Collection

Duncan B. Jennings fonds

Description Level

Fonds

GMD

textual record

Creator

Duncan B. Jennings

Fonds No.

PF2

Accession No.

1971.41

1971.47

Physical Description

2.5 cm of textual record

Date Range

[1910-1925]

History / Biographical

Duncan B Jennings was a prospector and contractor who primarily operated around Lake Kathlyn (then Chicken Lake). In 1910, he and his brother Dave signed a contract in Aldermere to do grade work and stayed in a tent in Bulkley. That winter, Duncan and Dave moved to Kathlyn Lake and Duncan worked whipsawing lumber for the construction of the Broughton and McNeil store. During the summer of 1912, the Broughton and McNeil store caught fire and the owners, uninterested in rebuilding, sold the property to the Jennings Brothers. Duncan and his brother purchased all salvaged goods and ran a general store and post office. In 1914, Duncan was made an official postmaster of Kathlyn Lake by the Post Office Department of Canada. However, their business suffered during World War I and the brothers were forced to close the post office and store. In the winter of 1915, they started cutting ice from Lake Kathlyn and began a contract with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway to fill ice houses from Prince George to Prince Rupert. Throughout the 1910s, they also operated several mining claims in the Valley, though without any success. Duncan left to join the army in fall 1917 but little is known about his brief time with the military. From his return in 1918 until 1925, Duncan worked as prospector and tie-cutter for the railroad in various areas of Northern B.C. In spring 1919 his brother Dave married Florence Underhill. In May 1925 Duncan married Gertrude Varwise, settling in Giscome, B.C. They moved to Vancouver in 1937. Duncan Jennings died in 1945.

Scope and Content

Fonds contains entries from the diary of Duncan B Jennings and letter regarding postmastership from the Post Office Department of Canada.

Arrangement

Records were intellectually rearranged in September 2016 by Manda Haligowski to better reflect archival standards and to improve accessibility.

Notes

Title based on provenence.

Type of Record

Archival Description

Less detail