This store, the first established in Brandon (June 12, 1881), was erected on the southeast corner of 6th St. & Pacific Avenue, facing Pacific.
Coombs and Steward later opened a store on the northeast corner of 9th St. & Rosser Ave.
Billy Muir was Coombs & Stewart's first clerk. He later opened a store of his own on the west side of the 100 block of 6th St., which he operated for nearly 50 years. (I was often a customer as a kid - LAS). Billy Muir closed his 6th Street store June 1945 (Brandon Sun). [See E18]
Custodial History
For custodial history see the collection level description of the Lawrence Stuckey collection.
Harold Bertram Medd was born on July 21, 1912 in the Rural Municipality of Cornwallis on the family farm two miles south of Brandon, MB. Medd attended Cornwallis School and Brandon Collegiate Institute. Medd married Jean Stella Beresford (1914-2001) on April 25, 1936 and together they raised four children: William, Jack, Harold and Frances. The famiy moved to Brandon in 1947, and Medd continued to operate a successful farming operation. In his younger years, Medd was an avid hunter and conservationist, and an active member of the Brandon Wildlife Association. In the 1940s, he took up flying, and during his many trips around the countryside he recorded wildlife sightings, sharing them with the Provincial Wildlife branch; for many years he conducted official wildlife surveys for the province. Following retirement in 1961, he and his wife set up a ceramic studio in their home. Medd and his wife were members of the Baha'i faith and very active in that community. Harold Medd died on October 19, 2003 in Brandon, MB. He is buried at Brandon Municipal Cemetery.
Custodial History
As part of the Westman Oral History Collection, this collection was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. The original tapes from the Westman Oral History project were deposited in the Brandon Public Library. Copies of these originals were made by Margaret Pollex of the Brandon University Language Lab at the request of Eileen McFadden, University Archivist in the early 1990s. These copies compose the collection held in the McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
Item is an audiocassette tape containing an interview with Harold Medd about his experiences in ceramics. Interviewer is Hazel Rose.
Notes
History/bio information taken from Medd's obituary. Transcript by Megan Holowick (2014). Description by Christy Henry.
Language Note
English
Audio Tracks
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Photograph is stained and water damaged. A newspaper clipping about William (Billy) Muir is glued to the top left hand corner of the mat. The image is exfoliated in the right hand corner. The negative has been reverse printed.
History / Biographical
Coombs & Stewart opened the first general store in Brandon in 1881, which was located on 6th Street and Pacific Avenue. According to G.F. Barker (Brandon: A City, 1977, 291), William (Billy) Muir worked at the store until he opened his own grocery store in 1888.
Custodial History
Donated to Fred McGuinness by Allena Strath (nee Coombs).
Scope and Content
Photograph shows the Coombs & Stewart general store located on the corner of Pacific Avenue and 6th Street. A group of men pose in front of the wood-framed store.
Notes
Back of photograph reads: One of first stores in Brandon, Coombs...[?]