James McNay was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, on January 31, 1907. Between 1951 and 1953, he worked in the payroll department for Alcan. He had to leave his wife Effie and his two young daughters, Margaret and Diane, aged 6 and 5 in 1951, at home in Surrey, B.C., during his 3-4 month stints in Kitimat. To fill some of his free time and show his family where he was and what Kitimat was like, he spent many hours walking in the area with a 35mm Kodak camera. He photographed the scenic beauty of the area and parts of the construction of both the smelters and the town. He died in Surrey on August 7, 1983.
Custodial History
Donated by Margaret McNay. Images were taken by her father and sent to their family in Surrey in the 1950s.
Scope and Content
Slide showing James McNay wearing a light blue shirt and standing against railing of the Delta King overlooking smeltersite.
James McNay was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, on January 31, 1907. Between 1951 and 1953, he worked in the payroll department for Alcan. He had to leave his wife Effie and his two young daughters, Margaret and Diane, aged 6 and 5 in 1951, at home in Surrey, B.C., during his 3-4 month stints in Kitimat. To fill some of his free time and show his family where he was and what Kitimat was like, he spent many hours walking in the area with a 35mm Kodak camera. He photographed the scenic beauty of the area and parts of the construction of both the smelters and the town. He died in Surrey on August 7, 1983.
Custodial History
Donated by Margaret McNay. Images were taken by her father and sent to their family in Surrey in the 1950s.
Scope and Content
Slide showing James McNay wearing a light blue shirt and leaning over railing of the Delta King. Smeltersite bunkhouses visible in top right.
Image depicts an air mail envelope for Queen Charlotte Airlines.
Notes
Title based on content of photograph. -- First air mail service was introduced by Queen Charlotte Airlines in 1952. Previously, mail was carried by the CP steamship Princess Norah. Queen Charlotte Airlines was purchased by Pacific Western Airlines in 1955. Hal Whiting Collection
Photograph of a Kitimat police officer, Constable McDonald, standing on a police patrol vessel at the wharf. The stern of the ship is marked "R.C.M.P. M.L. 15."
Photograph of a Kitimat police officer, Constable McDonald, standing on a police patrol vessel at the wharf. The stern of the ship is marked "R.C.M.P. M.L. 15."
Interior shot of the police station at Kitimat smeltersite, showing a desk with a typewriter, telephone, radio equipment, and more. There is a Hudson Bay Company calendar on the wall and a Columbia Encyclopedia atop a cabinet.
Interior shot of the police station at Kitimat smeltersite, showing a desk with a typewriter, telephone, radio equipment, and more. There is a Hudson Bay Company calendar on the wall and a Columbia Encyclopedia atop a cabinet.
James Smythe was Kitimat's first police officer; Joan Ingram was the daughter of Charles Ingram, superintendant of Kitimat Construction. The two were married in 1953 and moved to New Hazelton shortly afterwards.
Scope and Content
Photograph of Joan Marie Ingram and James Norman Smythe with a dog in a small boat, presumably on the Douglas Channel near Kitimat.
