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Interview with Ruby Hoskins

https://search.bvmuseum.org/link/descriptions12254
Date Range
August 13 1990
Collection
BVM Oral History collection
Description Level
File
GMD
sound recording
electronic record
Scope and Content
Interview with Ruby Hoskins (nee Williams), recorded on August 13th 1990 by Lori Hudson. Includes raw and edited .WAV files, an .MP3 access file, and a .pdf release form.
More detail
1 audio
Collection
BVM Oral History collection
Description Level
File
GMD
sound recording
electronic record
Creator
Lori Hudson
Fonds No.
C5
Item No.
2021.21.47
Accession No.
2021.21
Physical Description
1.37 GB of digital records
Date Range
August 13 1990
Scope and Content
Interview with Ruby Hoskins (nee Williams), recorded on August 13th 1990 by Lori Hudson. Includes raw and edited .WAV files, an .MP3 access file, and a .pdf release form.
Type of Record
Archival Description

Audio Tracks

Interview with Ruby Hoskins - August 13 1990

Interview with Ruby Hoskins - August 13 1990

https://search.bvmuseum.org/media/Digital%20Fonds%20and%20Collections/C5%20BVM%20Oral%20History%20collection/2021.21.47_Hoskins,%20Ruby/Hoskins,%20Ruby%2008_13.ACCESS.MP3

Ruby Hoskins begins the interview with an overview of her childhood in Wales and her family's immigration to the Bulkley Valley in 1928. She discusses the family's reasons for moving to Smithers, how they travelled from Britain to Canada, and what they did shortly after their arrival in their new home.

keywords

arrival; Bulkley Hotel; Cardiff, Wales; dairy farm; Driftwood; farm; farming; log cabin; ranch; RMS Empress of France; Soldier Settlement Board; Telkwa; Thomas Williams; train; train cars; transportation; travel

subjects

childhood; immigration; Smithers; Wales; Williams family

Hoskins discusses how she worked as a waitress in the Bulkley Hotel shortly after her arrival in Smithers. She includes a story about the hotel's cook, Sam Hunt, and an interaction with some uncooperative customers.

keywords

cook; customers; dining room; drunkenness; houses; prospecting; restaurant; Sam Hunt; San Francisco earthquake; Smithers Hotel; visiting; waitress

subjects

Bulkley Hotel; employment; work

Hoskins discusses working for the Carr family, who helped her adjust to her new life in Canada.

keywords

children; Christmas; Jack Carr; jobs for young women; Katie Carr; sayings

subjects

Carr family; employment; work

Hoskins discusses her work at the Smithers post office and how mail was transported in the 1920s/30s.

keywords

proposals; sorting mail; train

subjects

communication; employment; post office; work

Hoskins discusses her marriage to Oswald in 1934 and the opening of his business, the Hoskins Service Station, during the Great Depression. She also mentions some of the differences between life in Wales and Canada.

keywords

Anglican Church; banker; Duncan, BC; economy; Great Depression; Henry Motors; honeymoon; jobs; mechanics; politics; Prince George; road conditions; roads; school; Wales

subjects

business; Hoskins Service Station; marriage; Oswald Hoskins

Hoskins discusses the first house she rented with her husband, as well as general housing in Smithers at the time.

keywords

garden; homesickness; Hoskins home; log houses; rent; tablecloth

subjects

buildings; homes; houses; housing

Hoskins gives her first impressions of Smithers' Main Street and its businesses, and tells of a miscommunication between herself and a shopkeeper at Dunlop's Store regarding cotton thread. Note that the audio cuts in and out around 31:25.

keywords

bathing suits; benches; buildings; clothing store; cotton thread; Eby's Hardware; Main Street ditch; miscommunication; Miss McLaughlin; Mrs. Dunlop; prospectors; sidewalks

subjects

businesses; Dunlop's Store; Main Street; Smithers

Hoskins gives her first impression of the Indigenous residents of Smithers and the Bulkley Valley. She talks of their reception in town and their contributions to the workforce, as well as differences in how ethnicity was viewed in Canada vs. Wales. (Warning that this section includes offensive language and stereotypical depictions of Indigenous people).

keywords

Carr family; ethnicity; farm work; post office; shopping

subjects

Indigenous labour; Indigenous people; race; racism

Hoskins talks briefly about the scarcity of electrical appliances in Smithers during the 1920s/30s, and how extra electricity was allotted on Mondays for powering the washing machines.

keywords

cleaning floors; CNR; wash day; washing machines

subjects

appliances; electricity; mechanization

Hoskins talks about the most common livelihoods in Smithers at the time she arrived, as well as the effect of the Great Depression and the Second World War on the local economy.

keywords

availability of goods; barter system; boarding house; Duthie Mine; economic diversification; farming; generosity; government workers; groceries; Hellish Mess; housing; mining; Mr. Finnerty; railway workers; ration books; rationing; timber; trading

subjects

economy; employment; Great Depression; livelihoods; occupations; work; World War II

Hoskins shares anecdotes about several notable locals: Smithers' first doctor, Cecil Hankinson (44:37); theatre-owner, businessman, and mechanic Wiggs O'Neill (49:24); and James Kirby, a policeman, mining registrar, and Clerk of the Peace (52:50). (Note: Kirby's son Ernest drowned in Tatalaska Lake, not Seymour Lake as stated in this interview).

keywords

death; drowning; Ernest Kirby; mail; movie theatre; photographs; post office; Seeley Lake; skating party; sorting mail

subjects

anecdotes; Dr. Cecil Hankinson; James Kirby; Wiggs O'Neill

Hoskins discusses some of the work she undertook later in her adult life: volunteering with the women's auxiliary for the Bulkley Valley District Hospital, and working as one of the first employees of the Tourist Information Centre. (Note: interview ends abruptly without proper conclusion).

keywords

accommodations; bazaar; bridge; bridge parties; Chamber of Commerce; children's costume ball; first aid courses; Halloween; hotels; Indigenous people; Katie Carr; Lake Kathlyn; maps; racism; radio station; Red Cross; Seeley Lake; swimming pool; World War II

subjects

employment; fundraising; Hospital Auxiliary; social events; tourism; Tourist Information Centre; tourists; volunteering; work

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