Fonds consists of textual records concerning the Boy Scouts; St. John Ambulance; rifle clubs; gun control; the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; personal papers; subject files; speeches.
Fonds also contains photographic materials. Included are 32 photographs, ca. 1895-1980, of individuals and groups of members of the Porter, Scott, Howe, Tracy and Richards families, New Brunswick, ca. 1895-1979; an activities of Leonard H. Nicholson as a member of the R.C.M.P., the Boy Scouts of Canada, and the Shooting Federation of Canada, ca. 1955-1980. Copies of 24 photographs, 1929-1967, depict the Boy Scout Jamboree, Greece, 1965; and are portraits of Leonard Hanson Nicholson. There is also one photograph of Leonard Hanson Nicholson, recipient of the Outdoorsman of the Year Award, 1976, with Robert Pederson, president, Canadian Wildlife Federation, and Edward Hazelwood, executive director, Winchester Canada, Quebec City, May, 1976.
Nicholson, Leonard Hanson, 1904-1983 : Leonard H. Nicholson, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner, born in 1904 at Mount Middleton, N.B., enlisted in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (R.C.M.P.) in 1923. After a brief career in both the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia provincial police forces, he returned to the R.C.M.P. in 1931. Between 1941 and 1946, he served in various Provost Staff appointments with different Canadian army field formations in Canada and Europe. He was R.C.M.P. Commissioner from 1951 to 1959.
Upon his retirement, Nicholson became deeply involved in the work of the Boy Scouts and St. John Ambulance Brigade. In the autumn of 1959 he accepted the position of Chief Scout. In 1965 he was appointed international Commissioner and was appointed Honourary President in 1975. He held three Scout Awards - the Bronze Wolf from the World Scout Conference, the Silver Wolf from the Boy Scouts of Canada and the Vanier Medal from L'Association des Scouts du Canada.
As well as his involvement in these volunteer associations, Nicholson was also very active and concerned with rifle shooting both as a competitor and a committee worker. He played an active part in the Parliamentary Gun Control debate in 1977 and 1978, speaking for the most part for the Canadian Wildlife Federation, of which he was a Director. Nicholson also maintained his interest in security and police matters and was one of four honourary members of the Canadian Intelligence and Security Association.
