Fonds PR3807 - T.E. Brown fonds

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Title proper

T.E. Brown fonds

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  • Textual record
  • Graphic material

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  • Source of title proper: The title is based on creator of fonds.

Level of description

Fonds

Reference code

PAA PR3807

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Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

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Physical description

0.23 m textual. --11 photographs.

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Archival description area

Name of creator

(1899-1971)

Biographical history

Thomas Erwin (‘Ernie’) Brown was born in Richmond, Ontario in 1899 to Robert Brown and Harriet Lillion Brown (nee Evoy). In August 1915, Thomas enlisted for service with the Canadian military’s 77th Battalion, forging his birth year on his attestation papers as 1894. Thomas was discharged from the battalion in September 1915, after it was found he was underage. On March 2 1916, Thomas enlisted again, this time successfully with the 73rd Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (Royal Highlanders of Canada) as a Private. He sailed from Halifax to England in June 1916. The battalion mobilized to the French theatre in October 1916. Thomas suffered a gunshot wound to his cheek in November 1916, and was pulled from active service twice due to ‘valvular disease of the heart’. Thomas was eventually promoted in 1918 to become a sergeant with the Canadian Airforce, 123rd squadron.

Thomas was discharged from service in July 1919, and returned to his home in Richmond Ontario to live with his parents. In 1920, he enrolled for studies in medicine at Queen’s University. While studying at Queen’s, Thomas was an active member of the medical student organization known as the Aesculapian society.

Thomas moved to Alberta in the late 1920s to practice medicine, settling in Taber with his new wife, Kathleen Ida Brown (nee Wilson). Thomas practiced general medicine and obstetrics in the Taber area. Kathleen passed away in 1932 from complications due to childbirth. Thomas remained in Taber and continued his practice, and a short time later met and married Margaret Killoran, a nurse from Vegreville, in 1933. The couple moved on from Taber to Lethbridge, where Thomas began work with the Campbell Clinic as a gynecologist and general practitioner.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Thomas enlisted for military service once again, this time as a captain in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps. At the war’s end, he returned to Lethbridge to serve as a city alderman from 1946 to 1948. After his time in city council, Thomas returned to medicine in 1950 to become the Chief of Obstetrics at St Michael’s General Hospital in Lethbridge. He would occupy this role until 1968.

In addition to practicing medicine, Thomas was also a talented artist, in the mediums of sketching and watercolour. Between 1946 and 1968, his works received six awards from the Canadian Medical Association’s annual Physicians Art Salon.

Thomas passed away in 1971, survived by his wife Margaret and four children.

Custodial history

The records were passed from Brown to his son, Tim Brown, who was married to Avreillia Brown. Following the divorce of Tim and Avreillia, the records remained in Avreillia’s home, passing ownership onto her. Avreillia then passed the records on to her sister, Myroslawa Fodchuk, to be donated to the Provincial Archives of Alberta in 2013.

Scope and content

Fonds consists of military service and personal records of Dr Thomas Erwin (T.E) Brown, a veteran of both World Wars and a doctor in Taber and Lethbridge. Records include Brown’s military notebooks, ration books, field notes and correspondence; an account book from Brown’s medical practice in Taber in the 1930s and pamphlets relating to pediatric medicines; photographs of Brown’s family; and a sketchbook with Brown’s drawings of his home and family.

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

Records were donated to the Provincial Archives of Alberta by Myroslawa Fodchuk on behalf of her sister, Avreillia Brown, in 2013.

Arrangement

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

Location of originals

Availability of other formats

Restrictions on access

None.

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

Permission for use required. Subject to the Copyright Act.

Finding aids

File list is available.

Associated materials

T.E Brown’s military service files for the First World War can be accessed through Library and Archives Canada, under regiment numbers 144319 and 145794.

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Further accruals are not expected.

General note

Biographical sketch based on content of fonds.

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Description record identifier

PR3807

Institution identifier

Provincial Archives of Alberta

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