Henry S. Colwell fonds

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Henry S. Colwell fonds

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  • Textual record
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Fonds

Reference code

CR13

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  • 1890 - 1948 (Creation)
    Creator
    Colwell, Henry S.

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Physical description

40 cm of textual records
4 photographs

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Biographical history

Henry Stubbs Colwell was a City of Halifax Alderman for Ward 1 between 1915-1925, and was Deputy Mayor in 1917 and again from 1923-1924. He considered running for Mayor in 1925, but withdrew because of ill-health. During the Halifax Explosion, December 6, 1917, Mayor Peter F. Martin was away, so Deputy Mayor Colwell took responsibility for the City's response to the tragedy, and initiated numerous aid committees.

Colwell was born in Saint John, New Brunswick on June 3, 1863. After enlisting in the contingent in 1885 and serving in the North-West Rebellion in Manitoba, Colwell returned to Halifax and established Colwell Brothers Limited in 1891. Colwell Brothers Limited was a succesful clothier, and Colwell was the company president. Colwell died on May 7, 1948, at the age of 85.

Custodial history

Donated by John Colwell, grandson of Henry S. Colwell, in 2007.

Scope and content

Fonds consists of Alderman Colwell's constituency correspondence, reports from the Committee on City Prison and the Charities Committee's oversight of the City Home, as well as records from Halifax's response to the Halifax Explosion. Committee-related records include: property assessments; an annual report from the City Prison for the 1916-1917 fiscal year; a list of committees and committee members for the 1924-1925 fiscal year, and copies of some city council minutes for 1923-1925. There is also a file regarding the proposed City Home extension which details overcrowding issues on the insane ward, and the request to house elderly couples together. There is a 1924 report on the condition of City Home, focusing on air-quality and overcrowding problems. There is also correspondence regarding a sketch plan of the proposed extension to City Home (the plan itself is not included in the file). A 1925 auditor's evaulation is also included.There is a file on Colwell's mayoral running in 1925, which includes various petitions in support of Colwell's run for Mayor, newspaper clippings, and correspondence regarding Colwell's ill-health and subsequent removal from mayoral candidacy.Records about the Halifax Explosion include City Council meeting minutes from December 6, 1917 to January 10, 1918 which detail the City's response to the disaster.The fonds contains newspaper clippings from the 1917 Halifax Explosion, the 1945 VE Day riots in Halifax; from a 1934 Halifax Herald - Halifax Mail special publication, "Builders of Greater Halifax and Dartmouth"; The Morning Chronicle's "Coronation Number" feautre on the cornonation of King Edward VII; and from Colwell's death.There are four photograph portraits of Colwell. The files of correspondence document the full gamut of aldermanic responsibilities including municipal election campaign material, the 1916 agreement between the City and the Halifax Power Company, the 1918 Tramway Strike, the decision to impose black-outs during WWI, the 1918 mass resignation of aldermen, taxation on billboards, wartime preparation, notes by Colwell for speeches and meeting preparation, speeches to welcome back servicemen from WWI, funeral notices including that of Sir Charles Tupper which includes the 1915 funeral procession list.

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      See also City Home Records fonds for additional correspondence regarding the City Home(see reference code 102-33). \n\nThe Significant Investigation Files of the Halifax City Police contain correspondence on the VE Day Riots (see 102-16T). \n\nBusiness records of Colwell Brothers stores are held at Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management.

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