Focus on the Record – Records of Early Policing

Posted on January 22, 2015 by richmondarchives

Richmond has had four distinct policing regimes, each documented in records held at the Archives: police constables appointed by Council, a small force regulated by a Board, the BC Provincial Police and lastly the RCMP.

Chief of Police Andrew Waddell in 1914. City of Richmond Archives Photograph 1985 206 1

The earliest police force consisted of a constable or constables appointed and administered by Town Council. An overview of this early development can be had by reading Council minutes and reports to Council from that period. Other municipal records and reference material in the Archives provide reference for important events involving the police, including the murder of Chief of Police Alexander Main in 1900.

The oversight of policing activities was enhanced by the creation of two bodies separate from Council. The Board of Licence Commissioners was established in 1889 with the power to licence and inspect establishments such as hotels and saloons serving liquor. Enforcement activities relating to this licensing were carried out by police constables. The Archives holds the minutes of the Board from 1894 to 1917, which tell a colourful if partial tale of Richmond’s early night life.

Report to the Board of Licence Commissioners, September, 1917. City of Richmond Archives MR 403, File BLC 1-1

In 1915, Council established the Board of Police Commissioners to appoint and manage the police force. Chaired by the Reeve, the Board carried out a variety of administrative functions and received reports from the Chief of Police on crime and police actions and complaints from citizens with regard to law and order and police conduct. The Archives holds the largely hand-written minutes of this Board for most of its existence, until its dissolution in 1941.

First page of Annual Report to the Board of Police Commissioners, 1916. City of Richmond Archives MR 404, File BPC 1-1

In November 1940 Council decided to hand over local policing to the BC Provincial Police. Although this decision marked the end of Richmond’s own police force, the story of policing in the municipality continues in other records held by the Archives.

Municipal records series 42 (1914-1988) includes a wide range of records created or received by the City concerning policing activities and services, and justice issues. Files in this series include monthly reports from the local detachment of the Provincial Police (1941-1950), as well as various reports from the RCMP from the time it took over municipal policing in Richmond in August, 1950.

Group photograph of RCMP Richmond Detachment personnel, including Police Magistrate R.C. Palmer, in the 1950s. City of Richmond Archives Photograph 2010 37 1

[Note – this is an updated version of an article first published in the Fall 2013 issue of the Archives News]

Japanese Canadians on Sea Island

Posted on January 6, 2015 by richmondarchives

Cannery workers and their families at Vancouver Cannery, Sea Island, on the occasion of the visit by the Japanese Consul, 1912

Cannery workers and their families at Vancouver Cannery, Sea Island, on the occasion of the visit by the Japanese Consul and his wife, 1912. City of Richmond Archives Photograph RCF 185

Many people are surprised to learn of the significant presence of Japanese Canadians on Sea Island prior to World War II.

Vancouver and Acme (top) Canneries on Sea Island, ca. 1932. City of Richmond Archives Don Gordon collection

Acme Cannery (top) and Vancouver Cannery (bottom) on Sea Island, ca. 1932. City of Richmond Archives Photograph 1985 166 10

Beginning in the early years of the last century, a number of Japanese moved to Richmond to work as fishermen and cannery workers for Vancouver Cannery and Acme Cannery, both located on the southwest corner of Sea Island.

List of families in cannery-owned housing, 1936. City of Richmond Archives MR 6, File 603-3

The majority of the workers and their families lived in company-owned housing in close proximity to the canneries themselves.

The houses were built on both sides of the dyke running through the cannery properties.

A school, the Sea Island Japanese School, was established at Vancouver Cannery for the sons and daughters of workers of both canneries.

Sea Island Japanese School, Div. 2, 1929. City of Richmond Archives Photograph 1985 39 65

Sea Island Hurricanes, ca. 1938. City of Richmond Archives Photograph 2004 2 1

A sense of identity and a spirit of cooperation and self-sufficiency developed. Sports teams like the Sea Island Hurricanes (aka North Arm Hurricanes) played against lacrosse teams from Steveston and other communities, while groups like the Sea Island Young People’s Society organized a variety of social activities.

Sea Island Young People’s Society on New Year’s Day, 1939. City of Richmond Archives Photograph 2013 8 1

World War II, however, marked the end of the community on Sea Island, with the evacuation of Japanese Canadians in 1942 to camps in the interior of BC or to farms in Alberta.

The canneries were closed and the cannery-owned housing was destroyed.

The burning of cannery-owned houses at Acme Cannery. City of Richmond Archives Photograph 2000 15 2

The burning of Japanese-Canadian houses at Acme Cannery. City of Richmond Archives Photograph 2000 15 2

When Japanese Canadians were allowed to return to the BC coast in 1949, a number of former Sea Island residents made their way back to Richmond and settled in the Steveston area, where they resumed work in the fishing industry.

Program for the 1983 Reunion. City of Richmond Archives Accession 2014 4

In 1983, a reunion was held for former Japanese-Canadian residents of Sea Island, as well as for those who had lived and worked at nearby Terra Nova and Celtic Canneries. The success of the celebration demonstrated how the spirit of community developed in the pre-war years had never been lost.

Focus on the Record – Records of Early Land Use Regulation

Posted on December 18, 2014 by richmondarchives

The City of Richmond Archives holds records created by Council, its committees, and municipal departments involved in guiding land use in Richmond from the very earliest town planning discussions to recent zoning bylaws. Before the post World War II growth of suburban development, the local government role in guiding land use was largely carried out through building and subdivision approval. In Richmond, the first subdivision plans approval bylaw was passed in 1908. The Archives holds a variety of early subdivision plans.

Aerial view of Richmond (population 8,000) in the 1930s, before the establishment of zoning bylaws. City of Richmond Archives Photograph 1985 154 1

After World War II the need for formal planning and building control became more pressing; land was being subdivided and buildings were being constructed at an increasing rate. In 1947, Bylaw 1071 was adopted establishing a Town Planning Commission to advise Council in carrying out the powers and provisions of the provincial “Town Planning Act” (1925).

The Archives holds the original minutes and reports of the Town Planning Commission (1948-1957), and its successor body, the Advisory Planning Commission (1958-1991).

Minutes of first meeting of Town Planning Commission

Minutes of first meeting of the Town Planning Commission. City of Richmond Archives MR402, APC1-1

As evidenced in the early meeting minutes, the Town Planning Commission was empowered to issue or deny building permits and to make decisions relating to permissible activities on specific properties. The Commission was assisted in its decision making by the Municipal Engineer and the Municipal Clerk.

With the help of the provincial government’s Regional Planning Division, a comprehensive planning tool was developed in 1949. This was the first zoning bylaw, Bylaw 1134 (1949), for the regulation of land use and building, in 7 types of districts, known as the Town Plan. The bylaw was officially described as: “A bylaw to divide the Corporation of the Township of Richmond into districts and to make regulations in relation thereto, regulating the location, use and height of buildings, size of yards and other open spaces, and the use of land, pursuant to the ‘Town Planning Act’ and the ‘Municipal Act’”.

1949 Zoning Map as Schedule A to Bylaw 1134. City of Richmond Archives Bylaws

Until 1957, when Richmond’s first Town Planner was hired, Council’s oversight of the planning process was carried out through the Town Planning Commission and outside consultants. This mechanism proved inadequate to manage growth. In 1955 consultants presented a report which became the basis for the next zoning bylaw, to replace the 1949 bylaw.

First page of Zoning Bylaw 1430 (1956), with amendment bylaw number annotations in pencil. City of Richmond Archives Bylaws

Zoning Bylaw 1430 (1956) created 11 use classifications. With multiple amendments (over 1000), it served to guide land use control in Richmond until a new Zoning Bylaw was adopted in 1989. The new 1989 bylaw (Bylaw 5300) was established in association with Richmond’s Official Community Plan, first adopted in 1986. Bylaw 5300 was repealed with the adoption of the present Zoning Bylaw 8500 in November, 2009.

The Archives holds extensive municipal government records of planning functions carried out since the creation of the Planning Department, including those relating to community planning and zoning administration.

[Note – this is an updated version of an article first published in the Spring 2012 issue of the Archives News]

From the Archives Kitchen – Clover Leaf Salmon Bread Pie

Posted on December 11, 2014 by richmondarchives

Various products sold under the Clover Leaf brand, ca. 1955. City of Richmond Archives RL258

British Columbia Packers Limited was at one time the largest and most diverse fishing company in Canada. For many years, the company operated out of headquarters in Steveston, a major centre for the British Columbia fishing industry for much of the last century.

Renewal of Clover Leaf trade mark, 1915. City of Richmond Archives, BC Packers fonds, Series 5 , Sub-series 1, File 17

Of the many brand names and trademarks owned by BC Packers, “Clover Leaf” was one of its most well established.

The trademark was first registered in 1890 by a New York City company before being transferred to the British Columbia Packers Association, the forerunner to British Columbia Packers Limited.

The brand was registered to be used for a wide-range of canned products, including fruits, vegetables, soups and fish. The Clover Leaf brand over time, however, became synonymous with quality seafood canned in Steveston and at other BC Packers canneries up and down the BC coast.

Clover Leaf Sockeye Salmon, by appointment to the Governor General and the Lady Tweedsmuir, 1939

Clover Leaf Salmon, By Appointment to their Excellencies the Governor General and the Lady Tweedsmuir, 1939. City of Richmond Archives, BC Packers fonds, Series 5, Sub-series 1, File 17

Clover Leaf Display, 1954. City of Richmond Archives Photograph 2001 34 9-93

BC Packers marketed its “Clover Leaf” salmon locally, throughout the British Empire, and around the world. In the 1950s, its marketing campaigns often included displays at various exhibitions and shopping outlets, radio advertisements with catchy jingles, and the publication of pamphlets containing recipes for easy-to-make meals.

“Sea Food Recipes”, ca. 1955. City of Richmond Archives RL258

One pamphlet produced by BC Packers around 1955, “Sea Food Recipes”, was recently consulted at the Archives in the course of historical research on food preparation. In the interest of accurate research, we thought we should try one of the recipes, the “Salmon Bread Pie,” a kind of poor man’s Salmon Wellington.

Recipe for Salmon Bread Pie in “Sea Food Recipes”, City of Richmond Archives RL 258

The surprisingly tasty result of our research , thanks to professional chef and Friends of the Richmond Archives’ Board Director Precilla Huang. (Bill Purver photograph)

“Never on Sunday” – the Holiday Shopping Referendum

Posted on December 4, 2014 by richmondarchives

Election brochure. City of Richmond Archives, MR 35, File 4569 (1981)

Many people today are surprised to learn that prior to 1981, most stores in Richmond were prohibited from opening on Sundays and holidays. Provincial legislation, namely the Holiday Shopping Regulation Act, was enacted in 1980, and provided a means by which an individual municipality could ask its citizens whether they wished to remove restrictions on Sunday and holiday shopping.

As a result, Richmond Municipal Council decided to add to the November 21, 1981 municipal election ballot the following referendum question:

“Are you in favour of Richmond By-law No. 4016 which in summary would permit all retail businesses to carry on business on a Sunday and any other holiday as defined by the ‘Holiday Shopping Regulations Act’?”

Two groups emerged in the community to promote each side of the referendum question, a question that was being asked on a number of municipal election ballots throughout the province.

Back page of election brochure. City of Richmond Archives, SE 35, File 4569 (1981)

Back page of brochure. City of Richmond Archives, MR 35, File 4569 (1981)

The “Committee Opposed to Sunday and Holiday Shopping” was formed as an unusual alliance of church groups, labour unions, major retail stores, and women’s groups. Using the slogans “Never on Sunday” and the “Price of Convenience”, the committee urged that Sunday should be “a day of rest” for church goers and workers, the latter comprised of a large number of women who worked as retail store clerks. The Committee warned that if shopping was allowed, “Sundays and holidays would soon become another rat race like any other day of the week, with traffic jams, noise, congestion and frustration for everyone.”

On the other side, some larger, newly-established stores along with a wide-range of citizens argued for the right to shop on Sunday, listing various benefits including convenience, emergency needs, rights of consumers, and promotion of local shopping rather than cross-border shopping or shopping in municipalities which had already adopted Sunday and holiday shopping bylaws.

Election advertising. City of Richmond Archives, MR 35, File 4569 (1981)

By a margin of 14,434 “Yes” votes to 8,265 “No” votes, Bylaw 4016 received the assent of electors and was adopted by Council on November 23, 1981. Retail shopping on Sundays and holidays was here to stay.

Bylaw 4016 as adopted. City of Richmond Archives Bylaws

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