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Fonds/Collection Description

Title Heaps family fonds
Description Level Fonds
Fonds No. IH 1999.13
Creator Heaps (family)
Material Type graphic material
Date Range 1905 - 1941
Title Source Title based on accompanying documentation.
Physical Description 241 photographs
History/Biographical Edward Hewetson Heaps was born in England in 1851. He arrived in Canada with his family in 1889 and was living in Vancouver by 1889. The Heaps family consisted of E.H. Heaps, his wife Anna, his four sons: Edward, James, John and Arthur, and three daughters: Kate, Elsie and Constance. In the earliest provincial directories Heaps is listed owning a furniture factory in Vancouver. The sons worked with their father in the company of Heaps & Sons. In subsequent years, Heaps and Sons became a manufacturer of lumber and shingles. Besides his Vancouver operation, E.H. Heaps also owned and operated logging camps which supplied the lumber for his mills. One mill was near Powell Street where the Heaps were then living. E.H. Heaps then turned to the manufacture of machinery for the lumber trade. He took over from Schaake Machine Works in New Westminster, the manufacture of the Yale engine used in marine applications. The manufacture of these engines and other machinery took place at a newly constructed plant on Lulu Island (Queensborough). The company was renamed Heaps Engineering. The construction of this plant began in 1912 and during the First World War the plant produced shells for the army . . . Two sons, Edward and John were associated with this company and John moved to New Westminster to be closer to the operation. He was the assistant manager. John Heaps married Margaret White in 1905 and his brother James married Gertrude Horne in 1908. Arthur Heaps married Emily Withers in 1925. E.H. Heaps himself moved to the West End and he was listed as living at 1520 Harwood St. upon his death in 1940. His wife had pre-deceased him in 1927. Heaps Engineering was re-organized after his death, but his son Edward remained a director of the firm.
Scope & Content The fonds consists of one photo album which includes for the most part pictures of the Heaps family members. The children shown are likely the offspring of John and James Heaps, given the dates of the photos. Although many of the photos are dated, there is almost no identification of the individuals themselves. Many of the photos were likely taken in Vancouver when the Heaps were living in East Vancouver. In some photos a mill can be seen behind a residence. Several photos appear to show some of Heaps logging interests. Please note that not all of the photographs are available in this database.
Accession No. IH 1999.13
Name Access Heaps (family)