Collections - Township of Langley

salishan Place

Collections

salishan Place by the River currently maintains a collection of over 9000 photographs, 2000 archival documents, 9000 objects, 500 works of art, and 300 oral history recordings. This collection, spanning hundreds of years, is a wonderful window on the past and present life of our community.

Stay informed about our news, programs, and events by subscribing to eNews.

Enter a keyword below to search the collection. The search will find all records that contain the entered keywords. For example, if you enter "button", the search will return records that contain "button", "button card ", "button hook", etc. If you enter "buttons", the search will not find images that are described with only "button". If you would like to search for multiple terms, please try our Advanced Search.

Search

Search results - click each item for more information

File: '20111715a'

Object Description

Share

Object Name

Notebook

Object ID

2011.017.015

Title

Blue Rainfall Notebook: Weather in Willoughby 1978-1979.

Date

1 Jan. 1978 - 31 Dec. 1979.

Description

Blue notebook; Has "account book" in yellow on the front; written in pen on the cover is "Rainfall/Jan 1 78 to Dec 31 79"; hilroy notebook; each page is lined and there are grids drawn on these pages; things recorded in the grids are date, day, rainfall, weather, temperature; there are also 4 pieces of scrap paper stuck in the notebook, listed below.

A: Blue notebook.

B: 2 pieces of pad paper stapled together; lined; "cindy's club" written in blue ink on the front; two staples.

C:Piece of brown scrap paper with numbers and calculations written all over it; there is a drawing of a sun in pencil.

D: Piece of brown scrap paper with notes about god on it; 1/8th of the page is ripped out.

E: Piece of paper from the Ministry of Provincial Secretary and Travel Industry; to R Straw Langley; acknowledging his receipt for Beautiful British Columbia Magazine.

Dimensions

(DepthFt, 0.016 ft, 0.4877 cm)

,

(DepthIn, 0.197 in, 0.5004 cm)

,

(LengthFt, 1.161 ft, 35.3873 cm)

,

(LengthIn, 13.937 in, 35.4000 cm)

,

(WidthFt, 0.696 ft, 21.2141 cm)

,

(WidthIn, 8.346 in, 21.1988 cm)

People/Subject

Straw Family

William Henry and Elizabeth Straw (nee Payne) settled in the Willoughby area. They had three children : Kathleen (b. 1913), Richard (Dick), and Wilfred. The family lived at 20819 85th Avenue in Willoughby, where the overpass now is (2004). Kathleen married John Ellens. William Henry Straw died January 9, 1960, at the age of 78, in Murrayville. Elizabeth also died in Murrayville September 17, 1972, at the age of 89. Kathleen died in Murrayville on November 20, 1976, at the age of 61. As of 2005, Richard is still living in Langley, and Wilfred lives in the Valley as well.

Straw, Richard (Dick)

Richard (Dick) Straw was born in Saskatchewan in 1915 to parents Elizabeth and William Straw. The family moved to Willoughby in 1918 and established a chicken farm. The later address for the property was 20819 85th Avenue (roughly where the south-east side of the overpass is today). Dick's siblings were Kathleen (b. 1913) and Wilfred. Dick attended West Langley School.

Dick received a letter of conscription in the mail in 1942. He trained in Vernon, Vedder Crossing (Chilliwack), and Calgary before sailing to England in December 1942. Dick was trained with the Lee-Enfield rifle, bayonet, and Bren light machine gun once he arrived, and was ordered to join the Canadian Scottish Regiment where he received grenade, tank, and gas chamber training. Dick was a “batman,” or “runner,” who would maintain officer’s equipment, relay orders and messages, and fulfill other various tasks.

Dick Straw served in the invasion of Normandy in June 1944. He was wounded on the third day of the invasion by two mortar explosions. Shrapnel from the first mortar hit him in the leg, and the second mortar exploded in the air and caused shrapnel to hit him behind the shoulder blade. This piece of shrapnel broke one of Dick’s ribs and lodged in his breastbone. He survived by mustering up enough strength to wander to a nearby medic. He was transferred back to England for operation.

Dick was taken back to Halifax on a hospital ship called the HMCS Lady Nelson in January 1945. From there he took the train to Vancouver and returned home to work on the family farm. Dick worked for the Seal-Kap Farm (where Trinity Western University is now located) for 13 years, but due to his injuries he had to eventually find other work.

Richard Straw joined the local Legion and lived in Walnut Grove before moving to Langley Gardens. He passed away in Langley in 2010 at the age of 94.

Willoughby

Link to Search Results

salishan Place

Stay informed about our news, programs, and events by subscribing to eNews.

Copyright 2025 Township of Langley | Privacy & freedom of information | Terms of use

Opens in a new window.

Argus v4.4.2.32 - Langley Centennial Museum