The Union Steamship Collection
The Union Steamship Company was formed in Vancouver in 1899 and provided cargo and passenger service along the B.C. coast until 1959. This collection consists of material accumulated by the Museum over the past 40 years as well as material donated by Gerald Rushton and Arthur Twigg. Contents of these files include financial reports, maps, schedule notes, special operating circulars, company memos, sailing guides, menus, brochures, research notes, correspondence, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, manuscripts, assorted ephemera, and photographs. Click here to view a detailed finding aid to the collection.
Donald Graham Fonds
Donald Graham worked on BC lighthouses for 20 years, 18 of those at the Point Atkinson lighthouse in West Vancouver. He is author of two authoritative books on lighthouses on this coast. His fonds consist of his research files and photographs compiled during the research and writing of these books. Click here to view a detailed finding aid to the collection.
Henry A Larsen Rare Book Room
The Henry A Larsen Rare Book Room is a wonderful and important collection of books on Arctic exploration. The collection has been certified as Canadian cultural property with “outstanding significant and national importance”. The fundraising efforts of the Henry A Larsen Memorial Statue Fund Committee made it possible for us to relocate the collection to compact metal shelving. The old wood shelves add to the charm of any library, but wooden shelves are a liability for books. The metal shelves are chemically neutral and will not contribute to the aging or decay of the books. We have made a significant steps in preserving the Larsen collection and ensuring it is available to researches for a very long time.
The library is planning for further conservation measure that include installing dust covers for the shelves and repairing books with damaged or loose bindings. Click here to view the booklist.
Image Library
The image library contains approximately 80,000 images in the form of slides, negatives, prints, and paintings. Copies, reprints, and digital copies can be arranged by contacting the librarian. However, a portion of the collection is available online at http://collections.ic.gc.ca/NorthernHeritage.
Lloyd's Register of Ships
The Library has one of the largest and most complete collections of Lloyd's Register of Ships. Current holdings are from 1764 to 2001, with a few missing volumes.
Norman Hacking Fonds
The Norman Hacking Fonds consist of the personal records (textual and graphic material) of Norman Hacking, maritime historian, journalist and author. Description and Finding Aids by Lisa Beitel. Click here to view the finding aid.
Register of Seaman Shipped
The Register of Seaman Shipped consists of 47 volumes documenting the seamen who shipped out of the Port of Vancouver. The collection dates from 1898 to 1967 and is a unique record of merchant marine history. These large, hand-written volumes include the name of the ship, a list of the crew and their position on the ship, wages earned, and a home address. Popular with genealogists, the Register has also been used by Veteran Affairs in allocating merchant marine wartime service pensions. The records do not include lists of passengers, but some of these can be found at Library and Archives Canada’s immigration records.
Ships Files
The Ships Files contain twenty meters of ephemeral material, organized according to ship or vessel name, with a specific emphasis on vessels that worked in the Pacific Northwest. The files include newspaper clippings, passenger schedules, menus, and assorted ephemera.
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