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 opening to the Kitimat Yacht Club basin. Sailboats and the Alcan dock in the distance.
Photograph of a muddy, unpaved roadway through the forest, with a woman (Joan Ingram) standing to the right. Many stumps and debris from clearing trees in the foreground. This route was the future CNR line between Kitimat and Terrace.
Joan Ingram was the daughter of Charles Ingram, superintendent of Kitimat Construction.
Scope and Content
Photograph of a muddy, unpaved roadway through the forest, with a woman (Joan Ingram) standing to the right. Many stumps and debris from clearing trees in the foreground. This route was the future CNR line between Kitimat and Terrace.