Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1815-1960s (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
76.5 cm of textual records. -- 197 photographs
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Simon John Clarke, 1852-1918, was born in eastern Quebec, and became a member of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) in 1876, stationed primarily at Fort Macleod and Calgary, Alberta. He settled in Calgary and was an alderman in 1884, and again from 1905 to 1907. He was then City Commissioner. In the 1880s he co-owned the Castle Mountain Billiard Hall and Saloon at 8th Avenue and 2nd Street SE. This was demolished in 1892 to build the Queen's Hotel which Clarke owned until 1918. From 1913 to 1918 he was superintendent of Banff National Park. He married Jane Bouie Findlay, 1860-1932, in 1884 and they had seven children: William Henry, 1885-1951, Simon John, 1888-1952, Lillian Violet, 1890-1903, Maggie Louisa [Margaret Louise] (Dobbie), 1892-1976, Walter Findlay, 1893-1969, Gordon, 1898-1898, and Etna, 1900-[before 1910].
For further information see Rose Scollard's article, "Simon John Clarke : Western Individualist", in Fort Calgary Quarterly, vol.5, no.1 (Spring 1985), p. 5-9.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Gift of Mrs. A. Dobbie, 1962-1967 and Jean Bricker, 2002.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The fonds consists of Mounted Police diaries (1876-1886); biographical leaflet re S.J. Clarke; Queen's Hotel records; family scrapbooks and newspaper clippings; and photographs of S.J. Clarke, the family, Mounted Police, Banff scenery, and Calgary scenes including street construction, electrical cable installation, and streetcars. Also included is a diary entry of John Clarke, S.J. Clarke's grandfather, while working for the Hudson's Bay Company around Lake Athabasca in 1815.
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
Digital content is available: https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/Package/2R3BF1S39U3_2
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents of records.