Printed: 2013-05-22
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Fonds AAAA1153 - Edgar Dewdney fonds
Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Edgar Dewdney fonds
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Level of description
Fonds
Repository
Reference code
CA BCA AAAA1153
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Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
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1880-1916 (Creation)
- Creator
- Dewdney, Edgar
Physical description area
Physical description
6 cm of textual records
Publisher's series area
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Dewdney, Edgar
(1835-1916)
Biographical history
Edgar Dewdney was born in Devonshire, England, and educated as a civil engineer. He came to BC in 1859 to work with the Royal Engineers as a surveyor. He married twice: to Jane Shaw Moir in 1864 and to Blanche Kemeys-Tynte in 1909. He surveyed and built the Dewdney Trail, completed in 1865. He was elected to the BC Legislative Council in 1869, and to the Canadian Parliament as Conservative member for Yale in 1872, 1874, and 1878. He was Indian Commissioner and Lieutenant-Governor of the Northwest Territories, 1879-1888 and 1881-1888 respectively. He was elected to Parliament as member for Assiniboia East in 1888 and 1891, and served as Minister of the Interior. From 1892-1897 he was Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. He then retired to become a mining broker in Victoria, where he died on August 8th, 1916, at age 80.
Custodial history
Records in MS-2898 were previously catalogued as part of the BC Archives old catalogue in the A/E/Or3 classification and were probably purchased from John Windham O'Reilly in 1964.
Scope and content
The fonds consists of Dewdney's diaries (1880-1884), written while Indian Commissioner of the Northwest Territories and Manitoba, a copy of his will (1913), correspondence inward (1882-1896), and miscellaneous papers (1892-1916). The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by sender and covers a variety of topics including: the proposed purchase of property at Coal Harbour, Vancouver; conservative politics; purchase of land in Manitoba; Indians Crowfoot and Poundmaker; treatment of Indians; and danger of starvation amongst the whites. Also includes some letters from Peter O'Reilly of Victoria.
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Finding aids
Item list with call numbers available for MS-2898.
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Other notes
- Alpha-numeric designations: BCAUL control number: BCA-2063
Standard number area
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Dewdney, Edgar (Creator)
- O'Reilly, Peter (Subject)
