Gassy Jack Deighton’s letter home – June 28, 1870
Gassy Jack Deighton’s letter home – June 28, 1870

John “Gassy Jack” Deighton This letter, written by “Gassy Jack” Deighton in June of 1870 to his brother Tom in England, was acquired by Vancouver businessman H. R. MacMillan and given to the City of Vancouver on December 23, 1948. A typewritten transcript and photocopy is found in the City…
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Emily Patterson’s midnight canoe journey – autumn of 1883
Emily Patterson’s midnight canoe journey – autumn of 1883

Vancouver author Lisa Anne Smith suggested we ask the Transcribimus community to take on this four-page letter about Vancouver pioneer nurse Emily Patterson. The letter was written in 1935 by Emily’s granddaughter, Mrs. Crackanthorpe, to Major Matthews, Vancouver’s first archivist. Emily set out during a dangerous gale in the autumn…
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Petition to incorporate the City of Vancouver – February 15, 1886

In February of 1886, a number of residents of the town of Granville sent a petition to the B.C. Legislative Assembly to incorporate the City of Vancouver. In 1944, the Attorney-General of BC returned the original document to the City of Vancouver.  This copy was made from COVA reference number…
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Rev. H.G. Fiennes-Clinton’s letter home – April 3, 1886
Rev. H.G. Fiennes-Clinton’s letter home – April 3, 1886

Rev. H.G. Fiennes-Clinton was one of the first clergy of St. James’ Church in the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster.  On April 3, 1886, he wrote a letter to his sister-in-law “Lucilla”, otherwise Mrs. Clement Fiennes-Clinton, Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, England, telling her about his life in “Vancouver,” as it was…
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Mrs. B.T. Rogers reminiscences – 1885-1886
Belle Rogers as a young girl, City of Vancouver Archives AM1592-1-S2-F08-: 2011-092.3801

In the City of Vancouver Archives we found these reminiscences, written by Mrs. B.T. Rogers (born Mary Isabelle Angus) at age 85. She shares her memories of Vancouver seventy years prior, when she visited as a sixteen year old girl.  She saw Vancouver not long before the Great Fire of…
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Vancouver Chinese Merchants’ Exchange letter to Thomas Tracy – 1896
Vancouver Chinese Merchants’ Exchange letter to Thomas Tracy – 1896

On September 14, 1896, Imperial Statesman Li Hung Chung visited Vancouver. The Vancouver Chinese Merchants’ Exchange asked the City Engineer, Col. Thomas Tracy to design a triumphal arch for the occasion, and sent him this letter of thanks for his design [Vancouver City Archives Reference Code: AM960]. One page of the…
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Alf Pilkington’s letter to New Zealand – July 8, 1906
Alf Pilkington, City of Vancouver Archives AM54-S4-: Port P668

City Hall, 425 Westminster Ave. COVA reference no AM54-S4- City P47 Alf Pilkington and family fled the San Francisco earthquake and great fire of April 8, 1906.  By July 8, Alf has re-settled in Vancouver as the city accountant, and writes to his uncle in New Zealand, giving a picture…
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A Vancouver child’s letter to grandma – October 18, 1909
A Vancouver child’s letter to grandma – October 18, 1909

This Vancouver child of 1909’s letter is kept in the City of Vancouver Archives, [Reference AM336-S2] indexed as “letter from unidentified child”. Assigned to write a letter during school hours, the child apparently took a break mid-sentence from writing to grandma and turned over the page to draw “robers and…
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