2 mm (1 two-page letter -- 1 letter with envelope)
History / Biographical
David Sommerville Charleson was born January 14th, 1884, in Brandon, Manitoba. The Charleson's settled in the GlenSouris area south of Brandon, Manitoba in 1882. David Charleson enlisted on 24 September 1914. He served as a lieutenant in the 6th Infantry Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Later, he transferred to the 8th Battalion. In Belgium, Charleson was a victim of an enemy gas attack early in the war, following which he returned to Canada incapacitated. Miss Estella Cullen, a trained nurse, cared for him following his return to Canada. David Sommerville Charleson died on May 12, 1925 a victim of war-time injuries. He is buried in the GlenSouris Cemetery just south of Brandon.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1997. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of one letter written by Charleson from Belgium in early 1915 to Miss Estella Cullen in Rounthwaite, Manitoba. In the letter, Charleson describes the circumstances facing the Canadian troops in the trenches during the Great War and provides an account of the German trenches facing him. This is an evocative and reflective letter. Philatelists may find the condition of the stamps on the letter envelope of interest.
83 books and other materials (see Material Details Note)
Material Details
49 booklets
3 maps
3 newsletters
18 periodicals
16 pamphlets
35 newspapers [oversize drawer]
History / Biographical
The publications in this series were collected by Fred McGuinness during the course of his career as a newspaperman. McGuinness’ personal library contained over 500 volumes pertaining to local history. He regularly consulted these materials when writing his radio broadcasts, newspaper columns, and monographs. McGuinness was known to file related materials (e.g., correspondence, newspaper clippings, invitations) between book covers of various titles.
McGuinness donated a substantial portion of his personal library to Brandon University’s John E. Robbins Library when he moved to River Heights Terrace (Brandon, Manitoba). That collection can be found in BU’s library catalogue under the McGuinness local history collection. The titles McGuinness retained upon his move were donated to the McKee Archives by his estate in 2011.
Custodial History
Accession 1-2015 contains records created and collected over the course of McGuinness’ career as a newspaper journalist and freelance writer. The Estate of Fred McGuinness donated the materials to the SJ McKee Archives circa 2011. The Archives accessioned the records in 2015.
Accession 20-2009 contain records created and collected by Fred McGuinness over the course of his career as a newspaper journalist and during the research and writing period of the Brandon history book, The Wheat City. Records remained in his possession at his home until their transfer to the McKee Archives on July 28, 2009.
Accession 6-2008 contains records created and collected during the writing of the Provincial Exhibition book, Pride of the Land. Fred McGuinness, who co-authored the book with Ken Coates, donated these records to the McKee Archives circa 1988. The materials relating to Souris, Manitoba, were given to McGuinness by Kay Sullivan in August 2007, and were subsequently deposited in the Archives.
Scope and Content
This series contains publications collected by Fred McGuinness during the course of his lifetime as a newspaperman. McGuinness was a well-known local history enthusiast and frequently wrote about Brandon’s local history. Many of his readers forwarded booklets and pamphlets for his consideration and review.
Materials in this series include books, booklets pamphlets, periodicals, newspapers and maps. Subjects include, but are not exclusive to: the city of Brandon, the town of Souris, memoirs, family histories, Canadian Pacific Railway, and local businesses.
Accruals
Closed
Finding Aid
A file level inventory is available
Storage Location
All library titles, except the newspapers in the McGuinness oversize drawer, are located in Special Collections
Arrangement
Arrangement was artificially created by the Archives.
McG 8 McGuinness library
McG 8.1 Books
McG 8.2 Booklets
McG 8.3 Maps, newsletters, and periodicals
McG 8.4 Pamphlets
McG 8.5 Magazines and newspapers (oversize)
Photograph shows the McGuinness family in laying in the grass. Baby Fred McGuinness lays before his mother, Isabella Louisa McGuinness, and his three older sisters Mary, Dorreene, and Ruth.
Photograph shows three women standing near a waterfront. The woman on the left is Ruth McGuinness. The woman in the middle has a camera around her neck.
Photograph shows three women with two children posing in front of an automobile. The woman on the right, identified as Annie May, is the sister of William Frederick McGuinness, Fred McGuinness' father.
Notes
Writing on the front of the photograph reads: Aunt Ena, Grace, Jim, Betty, Annie May. Back of the photograph is stamped Crawford's Drug Store, Brandon.
For custodial history see the collection level description of the Lawrence Stuckey collection.
Scope and Content
The Brandon Asylum for the Insane
Notes
The entire Brandon Asylum complex was completely destroyed. Patients were temporarily housed in the Winter Fair Building (located on the 500 block of 10th Street).
It is reported that the nearly 700 staff and patients were evacuated without any loss of life due to the fire itself (Refvik K. 1991. The Brandon Asylum Fire of 1910. Manitoba History, Number 21, Spring 1991).
In addition to his personal library, Fred McGuinness maintained extensive files on numerous topics/subjects containing newspapers clippings, magazine and journal articles, letters of correspondence, photographs, pamphlets, etc. He accumulated his local history materials by personally collecting newspaper, books, and magazine articles; by readers’ forwarding materials for his interest; and from workshop participants submitting memoirs and personal narratives for his interest, review and feedback. McGuinness continued to add to his “topic” files throughout his lifetime.
Usually McGuinness kept his research materials and communications together for his respective writing assignments, however, he would often use the same research materials to write on similar topics that appeared in a number of different publications. McGuinness likely used his local history research materials for his Brandon Sun Sunbeams and Diary columns, his monographs, and possibly for his Local History Style Guide (1984), as well as in his memoir writing workshops. For his column writing, particularly for Neighborly News, McGuinness created file folders on particular topics. These held newspaper clippings collected from the prairie weeklies and once a folder was full, he wrote about the subject.
Custodial History
Accession 1-2015 contains records created and collected over the course of McGuinness’ career as a newspaper journalist and freelance writer. The Estate of Fred McGuinness donated the materials to the SJ McKee Archives circa 2011. The Archives accessioned the records in 2015.
Scope and Content
The series consists of records created and collected by Fred McGuinness during his time as a journalist, editor, and freelance writer. The series has been divided into two subseries, including: (1) Local history research and (2) Newspaper clippings.
Local history materials consist of newspaper clippings, correspondence, biographical documents and memoirs, obituaries, and manuscript drafts on Brandon (Manitoba) topics including: origins, anniversaries, centennial, reunions, early pioneers/families, historic buildings and streets, businesses, museums, local newspapers, prominent citizens, military units, and politicians. McGuinness also maintain files on the local history of surrounding communities, including: Birtle, Beresford, Camp Hughes, Hartney, Kemnay, Russell, and Souris.
Notes
Information in the history/biography was taken from Neighborly News column (#934, November 10, 1997). Items dating to the 1880s are photocopies and transcripts of original materials
In the file level inventories, square brackets at the end of file names reference the original location of the file in the unprocessed Fred McGuinness collection. The original location is also noted on the front of each file folder
Accruals
Closed
Language Note
NNC = Neighborly News Column
Finding Aid
File level inventories for each subseries are available. See
individual subseries’ descriptions
Storage Location
2015 accessions
Related Material
John Everitt collection
Clarence Hopkin collection
Provincial Exhibition Association of Manitoba fonds
Lawrence Stuckey collection
Jack Stothard collection
William Wallace papers
Fred McGuinness would write/publish about a topic in a number of forums. Therefore, it is possible work and correspondence pertaining to his research materials may be found in the Fred McGuinness collection Monograph series (McG 5) and subseries: Correspondence (McG 1.2), Brandon Sun (McG 2.2), Neighborly News (McG 2.3), Miscellaneous freelance (McG 3.2), Talks and workshops (McG 6.3). McGuinness also “filed” many clippings between the pages of his books in his personal library (see McG 8 Library series)
Arrangement
Arrangement was artificially created by the Archives. Series has been re-arranged according to publication period
McG 4 McGuinness research
McG 4.1 Local history research materials
McG 4.2 Newspaper clippings
Photograph shows two males in coats, ties, and gadsby caps. The man on the right is likely William Frederick McGuinness, father of Brandon Sun editor Fred McGuinness.
