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 a ship on the Douglas Channel. Ship is black and white with two red and black smokestacks.
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."
