F. Mitchell, Hosking family fonds

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Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

F. Mitchell, Hosking family fonds

General material designation

  • Textual record
  • Graphic material
  • Cartographic material

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Level of description

Fonds

Reference code

Accession numbers 2003.011, 2006.001, 2010.011, 2010.012 and 2010.013.

Edition area

Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

Class of material specific details area

Statement of scale (cartographic)

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Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • 1834, 1873-[ca. 1975], [1995?] (Creation)

Physical description area

Physical description

70 photographs, 2 maps, and other material.

Publisher's series area

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Archival description area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Flora Henry (1853-1918) came to Oyster Pond, Halifax County, Nova Scotia in the early 1870s to teach school. On December 8, 1875, she married John Duncan Mitchell (1845-1885). John Duncan Mitchell was a local seaman who was a grandson of Colin Campbell Mitchell (ca. 1767-1847) who immigrated to Nova Scotia from Fifeshire, Scotland in 1784. John had worked as a ship’s carpenter on the schooner “P.C. Hill” while it was captained by his uncle Philip Mitchell (1806-1871). John and Flora had two children together, Roxanna “Roxie” Ethel (1877-1941) and William Mose Ogle “Willie O” (1881-1949). John Duncan died in 1885 and in 1891 Flora, known then as Mrs. J.D. Mitchell or “Flowie Dunc,” opened a store in Oyster Pond. After Flora’s death in 1918, primary responsibilities for the store were passed to her son W.M.O. Mitchell, who continued running it until his death in 1949.

Name of creator

Biographical history

Frederick William Hosking (1874-1931) was a baker who immigrated to Nova Scotia from Portsmouth, England. On September 30, 1903 Hosking married Roxanna “Roxie” Ethel Mitchell (1877-1941). Roxanna was born in Oyster Pond, Halifax County, Nova Scotia and before she married Frederick, she worked as a dry goods clerk in Halifax. Frederick and Roxanna had two children, William Lyall (1905-1926) and Garth Merdon Leon (1912-1994). Frederick served overseas in the First World War and probably during this time Roxanna moved back to her family home in Oyster Pond, where her mother Flora (Henry) Mitchell (1853-1918) and brother William Mose Ogle “Willie O” Mitchell (1881-1949) were operating a store. After the war, the Hoskings opened an ice cream parlour on the second floor of the store. Frederick also spent time living and working in the United States, and died there in 1931. In 1939 their son Garth Hosking married Mildred Edna Roberts (1916-2009), a schoolteacher from Truro. In the late 1930s, Garth opened a garage near the Oyster Pond store, and upon his uncle W.M.O. Mitchell’s death in 1949, he assumed ownership of the store. The store was operated primarily by his wife Mildred Hosking until it closed around 1975. Garth and Mildred had three children, Elaine (Hosking) Dooks, Marlene (Hosking) LeLacheur, and Merdon Hosking.

Custodial history

Records remained in the custody of the Mitchell and Hosking families until they were transferred to the care of the Lake Charlotte Area Heritage Society. A portion of the records were kept in the Garth M. Hosking General Store until the store was dismantled by the society in 1995. The records were then transferred several times to different storage locations under the supervision of the society. The records remained in basement storage (with dehumidifier) for approximately five years before being transferred to their final storage area in the Eastern Shore Archives in 2003. The remainder of the records were kept in the Mitchell/Hosking family home in Oyster Pond and were transferred to the Eastern Shore Archives in a series of transfers in 2010.

Donations were made by Mildred Hosking in 2003 and 2006 and by Elaine and Max Dooks in 2010 and 2011.

Scope and content

Fonds consists of records of the family of F. Mitchell and the related Hosking family of Nova Scotia and includes financial records, records related to the Murray Harbour Black and Silver Fox Ranching Company, photographs, diary excerpts, correspondence, certificates, records related to tourism, wartime and military memorabilia, religious records, records related to the Freemasons, and music.

Notes area

Physical condition

Some tintype photographs have rust and/ or flaking emulsion and the page from Flora Mitchell's diary is very delicate and torn in places. A book of poetry contained within the fonds is also fragile and its back cover has fallen off.

Immediate source of acquisition

Some records (accessions 2003.011 and 2006.001) were donated by Mildred Hosking in 1995 as part of the contents of the Garth M. Hosking General Store building. The remainder of the records (accessions 2010.011, 2010.012 and 2010.013) were donated by Garth and Mildred Hoskings daughter Elaine Dooks in a series of transfers in 2010.

Arrangement

Different accessions are arranged separately.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

    Location of originals

    Availability of other formats

    Scanned photographs are available in the photo archives database. The numbers of the scans are located on the posterior of the original photographs.

    Typed transcript of the diary page is available.

    Restrictions on access

    Researchers are asked to view scanned photographs in photo archives database in order to minimize handling of originals.

    Researchers are asked to view typed transcripts of diary excerpts due to fragile state of original document.

    Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

    Associated materials

    Accruals

    Possible additional accruals expected.

    General note

    Artefacts related to the Mitchell, Hosking family and store are accessioned under 2012.012 and 2012.013.

    Physical description

    Includes: 70 photographs, 15 folders of textual records, 4 books, and 2 maps.

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    Sources

    Eastern Shore families: Head of Jeddore / Robert Kim Stevens. – Lake Charlotte: Maritime Imprints, 2001.

    “Hosking (Roberts), Mildred Edna”. Chronicle Herald. 28 Jan. 2010 http://jobspress.com/announcements/obituaries/hosking-roberts-mildred-edna-%E2%80%94-93-oyster-pond

    Memories of Oyster Pond's Village Store: 1891-1975 / Memory Lane Heritage Village, Lake Charlotte, Nova Scotia. – (Community Memories / Virtual Museum of Canada). 27 Jan. 2010 http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/pm.php?id=exhibit_home&fl=0&lg=English&ex=00000291

    Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics / Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management.

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