Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1885-1965, predominant 1902-1955 (Creation)
Level of description
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.
Repository
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
Related units of description
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.
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Biggs, Hugh Beynon (Subject)
- Biggs, Mabel (Subject)
- Biggs, Rachel (Subject)
- Biggs, Myrtle (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Tuesday, January 03, 2017