Collection

Alan Pickard fonds

Description Level

Fonds

GMD

electronic record

graphic material

Creator

Alan Pickard

Fonds No.

PF23

Accession No.

2017.44

2019.23

2020.2

2020.41

Physical Description

1.71 GB of electronic records

Date Range

2001-2020

History / Biographical

Alan Pickard was born and raised in New Zealand. He met his wife, Anne, while visiting Calgary en route to Europe. They moved to the Bulkley Valley in 1970, working here for a few months before moving to Kitimat for four years. Afterwards, they returned to Smithers and built a log cabin on Telkwa High Road. The two were frequent international travelers, dividing their time between the Bulkley Valley and locations such as Alaska, Saudi Arabia and New Zealand. Pickard began researching early settler history of the Bulkley Valley in 1998. He initially focused on the Telkwa High Road and the two telegraph lines that ran along it: the Collins Overland telegraph (1866) and the Yukon telegraph (1900). His interests then broadened to include early trails, roads and bridges, early (pre-1914) settlers, place names, and maps. Pickard’s use of original sources (books, archival records, etc.) in his research led to him collecting documents such as early mining claims, Hudson’s Bay Company and North West Company trading posts, and land surveys in the Bulkley Valley. Pickard’s research is a continuation of the work of other researchers, including local historian Lynn Shervill, author of “Smithers: From Swamp to Village,” and John Tupper Saywell. He also assisted Kate Smallwood with her book “Kate’s Selection,” published in 2005. In addition to his historical research, Pickard served as the Chairman of the Smithers Library Board, was a member of the Bulkley Valley Writers’ Group, contributed articles to the Interior News, staked mining claims, worked as an electrician, and wrote poetry (his volume being the first book printed by Bulkley Valley Printers). In 2005, Alan and Anne Pickard returned to New Zealand, where they currently reside.

Custodial History

Records were collected and created throughout Pickard’s research activities. Items were donated by Alan Pickard on June 29th 2017, July 22nd 2019, January 15th 2020, and October 18th 2020.

Scope and Content

Fonds contains records related to Alan Pickard’s historical research. It is divided into two series based on the content of the research and the author’s own organization: Telkwa High Road History and Place Name Stories.

Arrangement

Items have been retained in the original order established by their creator (Alan Pickard). Duplicate records and empty folders have been deleted. Original order of the file structure has been screencapped and can be referred to if needed.

Geographic Access

Bulkley Valley

Smithers, B.C.

Reproduction Restrictions

Records collected for reference by Alan Pickard may or may not be protected by copyright. These include PDF articles and images.

Type of Record

Archival Description

Less detail