Fonds MS 30 - Nation family fonds

Harold Nation was born in New Zealand in 1876 and graduated from London (Eng.) University in 1896 with a degree in civil engineering. He worked on the railway survey in Creston during 1897 and 1898, arriving in Fort Steele in 1899 to survey a railway line from the US border to the East Kootenay mines. The position was short-lived, so he picked up labouring and surveying jobs where he could, working for the most part with small logging outfits. He also helped the Fort Steele government agent with office work. By 1906, he had obtained a temporary position as field assistant to the provincial mineralogist in Victoria, R. Fleet Robertson. He travelled home to England in 1907, then was sent by his father to Port Arthur to work as a mining engineer. He re-joined Robertson in Victoria in 1909. He spent three years with the Canadian Expeditionary Forces during World War I. He retired from the Victoria office in 1946. He had married in 1916 in England and had three children. Harold Nation died in Victoria in 1967.