Collection search - Sir Donald Alexander Smith, Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal fonds [textual record (some microform), graphic material, object]

Record information – Brief
1
Sir Donald Alexander Smith, Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal fonds [textual record (some microform), graphic material, object]

Hierarchical level:

Fonds

Date:

[ca. 1685-1944].

Reference:

R5238-0-1-E, MG29-A5

Type of material:

Textual material, Objects (including medals and pins), Art, Photographs

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

97865

Context of this record:

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Sir Donald Alexander Smith, Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal fonds
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Record information – Details

Fonds includes:

7 lower level description(s)
View lower level description(s)

Date(s):

[ca. 1685-1944].

Place of creation:

No place, unknown, or undetermined

Extent:

2.685 m of textual records.
1 microfilm reel : negative and positive.
75 medals
9 paintings : minatures, watercolour on ivory and enamel on copper.
2 photographs : daguerrotype, b&w.

Language of material:

English

Accession:

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Strathcona fonds [object]

Scope and content:

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Fonds consists of the following: Strathcona papers pertaining principally to the management of Lord Strathcona's financial affairs by his solicitors, original, n.d., 1867-1944, 2.34 m.; Strathcona Trust correspondence, photocopy, 1909-1931, 0.025 m.; Hudson's Bay Company correspondence, transcript, 1852-1869, 0.025 m.; general correspondence, original, 1865-1913, 53 pages, photocopy, 1894, 3 pages; Strathcona Collection of fur trade papers including correspondence and various records, photocopy, 1791-1866, .28 m.; lectures, addresses and other papers. Microfilm, n.d., 1897-1900, 1 reel, A-1087.

Also includes portrait minatures, photographs, medals and medallic devices acquired or given to Lord Strathcona during his lifetime. Portrait minatures include Queen Victoria, King George IV, Mary Queen of Scots, Cecil Rhodes and unidentified 17th, 18th and 19th century individuals.

Provenance:

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Strathcona and Mount Royal, Donald Alexander Smith, baron, 1820-1914

Biography/Administrative history:

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Strathcona and Mount Royal, Donald Alexander Smith, baron, 1820-1914 : Businessman, Politician, Public Servant.

Sir Donald Alexander Smith, first Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1838. After spending three years at Lachine and seven at Tadoussac on the St. Lawrence he was stationed in the Esquimaux Bay district in Labrador. In 1869 he was placed in charge of the Montreal Department. While a fur trader in the Labrador and Montreal districts, Smith acted as a financier for many of his fellow fur traders; he represented the financial interests of these wintering partners in negotiations preceding the Deed Poll of 1871. In 1869 he was chosen to inquire into the Red River Rebellion, during which time he was imprisoned at Fort Garry by Louis Riel.

In 1870 Smith entered politics as a Conservative, representing the constituency of Winnipeg in the Provincial Legislature from 1870-1874, and Selkirk in the House of Commons from 1871-1880. He was instrumental in bringing about the fall of Sir John A. Macdonald's ministry over the Pacific scandal in 1873. In 1880, Smith and his cousin George Stephen became leading shareholders in the Canadian Pacific Railway. Smith was president of the Bank of Montreal in 1882 and 1887, was knighted in 1886, and in 1887-1896 sat for the riding of Montreal West in the House of Commons.

He was elected Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1889 and in 1896 he became Canadian High Commission to Great Britain. In 1897 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal. He was a patron of a large number of institutions including McGill University, founder of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Lord Rector of the University of Aberdeen and member of the Royal Society and British Privy Council. Smith drove the last spike at Craigellachie. He founded Strathcona's Horse during the South Africa War, and was widely known as a philanthropist. The Canadian Who's Who, 1910.

Finding aid:

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Textual records (Electronic) Finding Aid No. 600 is a file list for volumes 1-23. MSS0600 (90: Open)
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf001/p000001054.pdf

(Electronic) 1959-1-1 to 1959-1-9

(Paper) 1959-1

Additional information:

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General note:

Documents created in: Montreal, Que.
The Strathcona Papers (volumes 1-23) were presented by Lord Strathcona in 1965. Photocopies of the Strathcona Fur Trade Collection (volumes 26-28) were made in 1938 from originals in the General Register House, Edinburgh, by the trustees of Lord Strathcona's estate. Strathcona Trust correspondence (volume 24) was copied in 1965 from originals in the Department of National Defence.
Hudson's Bay Company correspondence (volume 25) was transcribed from originals in the Hudson's Bay Company Archives in 1915. The general correspondence (volume 25) includes 13 letters, 1865-1900, transferred from the Beckles Willson Collection; two letters 1894 and 1902 acquired in 1947, and one letter, 1900, acquired in 1978. The letters addresses and other papers were microfilmed in 1979 from originals held by Lord Strathcona.

Location of originals note:

General Register House, Edinburgh, Department of National Defence, Hudson's Bay Company Archives, Beckles Willson Collection, Trustees of Lord Strathcona's Estate.

Source:

Private

Related control no.:

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1979-030 MED
1988/0244
MG29-A5

Former archival reference no.:

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MG29-A5

Other accession no.:

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1959-001 PIC
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

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Textual records

[Consultation90 Open]

Finding aid box [FA 600] 61

[Consultation 10 Closed]

Object

[Consultation90 Open]

Graphic (art)

[Consultation90 Open]

Box [1959-001] 40095

[Consultation 90 Open]

Graphic (photo)

[Consultation90 Open]

Textual records: microform

[Consultation90 Open]

Microfilm reel A-1087

[Consultation 90 Open]

Terms of use:

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Credit: The National Archives of Canada
Copyright: Expired. Crown copyright on graphic reproductions.

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Date modified:: 2024-04-09