Fonds glen-222 - Alexander Begg fonds

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Alexander Begg fonds

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GLEN glen-222

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Physical description

50 cm of textual records. -- 36 photographs

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Name of creator

(1825-1905)

Biographical history

Alexander Begg, 1825-1905, was born in Scotland, where he received a teaching diploma. In 1846, he emigrated to Ontario where he resumed teaching. In 1854, he turned to journalism and established a number of newspapers. He married Emily Maria Luke, ?-1932, in 1858 and they had eleven children. One of their sons, Magnus, became agent at the Blackfoot (Siksika) Indian Agency in Alberta. For a number of years Alexander was employed by the Department of Internal Revenue and was Collector of Customs for the North-West Territories in 1869. In 1872 he was appointed Emigration Commissioner in Scotland for the Province of Ontario and persuaded thousands of crofters to settle in Canada. He later attempted to promote a similar scheme as Commissioner for the British Columbia government but this was abandoned as impractical. In the 1870s he established a temperance colony at Parry Sound and Beggsboro. In 1881, he visited the West as a Toronto Mail correspondent. He then acquired the Dunbow Ranche near Davisburg and High River, Alberta in 1883. In 1887 he moved to Victoria where he and three of his sons later formed the Stickeen and Teslin Railway, Navigation and Colonization Co. The following year he was employed by the Dominion Government to assist in defining the Canada-Alaska border. He retired to New York City in 1903. For further information see Jill Wade's entry, "Alexander Begg", in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. XIII. - Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 1994, p. 56-58.

Custodial history

Records originate from the Glenbow but are available at the Glenbow Western Research Centre, University of Calgary

Scope and content

The fonds consists of correspondence (1854-1905) relating to his newspaper businesses, the Temperance Colonization Society, the crofters' immigration scheme, the Alaskan boundary, and the Dunbow Ranche; legal records; diaries (1842-1904); correspondence, minutes and incorporation documents for the railway company; and certificates, appointments and commissions. Includes Emily's correspondence (1853-1914) and photographs of the Begg family.
Records related to the following subjects are also in this fonds. See inventory for details: Robert Begg, Bow River Ranch, Canadian Yukon Railway Co., D.W. Davis, William Duncan, Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, Richard C. Hardisty, J.J. Hill, Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) lands, Louis Riel, St. Joseph's Industrial School (Dunbow School), Sir Thomas Shaughnessy, and James Wallace.

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Immediate source of acquisition

Gifts of Mrs. A.M. Fortune, 1964, and G. Alexander Begg, 1980.

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No restrictions on access.

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Finding aids

Inventory available. Please consult before requesting material. http://www.glenbow.org/collections/search/findingAids/archhtm/begg.cfm

Associated materials

A small amount of Alexander Begg's records are held at the City of Vancouver Archives and the British Columbia Archives and Records Service. Magnus Beggs' correspondence as Indian agent is in the Blackfoot Indian Agency records at Glenbow. The records of son Robert A. Begg are also held by Glenbow.

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  • English

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