Collection search - Robert Reford Company fonds [multiple media]

Record information – Brief
1
Robert Reford Company fonds [multiple media]

Hierarchical level:

Fonds

Date:

1820-2000.

Reference:

R3089-0-1-E, MG28-III59

Type of material:

Textual material, Maps and cartographic material, Architectural and technical drawings, Stamps and stamp products, Photographs

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

104017

Context of this record:

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Robert Reford Company fonds
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Record information – Details
Fonds includes:

24 lower level description(s)
View lower level description(s)

Date(s):

1820-2000.

Place of creation:

Canada

Extent:

23.64 m of textual records.
10 maps.
1 atlas.
29 architectural drawings.
248 postal covers and other philatelic records.
5047 photographs.
11 drawings and caricatures.
125 postcards.
85 microfilm reels.
5 medals and badges.
4.6812 GB of digital records.

Language of material:

English
Accession:

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Robert Reford Company fonds [textual record]

Lady Durham's Journal [textual record]

Robert Reford Company fonds [textual record]
Scope and content:

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Fonds consists of textual records that document the Robert Reford Company and personal records of members of the Reford family. The records document the operation of the business, finances (account books), correspondence (letter books), subject files and so on.

Fonds also contains maps, a booklet, an architectural drawing (1890-1919) pertaining to transportation routes in Canada, including railway maps, shipper's guide to the Maritime Provinces and maps of the harbours in Halifax and Glasgow, Nova Scotia.

Fonds also contains three philatelic items from the private collection of Lewis L. Reford and other philatelic records given by Lewis L. Reford to some members of the family. These records are mostly postal covers.

Provenance:

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Reford, Robert Company

Biography/Administrative history:

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Reford, Robert Company : The Robert Reford Company, a shipping agent, originated in a firm founded in Toronto by William Ross, which flourished in the 1850s. The firm began as a wholesale grocery business with contacts in Canada East, Canada West, and the northern United States, and expanded into the carrying trade when it acquired and operated a fleet of Great Lake schooners. Around 1865 Ross sold the business to Jonathon Dillon, an employee, and Robert Reford, a partner in the William Strachan Company. In 1866 an office was opened in Montreal and a decade later the business was moved entirely to Montreal and changed its name from Reford and Dillon to Robert Reford Company.

Meanwhile William Ross had moved to Scotland where he took over the Temperley Line and converted it from sailing ships to steamships. Subsequently known as the Ross Line, it ran the first regular steamship service between London and Montreal, and the Reford Company was its Canadian agent. Later the Reford Company became the agent for the Donaldson, Thompson and Lord Lines. In 1913, Robert Reford died and was replaced as president by his son, Robert Wilson Reford.

About 1911 the Thompson Line was bought by the Cunard Line, and the Reford Company became Cunard's agent in Montreal. Cunard acquired a 25% interest in the Company in 1919, raising it to 50% in 1929. In 1929 the Company became agent for Cunard in Canada, with offices in Vancouver, Halifax and other cities. This arrangement was terminated in 1946, when Cunard established its own offices in Canada and sold its interest in the Company back to the Reford Family. Robert Wilson Reford's son Eric assumed the presidency of the Company in 1947.

Finding aid:

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Multiple media (Electronic) The first link is the finding aid of a shelf list of letterbooks and some account books, and a file list of the remaining material. It describes volumes 1 to 30 at the file level. The second link is the finding aid that describes volumes 96 to 173 at the file level. MSS0998 (90: Open)
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf001/p000001605.pdf
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/p000003662.pdf

Cartographic material, architectural, technical drawings (Paper) Please consult lower level descriptions. An itemized listing is available. Reford, Robert Co. 83402/11. (90: Open)

Additional information:

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General note:

Additional material, not described here, is in process. Researchers wishing to use this material should consult the Economic/Scientific Archives section.
Textual records:

Original extent note:

Received in 1973 from Mr. Eric Reford of Montreal, Que., and in 1983 from Mr. Alexis Reford of Montreal, Que.

Philatelic note:

Besides the postal covers, the fonds includes 1 postage stamp, 2 blocks of postage stamps and 1 pane of postage stamps.

Philatelic issue data:

Canada and other jurisdictions: various denomination.

Associated material note:

Books and pamphlets: Transferred to the National Archives Library., For material related to Elsie Reford, see: The Reford Gardens / Les Jardins de Métis, a National Historic Site open to the public, located in Grand-Métis, Quebec. (Mary Elsie Stephen (Meighen) Reford (1872-1967) married Robert Wilson Reford in 1894.)

Related material:

For materials relating to the son of Robert Reford (1831-1913), see: Robert Wilson Reford and family fonds (photographs and other records, R5624 / MG24 L19).

For materials relating to the children of Robert Wilson Reford (1867-1950) and Elsie (Meighen) Reford (1872-1967), see: Lewis Eric Reford collection (R4774 / MG31 B2) and Robert Bruce Stephen Reford fonds (moving images, R8795).

For materials relating to the brother of Robert Wilson Reford, see: Lewis L. Reford philatelic collection (R3089 / R4564).

For materials relating to the Reford family, see: the Reford family fonds (notes on family history, R6324 / MG25 G166).

For materials relating to the uncle of Elsie (Meighen) Reford, see: George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen fonds (R7653 / MG29-A30).
Subject heading:

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Shipping - Canada, 1852-1931 Reford and Dillon (Montreal), [between 1852 and 1931]

Business enterprises - Canada, 1852-1931 Reford and Dillon (Toronto), [between 1852 and 1931]

Robert Reford Company - Records and correspondence, 1852-1931 Royal Commission on Transportation, 1905-1907

William Ross & Co. - Records and correspondence, [between 1852 and 1859]

Robert Reford Company - Records and correspondence, [between 1852 and 1859]

Robert Wilson Reford - Correspondence, 1925

Shipping - Rates, 1925

Transportation - Canada, 1852-1931
Source:

Private

Related control no.:

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1984/0565
2021-00200-4
2021-00234-9
MG28-III59

Former archival reference no.:

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MG28-III59

Other accession no.:

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83402/11 CA
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

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Textual records

[Consultation90 Open]

Finding aid box [FA 998] 92

[Consultation 10 Closed]

Cartographic material

[Consultation90 Open]

Architectural: technical drawings

[Consultation90 Open]

Philatelic records

[Consultation90 Open]

Graphic (photo)

[Consultation99 Closed pending processing]

Terms of use:

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Cartographic material: No donor restrictions. Copyright: Expired. Credit: National Archives of Canada / Copy negative no.
Philatelic records: Copyright of philatelic products (stamps) belong to the respective postal administration. Trademark of the label belongs to the American Express Company.
Architectural, technical drawings: No donor restrictions. Copyright: Expired. Credit: Library and Archives Canada / Copy negative no.

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