Item is a photograph of Dorothy Steeves, who later wrote a biography of Ernest "Ernie" Winch, presenting Ernie with a portrait of himself, while another man looks on.
Item is a photograph of Dorothy Steeves, who later wrote a biography of Ernest "Ernie" Winch, presenting Ernie with a portrait of himself, while another man looks on.
Photograph of Ernest E. (Ernie) standing at the edge of a fenced property, next to his older brother Alfred (Alf) Winch, who is leaning on a cane. They are at "Feltimore" (now Feltimore Park) at Harlow, Essex, England.
Photograph of Ernest E. (Ernie) standing at the edge of a fenced property, next to his older brother Alfred (Alf) Winch, who is leaning on a cane. They are at "Feltimore" (now Feltimore Park) at Harlow, Essex, England.
Photograph of Ernie Winch. He was a long-time CCF MP and MLA for Burnaby. He and his son, Harold Winch, set a Guinness world record for the longest father-and-son parliamentary tenure.
Photograph of Ernie Winch. He was a long-time CCF MP and MLA for Burnaby. He and his son, Harold Winch, set a Guinness world record for the longest father-and-son parliamentary tenure.
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.
Photograph of Ernest E. (Ernie) Winch. He was a long-time Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Member of Parliament and Member of the Legislative Assembly for Burnaby. Ernie and his son, Harold Winch, set a Guinness world record for the longest father-and-son parliamentary tenure.
Photograph of Ernest E. (Ernie) Winch. He was a long-time Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Member of Parliament and Member of the Legislative Assembly for Burnaby. Ernie and his son, Harold Winch, set a Guinness world record for the longest father-and-son parliamentary tenure.
Photograph of Ernest Winch sitting at a student desk, and smiling as he looks at a scrapbook. G.J. Fredrickson, Fred Salisbury and a man whose name tag reads "Mr.J.G. [intelligible] are standing around his desk and smiling.
Photograph of Ernest Winch sitting at a student desk, and smiling as he looks at a scrapbook. G.J. Fredrickson, Fred Salisbury and a man whose name tag reads "Mr.J.G. [intelligible] are standing around his desk and smiling.
Fonds consists of photographs, political leaflets, postcards, publications, correspondence and a scrapbook documenting the political careers of Ernest and Harold Winch.
Fonds consists of photographs, political leaflets, postcards, publications, correspondence and a scrapbook documenting the political careers of Ernest and Harold Winch.
History
Ernest Edward (Ernie) Winch was born at Harlow, Essex, England on March 22, 1879. Ernest was one of seven children; Walter, Albert, Alfred, Horace, Ernest, Emma and Caroline (Carrie).
In 1898, when he was 19 years old, Ernest immigrated to Canada with his friend Jack Holttum to work on a farm in Saskatchewan. Ernest’s brother Alfred followed soon after and together the Winch brothers worked in British Columbia, then in Australia. Unfortunately the country was at the height of a heavy drought and so Ernest returned to Harlow and followed in his father's footsteps, apprenticing as a bricklayer.
In 1905 Ernest Winch met and married Australian born Linda Marian Hendy. While in England they had Harold, born June 18, 1907, and Eileen, born in 1908. Ernest sailed back to Canada alone in 1910, his young family following him months later. He quickly became a member of the Bricklayers and Masons International Union No. 1, Vancouver Branch. Ernest began studying socialism in 1910 and joined the Social-Democratic Party of Canada in 1911.
The Burnaby local of the Social-Democratic Party nominated Ernest Winch as a candidate for School Trustee in 1914. He received seven votes.
In 1915 he and his eldest son Harold left the rest of the family at their home in White Rock and went to Mission to establish a homestead. While living in the Dewdney area, he organized a small Social-Democratic group in Mission and became its Secretary. However, he did not stay long in Dewdney. In the summer of 1918, Ernest left the Social-Democratic Party to join the Socialist Party.
Once back in Burnaby, now 38 years old and looking for a way to support his family, Ernest answered a call for new workers from the Longshoremen’s Union. He joined the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) Auxiliary and soon was elected its Secretary. By 1917, he was a part of the Vancouver Trades and Labour Council, serving as its President by 1918. In 1919, he joined the B.C. Loggers Union (later the Lumber-Workers Industrial Unit), serving as Secretary. Ernest endorsed both the Vancouver General Strike in 1918 and the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 and was active in his support of the One Big Union (O.B.U).
After two and a half years, Ernest left the ILA and rejoined the Longshoremen’s Union along with his former O.B.U. brother, William A. Pritchard. Soon after, a strike broke out and its unsuccessful end caused Winch to go back to bricklaying. By this time, the four youngest Winch children had been born: Charlie, Grace, Alan and Eric.
Ernest re-founded the Socialist Party of Canada (British Columbia) in 1932 and, with it, joined the new Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. In the 1933 provincial election he, his son Harold Winch, and five others became the first CCF Members of Legislative Assembly. As a CCF MLA for Burnaby, Ernest became a resolute advocate for immediate reform, exposing abuses and inadequacies in BC's social welfare and correctional institutions (including Oakalla) and taking a special interest in the problems of the aged. One of his many notable contributions was the creation of the New Vista Society, first developed to ease the problem of overcrowding in mental hospitals at the time. Ernest Winch held his seat in the legislature continuously until his death on January 11, 1957. One of his legacies left to the people of Burnaby are the New Vista Society senior citizens homes. He also founded the New Westminster branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (S.P.C.A.).
Ernest and Linda’s eldest son Harold Edward, an electrician by trade, married Dorothy Ada Hutchinson on May 11, 1929. At 26 years old, he was elected CCF MLA for Vancouver East (in 1933) and became provincial party leader by 1938, serving as leader of the Opposition from 1941 to 1953. When the CCF was defeated in the controversial election of 1953, which saw W.A.C. Bennet come to power, Harold abandoned provincial politics for the House of Commons, where he represented Vancouver East until his retirement in 1972.
Photograph of a memorial tablet dedicated to Ernest E. Winch who is remembered on the plaque as "THE FOUNDER OF THE NEW VISTA SOCIETY", dedicated to providing care and support for seniors. The tablet is mounted on a stone resting on a cement foundation. Ernest Winch was also a reknowned labour acti…
Photograph of a memorial tablet dedicated to Ernest E. Winch who is remembered on the plaque as "THE FOUNDER OF THE NEW VISTA SOCIETY", dedicated to providing care and support for seniors. The tablet is mounted on a stone resting on a cement foundation. Ernest Winch was also a reknowned labour activist and Burnaby Member of the Legislative Assembly with the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation / New Democratic Party.
Memorial tablet reads: "ERNEST E. WINCH / 1879 - 1957 / THE FOUNDER OF THE NEW VISTA SOCIETY / 'NOT AS A LADDER FROM EARTH TO HEAVEN, / NOT AS A WITNESS TO ANY CREED, / BUT IN SIMPLE SERVICE, SIMPLY GIVEN / TO ALL MANKIND IN NEED'."
Photographic postcard of three young men sitting and standing together at a photographic studio. Ernest E. (Ernie) Winch is sitting in a chair on the left. The other two men have not been identified, but all three men are wearing lapel pins which read "L" and are believed to signify labour movement…
Photographic postcard of three young men sitting and standing together at a photographic studio. Ernest E. (Ernie) Winch is sitting in a chair on the left. The other two men have not been identified, but all three men are wearing lapel pins which read "L" and are believed to signify labour movement involvement.