Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1836-1971 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
20 cm of textual records. -- 62 photographs. -- 1 poster. -- 5 audio cassettes
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Lt. Col. John Henry Reginald Thomson, 1894-1989, was born in St. Thomas, Ontario, and his family moved to Trenton, Ontario during his childhood. During the First World War he served with a cavalry unit in Egypt and Palestine and was promoted to Lieutenant. In 1924 he joined the Militia as a Captain, and during the Second World War he was in command of an artillery unit in France. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). In his civilian life he worked as an accountant in the banking industry in Ontario and the Prairie provinces until 1936. He was also a professional musician, playing brass instruments in dance bands in the evenings, and he was an accomplished hockey and baseball player. Following the Turner Valley, Alberta discoveries of 1936, he became involved in the petroleum industry. He was a vice-president of Trans Empire Oils Ltd. from 1950 to 1957. In the 1970s he worked for the Riveredge Foundation in Calgary, Alberta and he also devoted much of his time to his collection of sheet music. In 1926 he married Agnes Campbell Fair, 1902-1968, and they had one daughter, Helen, 1927- .
J.H.R. Thomson Popular Song Collection: This collection was compiled by Lt. Col. John H.R. Thomson, 1894-1989, a Calgary, Alberta music enthusiast. From 1968 to 1970 he collected over 600 pieces of sheet music of songs that were popular in Canada during the preceding century. He also compiled a list of 1200 popular song titles. In 1969 he recorded the first few lines of these 1200 songs in his Calgary residence, with Helen Worden Adams as the chief pianist. The actual recording took two weeks.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Gift of the Riveredge Foundation, 1979.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The fonds consists of Thomson's autobiography; a memoir of his war experiences in Palestine in 1918 and topographical maps of Palestine; scrapbooks containing newsclippings, correspondence, legal documents, photographs and memorabilia documenting Thomson's life, his military and musical careers, his family and his wife's family; and an audio travel diary of a trip to Scotland in 1970.
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
Related units of description
The J. H. R. Thomson Popular Songs Collection is also held by Glenbow.
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents of records.
Note
Includes files 81-83, 225, 321-323, 418 from M-4843 Riveredge collection
Includes Vol. 25-26 from PD-132 Riveredge collection
Includes tapes 90-94 from RCT-911 Riveredge collection
Includes #60-63 from PB-601 Riveredge collection
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Description control area
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Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Tuesday, January 23, 2018