Fonds med-657 - Henry Brier family fonds

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Henry Brier family fonds

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CA MED med-657

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25 cm of textual records.
63 photographs.

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Name of creator

Biographical history

Henry Brier, originally from Siddal, near Halifax, Yorkshire, immigrated to Winnipeg in 1882, where he worked in brick making. In 1883 he moved on to Stair, by Redcliff, to work for a mining company and later on he was employed by the CPR In 1887, he brought his family out from England and settled on a homestead, three miles west of Medicine Hat. They lived in a railway boxcar until their log house was built on what is now the Brier Park area. In 1901, Henry started a brickyard down by the river on "Brier's Flat, now known as Burnside Farm. To burn his brick, he shipped coal from Lethbridge, shipping by return some of his completed bricks. In 1905 he lost his buildings to fire and moved the brick plant a mile or so east but, owing to dismal economic conditions, he decided to discontinue in brick-making and return to farming. Henry (1847-1924) was married to Susannah (1846-1912) and they had eight children: Harry (1877-1958), Arthur (d. 1932), Isaac (1882-1941), James (1879-1961), Mary Hannah (d. 1953), Amy (1873-1964), Clara (d. 1928) and Florence Anne(d. 1948). The three elder brothers all worked for the CPR, whilst James inherited Burnside. Harry married Maude Denby in 1899 and they had two sons, Arthur and Lawrence. Arthur married Eva Poulton, and Isaac, James and Amy did not marry. Mary Hannah married Andrew McIllwaine and had six children. Florence Brier married Dr. Robert Blyth in 1903 and had one son, Meldrum. Clara married Edward Wm. Brightland of Calgary in 1897 and did not have any children. In 1899, Amy Brier studied telegraphy in Suffield and worked in Seattle and Bellingham, Washington before returning to Medicine Hat in 1911, taking up residency with her brother, James. For many years, Miss Brier sang in the choir of the original St. John's Presbyterian Church. Amy died in 1964 and was the last surviving member of her pioneering family.

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Scope and content

The fonds consists of:
Images of family members of the Brier family.
Letters between Eva Poulton and future husband Arthur Brier while Eva was nursing at hospital in Shaunavon SK [ca. 1938]
Various Mason certificates, held by Harry Brier
Ribbon bookmark (likely meant for a family bible), memorializing Jonathan, husband of Katie Brier (1913)
Eva Poulton's notebook from her studies as a nursing student at Medicine Hat School of Nursing
Correspondence to Arthur and Eva from various family and friends [ca. 1950-1980]
Harry Brier's will and supporting documentation
Correspondence to Mr. Harry Brier (Jr.), largely in regards to Brier Land Company
4 documents re: land -- Brier Land Company (1904-1913)
Vital Statistics documents such as birth certificate, obituaries, wedding and birth announcements etc.
Various bank deposit slips, receipts etc [ca. 1914 - 1955]
Tax info (1937-1941)
Poems from friends, to Henry and Arthur (1896 - ca. 1917)
Girl Guide book, notes ets, belonged to Eva Brier 1952
Letters re: Harry Brier's employment, including 1919 letter of reference form Medicine Hat Pump and Brass, making munitions and 1944 retirement from CPR in 1944.

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Immediate source of acquisition

0014 -- Gift of Miss Amy Brier, June 29, 1951. 0444 -- Copied from originals in the possession of Mr. Meldrum R. Blyth, January 1984. M2012.4 -- Gift of Jerry Glasgo, July 11, 2009. 0877 -- Gift of Jerry Glasgo, July 11, 2009.

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  • The language is in English.

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Record No. P 0014;PC 0444; P 0877; M2012.4<br><br>

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