Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Charles Westgate fonds
General material designation
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on contents of records.
Level of description
Fonds
Repository
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
48 photographs. -- 3 cm of textual records
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Charles R. Westgate, 1866-1942, was born in England and emigrated to Sudbury, Ontario in 1885. He attended Methodist seminary for two years and then established a business in Montreal. He married Harriet Elizabeth Lewis, 1862-1954, and they had three sons, Charlie, ?-ca. 1918, Bill, ?-ca. 1920s, and John Gordon. Charles had investments in southern Alberta coal mines and ca. 1909 was an officer of the Bow River Centre Collieries Limited. By 1913 he was secretary-treasurer of Prairie Coal Co., a group of Montreal investors who had bought coal deposits along the Bow River near Brooks, Alberta. The company opened the Bow City Coal Mine in 1909 and set up a town site called Bow City. In 1914 Charles and the family moved to Bow City, and ca. 1919 he bought the company's assets and formed his own called Kleenbirn Collieries, Limited. He also held Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) coal leases and co-owned the People's Coal Mine with T.H. Wiggins. Charles retired in 1937 and Gordon took over. In 1943 Kleenbirn expanded, with government backing, to provide coal for war needs. The company closed its underground mine ca. 1944 in order to concentrate on strip mining begun in 1932. After about 1953 sales fell off to local sales only.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The fonds consists of photographs of Bow City businesses, events and personalities including the Westgate family and homestead (1910-1939); and photographs of coal operations and mines at Kleenbirn Collieries (1920-1931). Includes Charles' business correspondence (1914-1927); Kleenbirn coal analysis and reports and letter to shareholders (1922, 1933, 1935), Bow Centre Collieries bylaws and prospectus (1910, 1911), Prairie Coal Company prospectus (nd) and statement (1913), Bow City booster pamphlets (ca. 1913), letter written by Gordon about the history of Kleenbirn (1970), and newsclippings about Kleenbirn.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Gift of Mrs. M.E. Westgate, 1979-1981.
Arrangement
Language of material
- The material is in English.
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
No restrictions on access.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
No finding aid.
Associated materials
Accruals
General note
Record No. M 1602;PA 2346<br><br>
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number area
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Westgate, Charles (Subject)