Photograph of the front exterior of Burnaby Fire Hall No. 6, located at 3620 Brighton Avenue, at the corner of Brighton Avenue and Government Street. The photograph is taken from across Brighton Avenue, facing east. One of the fire hall's garage doors is open and a person and car are inside. The Fu…
Photograph of the front exterior of Burnaby Fire Hall No. 6, located at 3620 Brighton Avenue, at the corner of Brighton Avenue and Government Street. The photograph is taken from across Brighton Avenue, facing east. One of the fire hall's garage doors is open and a person and car are inside. The Furniture Fair warehouse is visible behind the fire hall.
Aerial photograph of Burnaby with Lougheed Highway running west to east through the middle of the photograph and the Trans Canada Highway in the lower left segment.
Aerial photograph of Burnaby with Lougheed Highway running west to east through the middle of the photograph and the Trans Canada Highway in the lower left segment.
Aerial photograph of Burnaby with Lougheed Highway in the north west corner, the Trans Canada Highway in the south east corner and Burnaby Lake appearing from the west.
Aerial photograph of Burnaby with Lougheed Highway in the north west corner, the Trans Canada Highway in the south east corner and Burnaby Lake appearing from the west.
This portion of the recording includes Alfred Bingham's reading of an essay written by Captain Thomas S. Guns describing the Lozells district, as well as quoting single sentences of various other writers on the topic of Deer Lake and the Burnaby Lake District. Alfred mentions the first schools of B…
This portion of the recording includes Alfred Bingham's reading of an essay written by Captain Thomas S. Guns describing the Lozells district, as well as quoting single sentences of various other writers on the topic of Deer Lake and the Burnaby Lake District. Alfred mentions the first schools of Burnaby Lake and the "pleasure walk" along Douglas Road, from Vancouver to New Westminster.
Recording is of Alfred Bingham's writings, as read by Alfred Bingham. Major themes discussed are: Pioneers, early days in Burnaby and the Co-op Movement. To view "Narrow By" terms for each track expand this description and see "Notes".
Biographical Notes
Alfred "Alf" Bingham was born in England in 1892 and moved to Canada in 1912. His first job in Canada was laying track for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTPR) from Edmonton to McBride in 1912. His second was in Vancouver at the Rat Portage Mill on False Creek, working on the Resaw machine. He quit after one week due to poor working conditions.
After taking part in the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike as a delegate of the Retail and Mailorder Union (A.F.L.) on the Winnipeg Trades and Labour Council, Alfred moved to Burnaby where he and fellow Burnaby residents Aungus McLean and Percy Little worked ten hour days to build a Shingle Mill on the edge of Burnaby Lake for Simpson & Giberson. George Green, carpenter and millwright (author of “The History of Burnaby”) also helped in the construction of the mill. Alfred built his own home from lumber cut from the mill in the Lochdale area on Sherlock Street between Curtis Street and Kitchener Street.
On April 10, 1920 Alfred married Mary Jane “Ada” Reynolds. Alfred and Ada often took in foster children during their marriage. Due to her nursing experience, Ada was often called upon to deliver babies in the Burnaby area.
Alfred and Ada Bingham were instrumental members of the Army of the Common Good, collecting vegetables and grains from growers in the area and even producing over 125 tons of vegetables from its own gardens to feed children and youth suffering from the lack of resources during the Depression years. The army was in operation 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.
Alfred was also Secretary of the Burnaby Housing committee and in 1946 he became the Secretary of the North Burnaby Labour Progressive Party (LPP).
Mary Jane “Ada” (Reynolds) Bingham died on August 9, 1969. Her husband Alfred died on April 29, 1979.
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.
Images
Audio Tracks
Track four of recording of Alfred Bingham's writings
Track four of recording of Alfred Bingham's writings
Photograph of boys in drill team sashes, probably rehearsing for May Day. Identified: (front row, 2nd from left) Gordon Haddon. This photograph was taken in front of the Northeast Farmers' Institute (later called Lozells Community Hall) at 3325 Lozells Avenue in Charles Rummel Park.
Photograph of boys in drill team sashes, probably rehearsing for May Day. Identified: (front row, 2nd from left) Gordon Haddon. This photograph was taken in front of the Northeast Farmers' Institute (later called Lozells Community Hall) at 3325 Lozells Avenue in Charles Rummel Park.
Photograph of the sign welcoming the public to the Nature House and Burnaby Lake. The sign depicts a map of Burnaby Lake and points of interest, including the rowing complex, pool, ice rink, and Old Mill Site. A smaller sign shows the address of 4519 Piper and a small footbridge is in the backgroun…
Photograph of the sign welcoming the public to the Nature House and Burnaby Lake. The sign depicts a map of Burnaby Lake and points of interest, including the rowing complex, pool, ice rink, and Old Mill Site. A smaller sign shows the address of 4519 Piper and a small footbridge is in the background. The photograph is taken facing southwest.
Collected by editorial for use in a July 2000 issue of the Burnaby NewsLeader
Caption from metadata: "Caila Anderson, of International SPFX, says new traffic regulations on Greenwood St. have made it really inconvenient for employees at the movie special effects company to get to and from their production offices. Residents on the street say the regulations haven't gone far enough."