist, and was the only woman ever hired as an official Canadian war artist.
The Mortimer-Lamb House is a significant example of the work of noted architect, Samuel Maclure (1860-1929) and his partner, Ross Lort (1889-1969). Maclure, who was a close friend of the Mortimer-Lamb family, was British Columbia's leading residential architect, and was renowned for his high quality designs for prominent citizens in both Vancouver and Victoria. Maclure was a leading exponent of the Art and Crafts design movement in B.C., and established a sophisticated local variation of residential architecture. The Mortimer-Lamb House was designed at the time when Maclure was in partnership with Ross Lort. In 1907, Lort began working for Maclure's firm as a draftsman, and by 1920 was in charge of Maclure's Vancouver office. Lort's architectural career spanned some sixty-years, and he designed some of the province's most familiar houses, apartments, institutions and places of worship.
The Mortimer-Lamb House is also a significant local example of the Arts and Crafts style, and incorporates elements such as board-and-batten siding on the ground floor, shingled gables and leaded casement windows. It is a testament to the domestic architecture built outside of established suburbs during the post-First World War era, typically modest in scale and representative of middle-class residential ideals.
Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the Mortimer-Lamb House include its:
- treed setting with views of Burnaby Lake
- residential form, scale and massing as expressed by its one and one-half storey height, rectangular plan and steeply pitched side-gabled roof
- wood-frame construction
- Arts and Crafts elements such as board-and-batten siding on the ground floor, cedar shingles in the gables and open soffits
- original straight-leaded casement windows in single and multiple-assembly
- internal red-brick chimney with corbelled cap
Photograph of Lord Willingdon and Civic Officials standing on the steps of Burnaby Municipal Hall. A sign above the door reads, "Burnaby / Lord Willingdon."
Photograph of Lord Willingdon and Civic Officials standing on the steps of Burnaby Municipal Hall. A sign above the door reads, "Burnaby / Lord Willingdon."
Photograph of Reeve Alexander K. McLean. Alexander McLean served as the Reeve of Burnaby from 1921-1926 and again in 1928, and was a Council member in 1920.
Photograph of Reeve Alexander K. McLean. Alexander McLean served as the Reeve of Burnaby from 1921-1926 and again in 1928, and was a Council member in 1920.
1 photograph : sepia ; 15 x 10 cm , mounted to grey card 16 x 11 cm
Scope and Content
Photograph of Ernest E. (Ernie) Winch in a three-piece suit. He was a long-time Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Member of Parliament and Member of the Legislative Assembly for Burnaby.
1 photograph : sepia ; 15 x 10 cm , mounted to grey card 16 x 11 cm
Material Details
Photograph is mounted to grey card with grey photo corners
Description Level
Item
Record No.
514-018
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Reproduction Restriction
No known restrictions
Accession Number
2010-06
Scope and Content
Photograph of Ernest E. (Ernie) Winch in a three-piece suit. He was a long-time Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Member of Parliament and Member of the Legislative Assembly for Burnaby.
Recording is a taped interview with Charles B. Brown by SFU (Simon Fraser University) graduate student Bettina Bradbury May 21, 1975. Major themes discussed are: the Depression, the Commissioner and municipal politics in general. To view "Narrow By" terms for each track expand this description and see "Notes".
Biographical Notes
Charles Boyer Brown was born on June 16, 1894 in the town of Ongar, Essex, England. He came to Canada as a young child with his parents Jean and Percy Brown. In 1903, the family settled in New Westminster and by 1911, Charles had joined the Burnaby municipal staff working as an office boy.
The outbreak of World War One interrupted Charlie’s career as he immediately enlisted with the Royal Engineers and served from 1915 to 1918. While overseas he met and married Lillian Bernice Bryan and they returned to Canada together after the war and Charles resumed his position in municipal administration.
For a short time, Charles was appointed as the Municipal Assessor, but in 1927 he became the Assistant Municipal Clerk. In 1933, Charles was made Municipal Clerk, a post he held until he retired in 1959. Charles has also been credited with playing a significant role in administering the city while it was under the rule of the provincial commission from 1932-1942.
Recognized for his expertise in civic affairs, Charles was appointed by the provincial government to a committee formed to review and revise the Municipal Act. He was also a member of the BC Municipal Officers’ Association from its formation in 1936 and was made its chair in 1953. While these civic duties occupied much of his time, Charles still managed to participate as a volunteer on many sport and youth clubs in the city and served as the secretary for the Kingsway Rotary Club.
In recognition of his outstanding contributions to Burnaby, both paid and volunteer, Charles was presented with the Gold Key award in 1959, the same year he finally retired from municipal administration. During Charles’ lifetime, many changes took place in the Municipality that he loved. He saw Burnaby grow in population and progress and he could be proud of the significant part he played in that growth and development.
Charles Brown died on August 11, 1981.
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.
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.
Photograph of the official opening of the newly paved Hastings-Barnet Road which opened on Saturday December 10, 1927. In the foreground the Provincial Minister of Public Works Dr. W.H. Sutherland is opening a wooden gate, with a large crowd gathered around. The Barnet Lumber Company Ltd. building …
Photograph of the official opening of the newly paved Hastings-Barnet Road which opened on Saturday December 10, 1927. In the foreground the Provincial Minister of Public Works Dr. W.H. Sutherland is opening a wooden gate, with a large crowd gathered around. The Barnet Lumber Company Ltd. building on Hastings Street is in the background.
Photograph of Peter Byrne standing on train tracks next to a train. He is wearing an overcoat and bowler hat and is holding a large jug in each of his hands. Peter Byrne was Reeve of Burnaby from 1906 to 1910. Earlier, he also served as a member of Council from 1894 to 1895 and from 1898 to 1906.
Photograph of Peter Byrne standing on train tracks next to a train. He is wearing an overcoat and bowler hat and is holding a large jug in each of his hands. Peter Byrne was Reeve of Burnaby from 1906 to 1910. Earlier, he also served as a member of Council from 1894 to 1895 and from 1898 to 1906.
1 photograph : b&w ; 21.3 x 16.1 cm mounted on cardboard 29.0 x 23.9 cm
Scope and Content
Photograph of Canadian Prime Minister, the Honourable Arthur Meighan, taken on the front steps of the 1912 Burnaby Municipal Hall at Edmonds. The Prime Minister stands on the far right, and his aide-de-camp is on the left. Burnaby Reeve Thomas F. Sanderson stands between them and clerk A.G. Moore…
1 photograph : b&w ; 21.3 x 16.1 cm mounted on cardboard 29.0 x 23.9 cm
Scope and Content
Photograph of Canadian Prime Minister, the Honourable Arthur Meighan, taken on the front steps of the 1912 Burnaby Municipal Hall at Edmonds. The Prime Minister stands on the far right, and his aide-de-camp is on the left. Burnaby Reeve Thomas F. Sanderson stands between them and clerk A.G. Moore stands higher up the Municipal Hall steps. Police officers in uniform and other men wearing suits and ties are standing at the base of the steps.
1 photograph : sepia ; 15 x 10 cm (sight) in frame 19 x 11 cm
Scope and Content
Photograph of Burnaby Reeve Alexander K. McLean. Alexander McLean served as the Reeve of Burnaby from 1921-1926 and again in 1928, and was a Council member in 1920.
1 photograph : sepia ; 15 x 10 cm (sight) in frame 19 x 11 cm
Material Details
Photograph is matted and framed, with text printed on matte board reading: "The Stride Studios / NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C.".
Scope and Content
Photograph of Burnaby Reeve Alexander K. McLean. Alexander McLean served as the Reeve of Burnaby from 1921-1926 and again in 1928, and was a Council member in 1920.