Blaikie Family Collection

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Blaikie Family Collection

General material designation

  • Textual record
  • Graphic material

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Level of description

Collection

Reference code

2006.48.1 - 148; 2007.36.1 - 56

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Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • 1839 - 1961 (Creation)
    Creator
    Blaikie Family
    Place
    Great Village (N.S.)

Physical description area

Physical description

31 cm of textual records, 94 photographs

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Archival description area

Name of creator

(1837 - present)

Biographical history

The Blaikie Family lineage begins with John McKay Blaikie (1837 – 1929), prominent merchant, shipbuilder, and lumberman of the mid- to late-1800s. He and his first wife, Adelaide McLellan, had three sons and a daughter. Their sons were John Arthur Blaikie (1862 – 1938), a customs officer; Thomas David Blaikie (1864 – 1951), owner and manager of the Great Village Creamery; and Gloud Wilson Blaikie (1867 – 1930), owner and operator of the Londonderry Stove Works Co. Their daughter, Annie Blanche Blaikie (1860 - 1879), died at 19-years-old. After the death of Adelaide, John McKay married her first cousin, Melinda Gould (nee McLellan) (1842 – 1920). All three sons married and remained in the area until their deaths; only John Arthur and Gloud Wilson had children. The descendants of the Blaikie Family continued to occupy the Great Village area of Nova Scotia for over a century.

Custodial history

This collection was given to Dick Akerman, former volunteer of the Colchester Historical Society, in a garbage bag that was going to be thrown out. The items were collected by the Blaikie Family, as well as other families of Great Village, NS. Additional acquisitions from other donors were later added to this collection by the archivist.

Scope and content

The collection contains textual records and photographs that demonstrate the activities of several members of the Blaikie Family of Great Village, NS, for almost a century from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. Items were arranged into series by the archivist based on record type or content, including: letters; insurance policies for various properties in Great Village; payment agreements; Estate of Melinda (Gould) Blaikie; bills; land deeds; John Wier contracts; World War I correspondence, mostly between Joseph McKay Blaikie and Blanche Johnson; ledgers; documents related to the shipbuilding and shipping industries, focusing on “The Peerless”, “Chieftain”, and “The President”. The fonds also contains assorted items related to community organizations and happenings in Great Village, NS, including: day books for Ezra Layton’s store; Iron Age Division of the Sons of Temperance; dyke books; play bills; Corinthians Lodge; war rations books; Women’s Institute of Great Village; and a scrapbook. The photograph collection contains a large number of portraits, with most people identified as members of the Blaikie Family. There are also a large number of photographs of William Edward Spencer and Truene Ruth (Geddes) Spencer, at home and on holiday in California.

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

Anonymous, 2006, given to an archives volunteer; Arthur Chisholm, 8 June 2006, gift; Mary Baird, 4 April 2007, gift; Donalda Nelson, 17 May 2007, gift.

Arrangement

The collection was arranged by the archivist.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

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    Finding aids

    Box lists are available.

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