Material Type

Mixed Media

Date Range

1875-1979

Physical Description

41 photographs approximately 17 cm of manuscript material

Physical Condition

Excellent

History Biographical

James (Jim) Nicol Burness Junior was born in the Van Haarlem Hospital at Lethbridge on 11 May 1918. His parents were James Burness Senior and Catherine (Katie) Burness [nee Nicol]. His maternal grandparents were James Nicol and Helen Nicol [nee Henderson]. James Burness Senior was an employee of the Canadian Western Natural Gas Company (CWNGC). The family lived at the Coste measuring station six miles from Burdett, Alberta where Mr. Burness Sr. measured and reported gas pressure and flow on the Bow Island – Calgary pipeline. The reports were made to the CWNGC office in Calgary every hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When demand for gas was high, the employees walked into the coulee to turn on more wells. When James Jr. was eight years old, the family moved to the main station three miles from Burdett. In 1932 Mr. Burness Sr. was transferred to Brooks, Alberta as the company’s representative in the town. From about 1934 until his retirement in 1937, Mr. Burness Sr. worked in Foremost, Alberta. He died in 1961. On 10 July 1916 James Burness Senior married Catherine (Katie) Nicol in Lethbridge. Mrs. Burness was born in the Falkland Islands, but returned to Scotland with the rest of her family after her mother died on 13 September 1889. Mrs. Burness was raised by her uncle John and his family, and worked as a teacher’s aid in Scotland until coming to Canada in 1906. On 14 April 1914 Catherine arrived at Burdett, Alberta to care for her father Jim Nicol, who had been injured when thrown from a horse the previous year. When her father was well again, Catherine moved to Lethbridge and worked as a housekeeper until she married James Burness Sr. Mrs. Burness lived in CWNGC camps until 1935, when she moved onto her father’s homestead after his death. Later a second house was acquired, this one in the Village of Burdett. Mrs. Burness was a noted gardener and supporter of the United Church. She also was active in the Victory Loan campaigns during World War 2. James Nicol Burness went to school until Grade 11, then spent five years working on the farm that had been his grandfather’s - James Nicol. At age 22 Mr. Burness had a revelation that influenced the rest of his life. He resolved to devote his life to God and humanity. During World War 2 Jim Burness served as a stretcher bearer in the Canadian Army, mainly in North Africa and Italy. After the war, in 1949, Jim Burness married Ann Josephine Yanota of Blairmore. Ann Burness died on 15 August 2006 and is buried in Mountain View Cemtery in Lethbridge. Also after the war, Jim Burness took a carpentry course and worked in Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Calgary and Banff during the following 10 years. From 1955 to 1979 he worked at the Lethbridge Post Office as a mail sorter. Following that, Mr. Burness worked as a Commissionaire for two more years until retiring. James N. Burness died on 16 February 2005 and is buried in Mountain View Cemtery in Lethbridge. James Nicol was born in western Scotland in 1855, the oldest of seven children. He worked with cattle and sheep in Scotland before moving with his wife Helen (nee Henderson) to the Falkland Islands in 1879 to work for the Falkland Islands Company as a shepherd and herder. When James' wife Helen died in 1889, the Nicol family moved back to Scotland. In 1890 James Nicol left his children with family members in Scotland and emigrated to Miles City, Montana. Mr. Nicol had a ranch along the Tongue River southwest of Miles City. In 1901 Mr. Nicol moved to Bassano in what was then the Northwest Territories. In 1910 he moved to Burdett, where he established his own ranch. Mr. Nicol died in 1935. Sources: Biographical notes prepared by the donor, in file 20011107062 Burdett Prairie Trails (Lethbridge, 1981), pages 144-146

Language

English

Acquisition Source

Burness, James Nicol Junior deceased

Custodial History

The donor acquired most of the items in this fonds from his mother, Mrs. Catherine Burness.

Scope and Content

Photographs, expense records and personal papers of James Nicol, James Burness Senior, Catherine Burness (nee Nicol) and James Nicol Burness. They include expense accounts, Mr. Nicol's diaries, family birth and marriage certificates and other items.

Access Restrictions

Public Access

Accession No.

20011107000

Collection

Archive

Less detail