Material Type

Mixed Media

Date Range

1897-1986

Physical Description

1 cm of manuscript material 8 black and white copy photographs

Physical Condition

Excellent

History Biographical

Charles Bertram Elliott was born on 4 Match 1897 in Somerville, Massachusetts. His parents were William Wylie Elliott and Eliza Ross Elliott (nee Bertram), both of whom were born in Nova Scotia. Charles had two sisters, Jennie May (born 1898) and Elsie Gertrude (born 1902). By 1908 the family had moved from Massachusetts to Vancouver, British Columbia, where Charles attended school. On 2 August 1921 Charles Elliott married Gladys Bourgoine in Chelan County, Washington. Their son Theodore was born in Greenwood, British Columbia in 1922. Between 1922 and 1924 the family moved to Lethbridge, where their second son Earle was born. Shortly after, Charles and Gladys’ marriage ended. While in Lethbridge, Charles Elliott owned and operated a taxi business. Eager to learn to fly, Elliott formed Lethbridge Commercial Airways in 1927 without any flight experience or pilot’s license. The company did have a Standard J-1 aircraft, and Charles began his pilot training in that airplane. Lethbridge Commercial Airways went out of business before Elliott could complete his tests for a pilot’s license. From May 1929 until February 1931 Charles Elliott operated Southern Alberta Air Lines. He received his Air Engineer’s license on 11 June 1929, and his Commerical Pilot’s license on 22 April 1930. In early 1932 Elliott, along with C.H. Tweed, operated a flying school at Lethbridge with a Monocoupe, registration CF-AKO. He obtained a Fokker Universal, registration G-CASE, from Great Bear Airways, and on 1 May 1932 announced his passenger service between Lethbridge and Calgary. By September Elliott was out of business and had sold his Fokker aircraft to Independent Airways of Edmonton, Alberta. In 1933 Charles Elliott moved to Vancouver, where he worked for Pacific Airways. The Henderson Directories for Vancouver from 1935 to 1938 list him variously as Manager, Vice President, Chief Pilot and Engineer of Pacific Airways. On 23 May 1938 Charles Elliott crashed in the Waco, registration CF-BDT, he was flying. The plane crashed into a lake north of Fort St. James, British Columbia. Taken to the hospital in Prince George, British Columbia, Elliott died of his injuries on 31 May 1938. Charles Bertram Elliott is buried in the Capilano View Cemetery, Vancouver. [Sources: Biographical file for Charles Bertram Elliott, Archives number 20101058001 ; Wings Over Lethbridge by Bruce W. Gowans (Lethbridge Historical Society, 1986) page IV-72]

Language

English

Acquisition Source

Lloyd, Gail 4520 54 Avenue Leduc, Alberta T9E 5W1

Scope and Content

The fonds consists of a file of biographical information about Charles Bertram Elliott, and eight family photographs. The materials are copies of original photographs and documents.

Access Restrictions

Public Access

Accession No.

20101058000

Collection

Archive

Less detail