Photograph of members of the Brown-John family sitting and standing on the blasting stump. This stump was located near the corner of Gilmore Avenue and Napier Street.
Photograph of members of the Brown-John family sitting and standing on the blasting stump. This stump was located near the corner of Gilmore Avenue and Napier Street.
Photograph of Mrs. Hideko Shimotakahara in front of family home at 4055 Keefer Street (later changed to 4055 Frances Street), North Burnaby. Note the honeysuckle arbor in front. Cherry trees were planted along the boulevard in front of the house.
Photograph of Mrs. Hideko Shimotakahara in front of family home at 4055 Keefer Street (later changed to 4055 Frances Street), North Burnaby. Note the honeysuckle arbor in front. Cherry trees were planted along the boulevard in front of the house.
This portion of the recording pertains to the Brown-Johns first settling in Burnaby. Elsie (Brown-John) Ansdell discusses land clearing for the family home, each of her parents and her brothers.
This portion of the recording pertains to the Brown-Johns first settling in Burnaby. Elsie (Brown-John) Ansdell discusses land clearing for the family home, each of her parents and her brothers.
Date Range
1910-1946
Photo Info
Elsie Brown-John (bottom, far right) with her class at Kitchener Street School, [1936]. Item no. 549-001.
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.
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.
Photograph of Joseph "Joe" Wright and wife Wilhelmina "Mina" Wright (nee Williams) in front of the family home at 3935 Pender Street in Vancouver Heights.
Photograph of Joseph "Joe" Wright and wife Wilhelmina "Mina" Wright (nee Williams) in front of the family home at 3935 Pender Street in Vancouver Heights.
Photograph of Mary Warren and Bill Anthony, west of the Warren family home at 4264 Union Street. The street did not extend past the Warren house. A "corduroy" road was used in the early years: split cedar logs placed side by side.
Photograph of Mary Warren and Bill Anthony, west of the Warren family home at 4264 Union Street. The street did not extend past the Warren house. A "corduroy" road was used in the early years: split cedar logs placed side by side.
Photograph of two men standing next to a large tree stump. A note written on the back of the photograph reads: " Stump blasted out by William Tough, street sup't [sic] in 1921. It stood on the boulevard on the south side of Hastings Street a few feet East of Ingleton. At left Councillor G. L. La…
Photograph of two men standing next to a large tree stump. A note written on the back of the photograph reads: " Stump blasted out by William Tough, street sup't [sic] in 1921. It stood on the boulevard on the south side of Hastings Street a few feet East of Ingleton. At left Councillor G. L. Lawson. Right, Mr. Tough." Councillor Lawson served on council from 1919-1920 and again from 1922-1923.
Photograph of the Shimotakahara family. Front row, left to right: Dr. Shimotakahara, son George (who also became a doctor) and wife, Mrs. Shimotakahara (a former Seattle model); Mrs. Lillian Yuriko Shimotakahara with baby daughter, Lillian, in her lap; an aunt with Vernon; Mr. Toryaryu Shimotakahar…
Photograph of the Shimotakahara family. Front row, left to right: Dr. Shimotakahara, son George (who also became a doctor) and wife, Mrs. Shimotakahara (a former Seattle model); Mrs. Lillian Yuriko Shimotakahara with baby daughter, Lillian, in her lap; an aunt with Vernon; Mr. Toryaryu Shimotakahara and daughter, Katherine. Lillian and Toryaryu were married. This photograph was taken in the backyard garden of family home at 4055 Keefer Street (later changed to 4055 Frances Street) in North Burnaby. Others in the photograph are relatives.
Photograph of the Shimotakahara family. Including, from left: Mrs. Shimotakahara with Lillian and an aunt with her two sons. Katherine Shimotakahara is second from right next to a cousin on the end. The photograph was taken at the family's home at 4055 Keefer Street (later changed to 4055 Frances S…
Photograph of the Shimotakahara family. Including, from left: Mrs. Shimotakahara with Lillian and an aunt with her two sons. Katherine Shimotakahara is second from right next to a cousin on the end. The photograph was taken at the family's home at 4055 Keefer Street (later changed to 4055 Frances Street).