Collection search - Wills, Archie - Interview

Record information – Brief

1

Wills, Archie - Interview

Item number (ISN):

169473

Series title:

Voice of the Pioneer

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Item number (ISN):

169473

Type of material:

Sound recordings

Found in:

Archives / Film, Video and Sound

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Record information – Details

Fonds/collection:

MCNEIL, Bill

Accession:

1989-0460

Media:

Sound

Part:

1 of 1

Release date:

1981-12/1982-01

Production company:

Bill McNeil (Interviewer)

Description:

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Interview of longtime newspaper reporter Archie Wills, who was born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1892, about his memories of Victoria. Wills speaks about: memories of Indians living on Vancouver Island; salmon fishing; the British influence on life in Victoria; and the various ethnic and religious groups who populated Victoria, including Chinese, Hindus and Japanese. Of the early history of Victoria, Wills states that the English and Scots settlers, who considered themselves of a superior social standing, obtained large lots of land circa the 1840s. The British influence was also strengthened by the presence of the British garrison and navy. Wills recalls the economic boom that took place circa 1912, when real estate was a large money-maker for speculators.~Wills also talks about the native Indians, their work as domestics, fishermen, and hunters of grouse and deer, their custom of placing old people who were about to die in cages made of cedar slats, the imposition of a White system of justice on the native peoples, and potlatches.~The treatment of people of Chinese, Hindu and Japanese birth or descent is discussed. Wills talks about the widespread availability of opium smuggled from China, the poll tax on Chinese immigrants, and how opium dens and the smoking of opium were legal. He recalls the Komagatu Maru incident of May 1914, in which a shipload of Hindu immigrants from India was refused permission to land at Victoria. He makes a brief reference to the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.~Wills recalls his First World War service, his being in Mons when the war ended, the battles of Vimy and Passchendaele, the valour of the Canadian troops, the skill of the Commander, Arthur Currie, as a strategist, and the Dumbells entertainment troupe.~After the war, Wills resumed his newspaper career, which began when he joined the Victoria Times in 1907. He became a syndicated columnist on hockey. Wills recounts his memories of Lester and Frank Patrick, who played for and managed a number of early hockey teams and the 1925 Stanley Cup victory by Victoria. He comments on the National Hockey League of today.

Language:

English

Notes:

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1. Interview edited for broadcast on the CBC Radio series Voice of the Pioneer in three installments, on December 20, 1981, December 27, 1981 and January 3, 1982.~2. Not the complete program as broadcast, because there is no introduction or closing.~3. The text published in the book Voice of the Pioneer, Volume 3, pp. 159-162, is based on this interview.

Detailed holdings information:

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Vault ISN:

177447

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

1989-0460/074

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

R/R

Technical description:

POLY

Made from:

DEPOSIT

Status:

ORIG

Vault ISN:

200172

Format:

VIDEO

Location number:

C10917

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

SOF

Made from:

1985-0166/1
1985-0166/2
1985-0356/177
1979-0019/560
1989-0460/074
1974-0048/1
1974-0048/2

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

1151473

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

169473-1989-0460-074.WAV

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

BWF

Duration:

27:20

Made from:

1989-0460/074

Status:

MASTER
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

Open

Restrictions on consultation:

No Restrictions / Pas de restrictions

Reproduction access:

with written permission of copyright owner : with permission of Bill McNeilCBC has rights only for one broadcast of each of the programs.Contact for Bill McNeil: Dawn McNeil Lemaire.

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