Berbank Women's Aid was founded in 1919. It was, in large part, the Berbank Red Cross under a new name. The principal project of the original Berbank Ladies Aid was the construction of the Berbank Church, which was accomplished in 1919. In 1962, the organization was renamed the Berbank United Church Women. With the closing of the Berbank church in 1966, the Berbank United Church Women were dissolved.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1997. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
This fonds consists of various minute books of the Berbank Ladies Aid, and its successor organization, dating from 1919 to 1965.
The name Berbank was created by combining the names of two local districts: Riverbank and Bertha. Both were located south of Brandon in the Rural Municipality of Oakland. The Berbank Church was built in 1919. Its construction grew out of the work of the Berbank Red Cross founded in 1917. The Berbank Church was a "union" church, constructed in anticipation of the formation of the United Church of Canada. In 1966, the Berbank congregation joined with the Nesbitt congregation to operate out of the Nesbitt United Church. The final service at the Berbank United Church was held in 1966.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1997. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds contains a document titled "Berbank Church History." This document is partially in a printed format with a portion handwritten. Fonds also contains minute books and legal documents pertaining to the ownership of the land upon which the Church was constructed.
The Bertha School District, located south of Brandon in the Rural Municipality of Oakland, was established in 1896. It was integrated into the School Distict of Nesbitt in 1961. Subsequently, it became part of the Souris Valley School Division.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of annual registers (1910-1961), minute books (1896-1962), account books (1896-1911, 1924-1956), an award of a Board of Arbitration (1961), a petition for consolidation with the School District of Nesbitt (1961), a financial report (1961), a map of the Souris Valley School Division showing rural school districts, and one debenture certificate (1896).
According to Veterans' Affairs Canada, there are 25 Crosses of Sacrifice in North America. The crosses were designed by the Canadian War Graves Commission's (CWGC) architect Sir Reginald Bloomfield, who designed a stone cross affixed with a bronze symbolic sword. The CWGC granted the Brandon Municipal Cemetery permission to privately erect the Cross of Sacrifice in its cemetery in exchange for maintaining the war graves in its cemetery.
The Brandon Great War Veterans Association erected the Cross of Sacrifice in the Brandon Municipal Cemetery in 1924 after a 10-day public fundraising campaign. At the time the Brandon Daily Sun reported that the Veterans Association required $5,000 to pay for the cross and the campaign ultimately raised $7,500. The memorial was initially dedicated to the local citizens who died as a result of the First World War.
Custodial History
Donated to Fred McGuinness by G. Baldock in 1971
Scope and Content
Photograph is of a memorial service at the Cross of Sacrifice in the Brandon Municipal Cemetery. Members of the public are standing to the north of the cross, while soldiers and veterans stand to the south. A number of wreaths have been placed at the base of the monument.
Notes
Writing on the back of the photograph reads: 5 prints. Dedication of the war memorial. around 1926-1927-28. I was scout master under Comissioner Harry Booth. P.E.H.
According to Veterans' Affairs Canada, there are 25 Crosses of Sacrifice in North America. The crosses were designed by the Canadian War Graves Commission's (CWGC) architect Sir Reginald Bloomfield, who designed a stone cross affixed with a bronze symbolic sword. The CWGC granted the Brandon Municipal Cemetery permission to privately erect the Cross of Sacrifice in its cemetery in exchange for maintaining the war graves in its cemetery.
The Brandon Great War Veterans Association erected the Cross of Sacrifice in the Brandon Municipal Cemetery in 1924 after a 10-day public fundraising campaign. At the time the Brandon Daily Sun reported that the Veterans Association required $5,000 to pay for the cross and the campaign ultimately raised $7,500. The memorial was initially dedicated to the local citizens who died as a result of the First World War.
Private Frank Barker (#33281) died on 27 June 1918. A member of the Canadian Army Medical Corps, Pte. Barker was on the Llandovery Castle Hospital Ship when it was torpedoed.
Custodial History
Donated to Fred McGuinness by G. Baldock in 1971
Scope and Content
Photograph is of a close-up of a number of wreaths laid at the base of the Cross of Sacrifice in the Brandon Municipal Cemetery during a memorial service.
Notes
Writing on the back of the photograph reads: Winnifred Barker places wreath in memory of Frank Barker (my uncle) 1st Field Ambulance, many decorations including the "Mons Star," lost on the Hospital Ship Landovery Castle, 1918. - G. Baldock 1971 -
According to Veterans' Affairs Canada, there are 25 Crosses of Sacrifice in North America. The crosses were designed by the Canadian War Graves Commission's (CWGC) architect Sir Reginald Bloomfield, who designed a stone cross affixed with a bronze symbolic sword. The CWGC granted the Brandon Municipal Cemetery permission to privately erect the Cross of Sacrifice in its cemetery in exchange for maintaining the war graves in its cemetery.
The Brandon Great War Veterans Association erected the Cross of Sacrifice in the Brandon Municipal Cemetery in 1924 after a 10-day public fundraising campaign. At the time the Brandon Daily Sun reported that the Veterans Association required $5,000 to pay for the cross and the campaign ultimately raised $7,500. The memorial was initially dedicated to the local citizens who died as a result of the First World War.
Custodial History
Donated to Fred McGuinness by G. Baldock in 1971
Scope and Content
Photograph is of a group of people examining wreaths that have been laid at the base of the Cross of Sacrifice in the Brandon Municipal Cemetery during a memorial service.
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.
Mildred (Mollie) Norton Kellet was born April 5, 1914, in Birmingham, England to Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Travers. At the age of 18, she joined the Cadbury Brothers Co. as a contometer. In 1942, she married George Crawford Kellet Jr. Mollie and George Kellet had two children together: Patricia (b. 1944) and Ian (b. 1949). In February of 1944, Mollie and her husband relocated to Manchester where George Kellet worked as an accountant.
Following World War II, the Kellets emigrated to Winnipeg, Canada. Mollie remained a mother and homekeeper until 1954, when she was hired as a secretary for Mitchell, Green, and Menouk Lawyers. She was also employed by The Bay and in the securities department of Montreal Trust Co, where she was the manager until 1966. She retired at age 65, but was recalled by the company to work until 1984, when she was 70 years old. In 1990, Mollie moved to Brandon to be closer to her daughter, Pat Alvested. Due to complications from surgery and a weak heart, Mollie Kellet passed away on January 31, 1999.
George Crawford Kellet Jr. was born to George Crawford Kellet Sr. and Lizzie Auld Halliday Kellet on July 16, 1911, in Glasgow, Scotland. An only child, he attended private school, and in 1933, at the age of 21, he was the youngest Chartered Accountant graduate in Britain. At some point between 1933 and his marriage to Mildred (Mollie) Norton in 1942, George joined the British army; while with the army his job was to receive the orders concerning army accounting and process them for soldiers in the field.
George left the army after the war and sailed with his wife and daughter on the Mauretania for Canada. Upon settling in Winnipeg he worked for Family Fair. In 1956 and 1957, he continued to work while setting up his own accounting firm, Kellet & Co. He was also diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1956. In 1971, George's health forced him to retire. Mollie continued to work at this time. Five years later she was unable to care for him adequately and he moved to a nursing home. In 1985, at age 74, George Kellet passed away.
Custodial History
In January 2000, Pat Alvestad, the Kellets' daughter, donated this fonds to the McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
The records contained within the Mollie Kellet fonds are contributions from both Mollie and her husband George. Included are: a collection of handwritten recollections by Mollie Kellet concerning her experiences during the Second World War (Mollie had been living in London and experienced life under German bombing); a document from WWI, presumably from her father, who was a veteran of this war; and records acquired by George Kellet during his service in the Second World War concerning the practical arrangements made to support troops following the 1944 D-day invasion of Nazi Europe. Marked "top secret," these records set out procedures for paying and provisioning the invading army.
For biographical information on Sarah Persis Darrach see RG 1 Brandon College fonds, Series 9: Clark Hall women's residence.
Custodial History
See collection level description of the Maureen Johnson collection (10-2009) for custodial history.
Scope and Content
Group photograph of four nurses and one male military officer standing in front of a brick building in England where Sarah Persis Johnson was stationed. Johnson is standing on the far right.
For biographical information on Sarah Persis Darrach see RG 1 Brandon College fonds, Series 9: Clark Hall women's residence.
Custodial History
See collection level description of the Maureen Johnson collection (10-2009) for custodial history.
Scope and Content
Photograph shows staff and possibly patients gathered around a dining table at Christmas. The table is located in the hospital building. Other patients are visible in their beds. Sarah Persis Johnson is standing second from the front on the right side of the table.
Frederick Gallagher McGUINNESS (b. 1891 – d. 23 May 1968) was born in Ottawa, Ontario. While in Brandon, he was a student (1911) and secretary of Boys’ Work for the YMCA in 1913. He moved to Winnipeg where he graduated from the Manitoba Medical College in 1917. On 3 December 1917, Lieutenant F.G. McGuinness enlisted with the Canadian Army Medical Corps in Winnipeg. He served in France with the Royal Army Medical Corps and was a Medical Officer attached with the Ninth Royal Irish Fusiliers. Lt. McGuiness survived the war and returned to Winnipeg where he married Myrtle Eva White in Winnipeg on 12 September 1922. They would have a son Jim “Jimmy” and a daughter Elizabeth (Shannon). Dr. McGuinness practiced in Obstetrics and Gynecology and taught at the University of Manitoba’s Medical School from 1923 onwards. He was instrumental in helping his nephew, Frederick George McGuinness return to school after he was injured in the Second World War. Dr. McGuinness died in Winnipeg at the Deer Lodge Hospital following a lengthy illness.
Scope and Content
Photograph shows a WWI portrait of Frederick Gallagher McGuinness (Fred McGuinness' uncle) in a Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC) officer's uniform.
The Women's Institute was founded in 1897 in Stoney Creek, Ontario, by Adelaide Hoodless. By 1913, institutes had been established in every Canadian province. In 1919, provincial representatives met in Winnipeg to form the Federated Women's Institute of Canada. The Women's Institute was designed to promote quality of life in rural Canada and to foster the advancement of rural women. The first Women's Institute in Manitoba was organized in 1910, in Morris, Manitoba. The Crocus Women's Institute was created in the fall of 1946. The charter for the group was issued on November 25, 1946. One of the first projects of the group included sending food parcels to Britain until war rationing was discontinued. The main focus of the Institute was the local school: the Institute sponsored essay contests and provided furniture for the school. The Institute also sponsored a garden club and held a garden show for many years. Finally, the group had an annual Christmas Cheer project. The Crocus WI disbanded in 1984.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned in 2002 by the McKee Archives. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
Fonds contains member lists in the form of roll calls from 1946-1984. There are also Women's Institute Programs from the years 1946-1984. Fonds also includes the organization's minutes, financial records and annual reports from 1946-84, a scrapbook for the years 1946-1984, and the Certificate of Organization for the Crocus Women's Institute, dated September 5, 1950.
Related women's institute collections in the McKee Archives include:
Manitoba Women's Institute; Minnedosa Women's Institute; Cordova Women's Institute; Clanwilliam Women's Institute; Rathwell Women's Institute; Strathclair Women's Institute; Crocus Women's Institute; Southwest A Region - Manitoba Women's Institute; Douglas Women's Institute
Photograph shows a crowded and muddy Brandon street. A military parade consisting of a band and mounted cavalry fill the street. A banner extends across the street reading: Brandon Heartily Wecomes Her Returning Heros.
Postcard shows two men in WWI Canadian military uniform. One soldier is seated on a piano stool, the other stands behind him. The men have Canadian General Service cap and collar badges on their uniforms.
Notes
Photograph possibly of the Pope brothers, George Campbell and Roy Clendon Pope, uncles of Fred McGuinness.
Brandon College established a Canadian Officer Training Corps (COTC) program in 1916 and had enough students for a platoon that would join the 196th Western Universities Battalion's B Company. COTC logs for in the SJ McKee Archives show that at least 40 men regularly attended classes on campus during the 1916 winter term.
The Brandon Daily Sun published the names of 60 potential platoon recruits before they headed to Camp Hughes to train in the summer of 1916. Although Lt. J.R.C. Evans spearheaded the training of the COTC enlistees at Brandon College, he was found medically unfit for overseas service. In his stead, the son of the college's founder, Lt. William Carey McKee, lead the platoon to Camp Hughes where they joined the 196th Battalion. Of the 60 recruits identified in the local paper, 20 would not survive the war, including Lt. McKee. [ST/2016]
Scope and Content
Photograph shows a group of 40 men wearing WWI uniforms. The men have the Canada general service cap badge on their headdress. The officer in the centre of the group (i.e., the man with the cane) is J.R.C. Evans. The group of men are likely members of the first Brandon College Platoon, which joined the 196th Western Universities Battalion.
Photograph was given to Fred McGuinness by Linda Bilkoski (nee Lepard) of Lac du Bonnet, MB.
Scope and Content
Photograph shows a large group of men, women and children posing in a park. A man in a WWI Canadian uniform is standing in the back row, left-hand side.
Notes
Writing on the back of the photograph reads: Methodist Mission Sunday School Picnic taken in the Assiboine [sic.] Park. 1st 1915. 1915. Mr. Hugh Connolly Minister, Mr. Fred Denstedt, Teacher. Miss Hornbrook, Bible Class teacher. Mr. John Davies, Choir Leader. Mrs. Foreman in the center in dark dress the oldest member & four babies. Mrs. E. Harden, 33-10th Street N., City.
The Rathwell Women's Institute was formed in December 1939. Little is known about the group and it seems that it disbanded in 1966. Mrs. Thelma Forbes, the first female Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in Manitoba was a member of the Rathwell Women's Institute.
Custodial History
This fonds was accessioned in 2002 by the McKee Archives. Prior custodial history is unknown.
Scope and Content
This is a small fonds, consisting of the minutes of the group's meetings, including member lists and financial records, from 1939-1966. There is also a pamphlet called "The Story of the Women's Institutes of Manitoba 1910-1934," written by Mrs. H.M. Speechley "in loving and honoured memory of Mrs. David Watt." The fonds also includes a book by Cicely McCall called "Women's Institutes." The inscription in the book reads, "To the members of the Rathwell Women's Institute with all good wishes from the members at Amberley, Sussex, Christmas 1943."
Related women's institute collections in the McKee Archives include:
Manitoba Women's Institute; Minnedosa Women's Institute; Cordova Women's Institute; Clanwilliam Women's Institute; Rathwell Women's Institute; Strathclair Women's Institute; Crocus Women's Institute; Southwest A Region - Manitoba Women's Institute; Douglas Women's Institute
