Filling in gaps in BC's history

By Stephen Harrison
Celebrating its 125^th anniversary this year, Victoria real estate company Pemberton Holmes has donated nearly a hundred years of records - stretching from the 1880s to the 1970s - to the Royal BC Museum.

"It's not every day this institution gets such a large donation," said Gary Mitchell, Provincial Archivist and Collections Director at the RBCM. The extensive records, which include business and legal documents, correspondence, and more eclectic personal records, had previously been languishing in a Langley Street basement.

Joseph Pemberton came to Vancouver Island in 1851 as its first colonial land surveyor, and he sat as a member of the United Colony of BC's first Legislative Assembly in 1866. Together with his son Frederick, he founded Pemberton and Son in 1887. Frederick's son-in-law, Henry Holmes, eventually joined the business, which was renamed Pemberton Holmes in the 1940s.

Pemberton Holmes was not just a Vancouver Island company. It invested in real estate along the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, sold plots in the Cariboo and Prince Rupert, and had a hand in timber and mining deals, while working in mortgages, sales, fire insurance, and more across the province. Current presidents Richard and Michael Holmes are delighted that the records will see the light of day.

Kathryn Bridge, manager of centralized access at the BC Archives, is excited about what the collection represents. "It's 125 years of history," she says, "and it's here." Bridge adds that they are still "in the stages of discovering." They've only scratched the surface of what the records hold, including architectural watercolours, photographs, maps, and thousands of client dockets - many bound by original, literal red tape. Project archivists are combing through the thousands of documents that make up the collection in order to make the records available to anyone who's interested.

Part of the collection includes newspaper clipping books that highlight some of Pemberton Holmes's property listings. A six-room bungalow in James Bay "only one block from Beacon Hill Park and about three minutes' walk from the sea," with "fire-places, built-in sideboard, sliding doors, etc." could have been yours for $4600 - in July, 1911.

While the BC Archives held personal records related to the Pemberton family prior to this donation, in these new documents historians will find a wealth of material pertaining to the Pemberton Holmes business. This collection will likely expand our knowledge of BC history by providing a window into the business dealings and lives of British Columbians, from everyday citizens and new immigrants to prominent historical figures.

For example, archivist Frederike Verspoor notes that Pemberton and Son administrated the estate of BC's second Premier, Amor de Cosmos, pointing to correspondence and records that highlight his business affairs. Where his personal records were lacking, the Pemberton Holmes documents will help us better understand De Cosmos's life. The same can be said for the thousands of dockets dealing with British Columbians and businesses from across the province. Taken individually or together, the records represent an incredible potential to enhance our understanding of nineteenth and twentieth-century British Columbia.