Mrs. Hilda Rosa Osmond (nee Bridgeman) was born in Hampshire, England in 1888 to parents Edwin Samuel Bridgeman (b.16 Jul 1852; d. 19 June 1922, Brandon) and Rosa Holkham (b. 26 Mar 1859; d. 27 May 1927, Brandon). Edwin was a sailor and Rosa was a dressmaker.
Following the death of her brother Edwin Frederick Bridgeman (1886-1890), the family immigrated to Canada in 1891. The Bridgeman's took the train to Griswold, Manitoba, and settled near Edwin's brother, Albert Bridgeman, and together they farmed the N 1/2 of 36-12-23. The Bridgeman's had three more children, Ellen Grace (b. 27 Jan 1893; d. 22 Feb 1893), Harry Volantine/Valentine (b. 14 Feb 1894), and Charlie Cuthbert (b. 03 Aug 1896; d. 25 Aug 1901). Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Bridgeman retired in 1913 and moved to Brandon where they lived until their respective deaths. The couple are interred in the Brandon Municipal Cemetery.
Hilda married William Arthur Osmond (b. 1867; d. 26 Oct 1943) of Baisingstoke, England, on 31 Jan 1913. They had a daughter Nellie who later married Glen Mossey. The family continued to farm the property on section 36.
Hilda Rosa Osmond passed away in 1980 at the age of 91. She is interred in the Greenwood Cemetery near Harding, Manitoba, where her husband and siblings also rest.
(Sources: England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013 [online]; Findagrave.com; Harding History Committee, Home to Harding 1879-1981 (Brandon: Leech Printing, 1981; Manitoba Vital Statistics Database)
Custodial History
Photograph given to Fred McGuinness by Burton Strange of Kenton, 25 Nov 1974
Scope and Content
Photograph shows Mrs. Osmond and her dog in front of her tractor that she purchased in 1947.
Notes
Label accompanying photograph reads: Mrs. Osmond tractor & her 26 year old tractor
Mrs. Hilda Rosa Osmond (nee Bridgeman) was born in Hampshire, England in 1888 to parents Edwin Samuel Bridgeman (b.16 Jul 1852; d. 19 June 1922, Brandon) and Rosa Holkham (b. 26 Mar 1859; d. 27 May 1927, Brandon). Edwin was a sailor and Rosa was a dressmaker.
Following the death of her brother Edwin Frederick Bridgeman (1886-1890), the family immigrated to Canada in 1891. The Bridgeman's took the train to Griswold, Manitoba, and settled near Edwin's brother, Albert Bridgeman, and together they farmed the N 1/2 of 36-12-23. The Bridgeman's had three more children, Ellen Grace (b. 27 Jan 1893; d. 22 Feb 1893), Harry Volantine/Valentine (b. 14 Feb 1894), and Charlie Cuthbert (b. 03 Aug 1896; d. 25 Aug 1901). Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Bridgeman retired in 1913 and moved to Brandon where they lived until their respective deaths. The couple are interred in the Brandon Municipal Cemetery.
Hilda married William Arthur Osmond (b. 1867; d. 26 Oct 1943) of Baisingstoke, England, on 31 Jan 1913. They had a daughter Nellie who later married Glen Mossey. The family continued to farm the property on section 36.
Hilda Rosa Osmond passed away in 1980 at the age of 91. She is interred in the Greenwood Cemetery near Harding, Manitoba, where her husband and siblings also rest.
(Sources: England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013 [online]; Findagrave.com; Harding History Committee, Home to Harding 1879-1981 (Brandon: Leech Printing, 1981; Manitoba Vital Statistics Database)
Custodial History
Photograph given to Fred McGuinness by Burton Strange of Kenton, 25 Nov 1974
Scope and Content
Photograph shows Mrs. Osmond and her dog in front of her tractor that she purchased in 1947.
Notes
Label accompanying photograph reads: Mrs. Osmond tractor & dog
A typed label has been taped to the back of the photograph. Back of photograph has yellowed. No other degredation observed. ST/2016
Custodial History
Photograph sent to Fred McGuinness from the Winnipeg Free Press Photo Department
Scope and Content
Photograph shows a platform party in front of the Westman Centennial Auditorium. At the microphone is Mayor Ken Burgess. Seated on the mayor's left is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, to his right Lorne Watson. The party may have been assembled for the founding of the Brandon University School of Music's Queen Elizabeth II building.
Notes
Photograph was collected during the research phase of the monograph "Manitoba: The Province & The People" (1987) written by Fred McGuinness and Ken Coates.
Writing on the back of the photograph reads: Ab Gowanlock 85 years old of Dauphin, two-time winner of the Brier (once in 1938 at Toronto and once in Sudbury in 1953) at the wheel of a Rumley Oil Pull tractor during the Thursday afternoon parade of steam and oil and gas tractors. Mr. Gowanlock is not a newcomer to threshing as he was involved with it on a regular basis from 1916 to 1947. dirk...shot directly into sun and was hard to print...
Emulsive side of image has residue and mock-up lines. A typed label has been taped to the back of the photograph. Back of photograph has yellowed. No other degredation observed. ST/2016
Custodial History
Photograph sent to Fred McGuinness from the Winnipeg Free Press Photo Department
Scope and Content
Photograph shows a steam tractor on display at the Austin, Manitoba's Threshermen's Reunion.
Notes
Photograph was collected during the research phase of the monograph "Manitoba: The Province & The People" (1987) written by Fred McGuinness and Ken Coates.
Writing on the back of the photograph reads: Kevin Milne and Makinak and Gordon Down of Winnipeg chugging up a storm at Austin Thursday. Dirk Aberson for Greg McComb. 1985
Photograph sent to Fred McGuinness from the Winnipeg Free Press Photo Department
Scope and Content
Photograph shows historic tractors on display at the Austin, Manitoba's Threshermen's Reunion. The tractors are parading on an outdoor track before a packed grandstand.
Notes
Photograph was collected during the research phase of the monograph "Manitoba: The Province & The People" (1987) written by Fred McGuinness and Ken Coates.
Writing on the front of the photograph reads: Austin Parade Thursday, July 27/79
Photograph sent to Fred McGuinness from the Winnipeg Free Press Photo Department
Scope and Content
Photograph shows a small steam engine to which a tug of rope is affixed. Seven young boys are pulling counter to the engine as an engine operator makes adjustment. Bemused spectators look on.
Notes
Photograph was collected during the research phase of the monograph "Manitoba: The Province & The People" (1987) written by Fred McGuinness and Ken Coates.
Writing on the label filed with the photograph reads: A miniature case steam engine gets an unexpected load as a group of boys try to haul it to a stop during the Thursday afternoon parade. dirk. 19/82
Fred McGuinness is popularly known for his work as the prairie essayist for CBC Radio’s Morningside with Peter Gzowski, a position he held for 17 years. Many of McGuinness’ Morningside essays were autobiographical in nature. He often reported about life on Christmas Tree Farm, a section of land where he and his wife, Christine, built their dream home in the late 1970s. The couple planted a Christmas tree farm on the property and Christine maintained an extensive kitchen garden, while Fred tended honey bees. Life on the farm made its way into radiobroadcasts, Neighborly News columns, and the book "Letters from Section 17: A Collection of Morningside Essays" (Winnipeg: Great Plains Publishing, 1999).
Scope and Content
Set consists of 13 negatives showing work being conducted on the McGuinness property, Christmas Tree Farm, Section 17. The first 12 negatives show the McGuinness family planting with their tractor and the last negative shows a woman working on a swimming pool liner.
Notes
McGuinness drafted a manuscript, titled "Hole in the Ground," about the family pool on Section 17. It was one manuscript McGuinness was re-tooling before he passed away in 2011.
Photograph shows Mr. Blight standing on a hay wagon while he feeds the threshing machine. Lance Blight is standing in the foreground.
Notes
Writing on back of photograph reads: 3 prints [20-2009.153 to 20-2009.155]. Threshing at Blight's farm Willow Creek at Chater. Lance Blight of [sic] front his father on the rack. 1925.
Photograph shows two women at a tractor. One is cranking the engine, the other is seated at the wheel.
Notes
Writing on back of photograph reads: "Threshing. Blights Farm Willow Creek at Chater. My mother at crank. Now over 90 living at 403-12th Street. G. Baldock 1971. 1925."
Photograph shows a harvest scene in the Assiniboine Valley. Stacks of wheat are in the process of being loaded into horse-drawn wagon carts. A threashing machine is set-up in the field next to an empty wagon. A woman in 1920s-era clothing is walking in the field.
Notes
Writing on back of photograph reads: 3 prints [20-2009.153 to 20-2009.155]. Threshing at Blight's farm Willow Creek at Chater. Lance Blight of front his father on the rack. 1925.
These records were produced between 1989 and 1990, the researching and writing period for The Chronicle of Canada monograph. Published in 1990 by Chronicle Publications (Montreal and Paris), the Chronicle of Canada is an approximately eight-pound, 980-page hard cover book, containing illustrations, photographs, and maps.
The premise of the Chronicle of Canada was to tell the social history of Canada in a journalistic style from the dawn of the dinosaurs to present day (July 1, 1990). Historical events were presented as short journalistic articles following a timeline.
Fred McGuinness was asked to be a contributor to the Chronicle of Canada in the summer of 1989. The writing assignment lasted six-months. Fred received, via courier every Monday, a writing package containing a computer diskette and a list of assigned stories to be completed within the week. The stories were researched, written, and saved onto the diskette, which was couriered back to Montreal on the Friday. The length of each article ranged from 100 to 500 words. The rate of pay for each article was $1.00 per line.
The editors of the Chronicle of Canada estimated their publication would contain 3,000 articles. McGuinness was assigned the majority of the prairie articles, which the editors estimated to be around 500 to 600 stories. It is possible to determine which articles McGuinness contributed to the project from the weekly period assignments and invoices.
Custodial History
Records were collected and created by McGuinness during the writing phase of the monograph Chronicle of Canada. The materials were donated to the SJ McKee Archives by the Estate of Fred McGuinness circa 2011. The Archives accessioned the records in 2015.
Scope and Content
The subseries consists of textual records, created and collected during the production of the monograph Chronicle of Canada. It includes correspondence, journal articles, book chapters, Government industry publications, newspapers articles, promotional materials, and McGuinness’ articles for Chronicle of Canada printed in the Chronicle template.
Notes
Information in the history/biography was taken from Neighborly News column #578 (McG 2.3, File 14); letter to Mr. Fred McGinnis [sic] from Chronicle Publications, dated September 25, 1989 (McG 5.7, File 1)
In the file level inventory, square brackets at 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
The Canada Winter Games were held in Brandon, Manitoba, from February 12-24, 1979. According to the official Canada Games website, approximately 2,000 athletes and officials and more than 4,000 volunteers participated in the event. Brandon artist and calligrapher Alex Matheson served as games president. Infrastructure improvements resulted in the construction of the Canada Games Sportsplex complex which contained a 400-seat hockey area, raquetball courts a six-lane 50-metre swimming pool, and a speed skating oval. Mount Agassiz was the site for alpine ski events and new cross country ski trails were developed in the Brandon Hills.
Custodial History
Photograph sent to Fred McGuinness from the Winnipeg Free Press Photo Department
Scope and Content
Photograph shows the opening ceremonies of the Canada Games held in Brandon, Manitoba, 1979. Various teams can be seen standing in the hockey arena of the Keystone Centre. Pennants representing the athletic events hang from the rafters.
Notes
Photograph was collected during the research phase of the monograph "Manitoba: The Province & The People" (1987) written by Fred McGuinness and Ken Coates.
The idea for a Kin history was initially conceived in 1984-85 between the authors and a pair of Brandon Kinsmen, Tom Breneman (National President) and Michael Cox (National Director). These records were produced between 1986 and 1987, the researching and writing period for the book Only in Canada: Kinsmen and Kinettes. Published in 1987 by Friesen Printers (Altona), “Only in Canada” is a 271-page soft cover book, containing 40 images.
BU faculty members Dr. Kenneth “Ken” Stephen Coates, Assistant Professor of History, and Mr. Fred McGuinness, Lecturer in Journalism, authored the book. Assisting the writers was a research team of BU history students: Don Cooper, Diane Fowler, Rob McGarva, Scott Parker, Kurt Refvik, Karen Skinner, and Pam Svistovski supervised by Joy Dorian and Bruce Stafeld. During the writing of the book, Dr. Coates accepted a position at the University of Victoria.
During the research phase, the authors consulted Kin Magazine, committee minutes, newspapers, and members of the Kin service clubs across the country. The entire history of the Kin service organization is covered from its inception in 1920 to the time of publication; following the evolution of the association over time and documenting the contributions the organization made to quality of life in their respective local communities and to the country as a whole.
Custodial History
Accession 18-2002 records were in the possession of Fred McGuinness until the publication of Only in Canada. In the course of writing the history, records of the Kinsmen Club in Canada were amassed at the McKee Archives. The research materials developed by Coates and McGuinness were simply added to the Kinsmen records ca. 1987. The Kinsmen records have since been de-accessioned by the SJ McKee Archives and transferred to Kin Headquarters in Ontario.
Scope and Content
The subseries materials consist of letters of correspondence from the authors to numerous Kinsmen across Canada requesting information about the organization’s founder Hal Rogers for chapter one and the epilogue, as well as early drafts, outlines, and brites for all six chapters of the book. The book was commissioned by the Association of the Kinsmen Clubs of Canada and published in 1987. Of additional interest is a memo from Fred McGuinness to the Kinsmen National President Dr. Tom Breneman about the book’s launch, promotion, and distribution (see file 1).
Notes
Information in the history/biography was taken from the preface of the book Only in Canada: Kinsmen & Kinettes
Accruals
Closed
Language Note
Fred McGuinness often uses journalistic jargon to label his files. A “brite” refers to a short, amusing story. McGuinness often organized his ideas and research materials by potential brite topic. The term brite is often annotated on the letters of correspondence in these subseries files
Finding Aid
A file level inventory is available
Storage Location
2015 accessions
Related Material
Archival materials held at Kin Canada headquarters. For an
inventory of materials de-accessioned by the McKee Archives see the donor file. Contact the Archivist for access
Arrangement
Arrangement was artificially created by the Archives. Subseries has been re-arranged according to book chapter following the de-accession of the Kinsmen records
Harry Spafford (b. 22 Oct 1888, d. 10 May 1978) was born in Holmfield, Manitoba. He married Isabella Hawking of Ninga in 1914 and the couple moved to Brandon in 1915 where they continued to reside until 1973. Harry worked as a locomotive fireman and then as an engineer with the Canadian Northern Railway (CN). While with CN, he was an active member of the Brotherhood of Local Engineers and Firemen No. 788 of Brandon. He served as an alderman in Brandon from 1928 to 1945. In 1932, Harry ran in the Manitoba by-election for Brandon as an Independent Labour candidate and lost to the Conservative member George Dinsdale. In 1952, Harry ran as a Co-Operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) member in the provincial election and lost to Conservative party representative Reg Lissaman. Harry Spafford passed away in Burnaby, BC, and is interred in the Ocean View Cemetery. (Source: see obituary in McG 4.1 File 66)
Scope and Content
Photograph shows Harry Spafford feeding Canada geese.
Notes
Writing on the back of the photograph reads: Harry Spafford feeding Canada geese near Vancouver 1976.
Photograph was given to Fred McGuinness by Linda Bilkoski (nee Lepard) of Lac du Bonnet, MB.
Scope and Content
Photograph shows a group of individuals posing with a Purity Flour, Western Canada Flour Mills Company truck. Two men pose by the drive-side door and another two pose by the tail gate. Standing in the truck's payload are 13 individuals. It is possible that Edith Lepard (nee Harden) third from left and her mother, Catherine "Kate" Harden (nee Chalmers), third from right are standing in the payload.
Notes
The back of the photograph is stamped: Crawford's Drug Store, Brandon
Photograph was given to Fred McGuinness by Linda Bilkoski (nee Lepard) of Lac du Bonnet, MB.
Scope and Content
Photograph shows a group of individuals posing with a Purity Flour, Western Canada Flour Mills Company truck. Two men pose by the drive-side door and another two pose by the tail gate. Standing in the truck's payload are 13 individuals. It is possible that Edith Lepard (nee Harden) third from left and her mother, Catherine "Kate" Harden (nee Chalmers), third from right are standing in the payload.
Notes
The back of the photograph is stamped: Crawford's Drug Store, Brandon
Photograph shows the City of Brandon parade float pulled by two clydesdale horses. The parade is in honour of the diamond anniversary of Canada's Confederation. The float is decorated with wheat sheaves, the city's coat of arms, and the words "education" and "health" adorn a pergola or arbour in the centre of the float. Seven people are on the float and appear to be in costume. An Aboriginal man is dressed in full regalia, one man appears to be in academic robes, another dressed as a farmer. One woman appears to be dressed like a nurse while another may be wearing a pioneer costume.
Notes
Writing on the back of the photograph reads: Brandon City's foat in 1927, Celebrating 60 years of Confederation, The lady in white is Miss Ann Carnahan who was on the city staff for a number of years and now resides in Victoria. She is my husbands [sic.] sister.