Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1910-1970, predominant 1910-1935 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
48 photographs. -- 3 cm of textual records
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Charles R. Westgate, 1866-1942, was born in England and emigrated to Sudbury, Ontario in 1885. He attended Methodist seminary for two years and then established a business in Montreal. He married Harriet Elizabeth Lewis, 1862-1954, and they had three sons, Charlie, ?-ca. 1918, Bill, ?-ca. 1920s, and John Gordon. Charles had investments in southern Alberta coal mines and ca. 1909 was an officer of the Bow River Centre Collieries Limited. By 1913 he was secretary-treasurer of Prairie Coal Co., a group of Montreal investors who had bought coal deposits along the Bow River near Brooks, Alberta.
The company opened the Bow City Coal Mine in 1909 and set up a town site called Bow City. In 1914 Charles and the family moved to Bow City, and ca. 1919 he bought the company's assets and formed his own called Kleenbirn Collieries, Limited. He also held Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) coal leases and co-owned the People's Coal Mine with T.H. Wiggins. Charles retired in 1937 and Gordon took over. In 1943 Kleenbirn expanded, with government backing, to provide coal for war needs. The company closed its underground mine ca. 1944 in order to concentrate on strip mining begun in 1932. After about 1953 sales fell off to local sales only.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Gift of Mrs. M.E. Westgate, 1979-1981.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The fonds consists of photographs of Bow City businesses, events and personalities including the Westgate family and homestead (1910-1939); and photographs of coal operations and mines at Kleenbirn Collieries (1920-1931). Includes Charles' business correspondence (1914-1927); Kleenbirn coal analysis and reports and letter to shareholders (1922, 1933, 1935), Bow Centre Collieries bylaws and prospectus (1910, 1911), Prairie Coal Company prospectus (nd) and statement (1913), Bow City booster pamphlets (ca. 1913), letter written by Gordon about the history of Kleenbirn (1970), and newsclippings about Kleenbirn.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
No restrictions on access.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
The material is in English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
No finding aid.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Digital content is available: https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/Package/2R3BF1S33BMDN
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents of records.
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Description control area
Description identifier
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Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Tuesday, April 17, 2018