Fonds consists of two series: I. St. Mary's Parish, ca.1945-1983, 0.16 cm, and contains two sub-series: A. Architecture, ca.1945-1983 (architectural plans, general information); B. Correspondence and Newspaper Clippings (pertaining to Father McGuinness and St. Mary's Parish), 1950-1978. II. McGuinn…
1.11 cm of textual records (34 pages : 29 x 42 cm or smaller) -- 9 architectural drawings : annotations ; 89 x 58 cm or smaller
History / Biographical
Originally from ancient Iveagh, which is now County Down, Ireland, the McGuinness family eventually migrated to Liverpool at an unknown time. The McGuinness family were provision merchants in Liverpool, but found supplies limited so they emigrated to Canada. Born on June 20, 1886 in Liverpool, Father Robert James McGuinness moved to Belleville, Ontario, Canada with his family in 1890. He had 7 brothers and sisters, including Oswald A. McGuinness, who settled in Invermere, British Columbia.
Robert attended St. Lawrence College in Ampleforth, Yorkshire, and completed his studies at St. Servan in Rhiems, France, qualifying as an engineer. He held a position with the federal government upon his return to Canada, however when World War I broke out Robert served in the 29th Battalion of CRTS building pontoons behind European battle lines. After returning to Canada, Robert worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway as an architectural engineer, which brought him west to Banff, Alberta. Robert was the resident architectural engineer overlooking the construction of the Banff Springs Hotel expansion in the 1920's.
In the late 1920's, Robert traveled to Rome to enter the seminary and four years later he was ordained as a priest. After serving as priest in Calgary, Robert was appointed Catholic priest in Banff in 1936, where he lived and worked until his death in 1961. To fulfill a personal dream, Robert designed and supervised the construction of the new church building and grounds for St. Mary's Parish (St. Mary's of the Assumption) which was completed in 1951. During his years in Europe, Robert visited ancient churches and cathedrals which influenced the design of the church, primarily the Norman Chateau architectural style.
Robert was also a talented artist. Some of his work can be seen in galleries in New York and in Banff. His work has been reproduced for Canadian Pacific Railway tourism material, including the Spiral Tunnels postcard included in this fonds.
Robert died in Calgary on June 17, 1961, just shy of his 75th birthday, after being ill for a few months.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of two series:
I. St. Mary's Parish, ca.1945-1983, 0.16 cm, and contains two sub-series: A. Architecture, ca.1945-1983 (architectural plans, general information); B. Correspondence and Newspaper Clippings (pertaining to Father McGuinness and St. Mary's Parish), 1950-1978.
II. McGuinness Family, 1953-1977, 1 cm (private records, including handwritten notes, a memoir, and a postcard).
Notes
. IYounger brother Oswald was a surveyor who built the road from Invermere to Calgary
There is some indication that Robert had a role in the construction of the Bow River Bridge or the collection of the stones used for the bridge, but this is unconfirmed
Sub-series of hut registers from various Huts, including the Boswell Cabin, Castle Mountain Bivouac Shelter/Hut, Graham Cooper Hut, Lawrence Grassi Hut, Lloyd Mackay Hut, Memorial Hut, R C (Bob) Hind Hut, the Sapphire Col Bivouac Hut, and the Woodbury Cabin. These registers were produced by the Alp…
According to the Alpine Club of Canada:
Woodbury Cabin: The Woodbury Cabin was built over the summers of 1983 and 1984 at the site on which an old mining cabin once existed. The hut was also built to draw park users into the less crowded areas by providing a base for their recreational activities.
Sapphire Col Bivouac Hut: The Sapphire Col Bivouac is a basic mountaineering shelter in the Asulkan Ridge. The hut is located in Glacier National Park.
R. C. Hind Hut: The hut is named after Robert (Bob) Hind, a lifelong, active member of the ACC. The hut was built by the ACC for BC Parks in 1971. The hut is maintained and booked through Assiniboine Lodge.
Robin Cyril (Bob) Hind, 1911-2000, was an electrical engineer and mountaineer at Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He was a Life Member of ACC, joining in 1933, and attended over 30 ACC camps. Hind received the Silver Rope Award in 1935, was recipient of Centennial Medal, and served the ACC in offices of President, Vice-President and Chairman of Hut Committee. Bob Hind climbed most of the peaks in Rockies and Selkirks, including some first ascents. He also climbed in Wales and the Alps. Hind was a member of the American Alpine Club and The Alpine Club, London.
Lloyd Mackay Hut: The hut is located on Mt. Alberta and is a basic mountaineering shelter. The hut was renovated just before the 75th Anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Alberta. The hut sleeps 6 people.
Lawrence Grassi Hut: Named after legendary mountain guide and coal miner, Lawrence Grassi. When he retired from the coal mines, Grassi became the assistant warden at Lake O’Hara in Yoho National Park, and he built various trails throughout the Park. Mount Lawrence Grassi, near Canmore, and Grassi Lakes, along with this hut, are named after him.
Graham Cooper Hut: The hut was located between Mt. Little and Mt. Bowlen in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, along the Alberta and British Columbia border. The hut was named after Graham Cooper, who was a member of the team that built the hut, who had passed just after the hut was built. In 1983, this hut was replaced by the Neil Colgan Hut.
Castle Mountain Hut: Is located in Banff National Park, on the Goat Plateau of Castle Mountain. It is a basic mountaineering shelter. It serves as a base for those climbing Brewer’s Buttress, Bass Buttress, and Eisenhower Tower. The hut is closed during the winter months.
Boswell Cabin: The Pat Boswell (Toronto Section) Cabin is located at the Canmore Clubhouse site, and is named after Pat Boswell, a long-time Club member and Club Manager of the ACC. The cabin was designed to accommodate families and small groups, it includes a partition wall and sleeps up to 6 people.
The Memorial Hut: The original Memorial Hut was built in 1930 for the War Veterans, the building was made of stone in an unstable area near Penstock Creek. The second Memorial Hut was built in the Outpost Lake area in 1947 and was named after Cyril Wates, who joined the ACC in 1916 and was a prominent mountaineer and ACC member, including Club President from 1938 to 1941. This Hut, however, was built too close to the lake, as per Parks regulations. The third version of the Memorial Hut was built in 1962 and opened in 1963 at the ACC Camp in the Valley. It was named in honour of the late President Rex Gibson, as well as Cyril Wates, known as the Wates-Gibson Memorial Hut.
The Jacques Lake Cabin is the ACC's newest backcountry hut, located in Jasper National Park, AB. It was originally a Jasper Park patrol cabin, and it is only open during the winter months.
Scope & Content
Sub-series of hut registers from various Huts, including the Boswell Cabin, Castle Mountain Bivouac Shelter/Hut, Graham Cooper Hut, Lawrence Grassi Hut, Lloyd Mackay Hut, Memorial Hut, R C (Bob) Hind Hut, the Sapphire Col Bivouac Hut, and the Woodbury Cabin. These registers were produced by the Alpine Club of Canada between 1930 and 2018. Registers include entries from visitors to the huts which pertain to individuals' hiking and climbing trips; details of specific events which occurred while staying at the hut, wildlife sightings, custodial issues and updates, and related topics.
The sub-series includes:
M200 / IV / U / 1: Boswell Cabin Hut Register [2007 - 2010]
M200 / IV / U / 2: Boswell Cabin Registry [2007 - 2013]
M200 / IV / U / 3: Boswell Cabin Registry [2010-2016]
M200 / IV / U / 4: Castle Mountain Bivouac Shelter Register Mar. 19, 1985 - Oct. 4, 1995
M200 / IV / U / 5: [Castle Mountain Hut 2000 - 2012]
M200 / IV / U / 6: Graham Cooper Hut [1965-73]
M200 / IV / U / 7: “Hut Register Lawrence Grassi Hut” August 4, 1981 – August 1, 1998
M200 / IV / U / 8: LLOYD MACKAY HUT [1984-1989]
M200 / IV / U / 9: Alpine Club of Canada Memorial Hut Register 1930 – 1965
M200 / IV / U / 10: R C Hind Hut [register 1971-1979]
M200 / IV / U / 11: Sapphire Col Bivouac Hut [1965-1976]
M200 / IV / U / 12: [Unidentified Register 2013 – 2017]
M200 / IV / U / 13: [Unidentified Hut Register 2013?]
M200 / IV / U / 14: [Woodbury Cabin 2015-2018]
M200 / IV / U / 15: Boswell Cabin Hut Register [2014-2020]
M200 / IV / U / 16: [Jacques Lake Hut Register 2019-2022]
Notes
The Memorial Hut has changed locations and titles since it was originally built in 1930. Today, the Hut is known as the Wates-Gibson Memorial Hut. For other Wates-Gibson Hut Registers, see M200 / IV / C: Wates-Gibson Hut Registers.
Alpine Club of Canada website:
https://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/huts/
https://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/sapphire-col-hut/
https://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/castle-mountain-hut/
https://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/neil-colgan-hut/
https://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/woodbury-cabin/
https://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/wates-gibson-hut/
https://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/jacques-lake-cabin/
Alpine Club of Canada Backcountry Huts: Clubhouse Info Sheet:
https://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Clubhouse_Directions-1.pdf
Alpine Club of Canada Backcountry Huts: Woodbury Cabin Info Sheet:
https://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/WoodburyCabin-InfoSheet.pdf
Informal interview with Chic Scott, Intellectual Property of Chic Scott.
Item consists of a small photo album bound in maroon leather with "Photographs" stamped on the front. Written on the inside of the front cover is "Tressa Brewster Banff, Alta" in black ink - Lade "Tressa" Brewster (nee Bagley) was Jim Brewster's first wife and mother of Fern. Photographs pertain to…
Item consists of a small photo album bound in maroon leather with "Photographs" stamped on the front. Written on the inside of the front cover is "Tressa Brewster Banff, Alta" in black ink - Lade "Tressa" Brewster (nee Bagley) was Jim Brewster's first wife and mother of Fern. Photographs pertain to landscapes taken throughout Alberta, mostly in and around Banff National Park, mounted on pages with built-in windows - some are annotated.
File consists of 128 black and white photographic negatives of unidentified people, mountain landscapes, wildlife, and scenic views from throughout Banff National Park and surrounding areas.
128 photographs : b&w nitrate negatives ; 11.8 x 8.4 cm
History / Biographical
See fonds level description.
Scope & Content
File consists of 128 black and white photographic negatives of unidentified people, mountain landscapes, wildlife, and scenic views from throughout Banff National Park and surrounding areas.
Notes
Negatives were removed from their original housing in a negatives album (V90 / PD - 2) prior to processing
