Fonds F0202 - Hugh Beynon Biggs family fonds

Original Digital object not accessible

Identity area

Reference code

CA ACU GBA F0202

Title

Hugh Beynon Biggs family fonds

Date(s)

  • 1885-1965, predominant 1902-1955 (Creation)

Level of description

Fonds

Extent and medium

56 cm of textual records. -- 1390 photographs

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Hugh Beynon Hesketh-Biggs, 1876-1941, was born in Lahore, India and emigrated to the Rosebud Valley area west of Drumheller, Alberta in 1893. He bought the Springfield Ranch that same year, and in 1906 married Mabel Florence James, 1881-1970. Mabel emigrated from Guernsey, England in 1903 and trained as a nurse at the Banff Sanitarium before her marriage. The Biggs had four daughters, Marion Phyllis, 1909-2013, Doris (Hutchinson), 1910-?, Myrtle Agnes, 1912-1998, and Rachel (Kilsdonk), 1915-2012. The town which grew up around the Springfield Ranch was named Beynon after Hugh.

For further information see "The Springfield Ranch" / Kenneth W. Tingley. -- Alberta Culture, Historic Sites Service, 1982; "Hugh Beynon Biggs, Ranch Photographer" in Alberta History. -- vol. 26, no. 3, (Summer 1978), p. 13-20; and J. H. Turner's article, "Springfield Ranch : A Picture Story Going Back to 1892" in Canadian Cattlemen. -- vol. 22, no.6 (June 1959), p. 12-13, 41.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Gift of Rachel Kilsdonk, 1964-2003, Larry Olsen, 1981, and Peter Kilsdonk-Biggs, 2016.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

The fonds consists of Hugh's diaries and notebooks (1902-1940) and his extensive photographs of the Springfield Ranch. ranch life, his family, trips to the UK and Guernsey, and the construction of the Canadian Northern Railway line through his property. The fonds also consists of agreements with CNR (1913-1932); H.B. Biggs' estate papers (1943-1955); Mabel's business papers and income tax returns (1936-1965); Myrtle's extensive photographs of plants and birds of the area (1933-1948); Rachel's childhood diaries, school records, and photo albums (1930-1935) and family memorabilia including the 1885 diary of Hugh's father T. Hesketh Biggs.

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

      Allied materials area

      Existence and location of originals

      Existence and location of copies

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      Notes area

      Note

      Title based on contents of records.

      Note

      The negatives includes some glass and nitrate. The number in the physical description does not include Myrtle's or Rachel's photos.

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      Description identifier

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      Status

      Level of detail

      Dates of creation revision deletion

      Tuesday, January 03, 2017

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          Accession area