Noel Bowman Booth oral history interview conducted by Don Waite in 1976.

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

Object Description

Share

Object Name

Oral History

,

Recording

Object ID

SR-031

Title

Noel Bowman Booth oral history interview conducted by Don Waite in 1976.

Extent

1 audio cassette.

Date

1976.

Description

SR-031: Tracks 1 - 2 discuss the Booth family history.
Tracks 3 - 6 discuss Booth's life, his work, his wife Gertrude Osterberg, and his political involvement. He mentions other politicians of his time, and describes political problems in Langley.
Track 7 discusses the Depression in Langley, including relief vouchers and work projects. The renaming of Langley roads after World War I is described.

People/Subject

Booth, Gertrude Lillian (nee Osterberg)

Gertrude Lillian Osterberg was born August 21, 1900, in Gleichen, Alberta. Travelling as a young person, she returned to Vancouver in 1916 with her family and worked as a stenographer and bookkeeper at a wholesale jewelry company in Vancouver. In 1918 she began a four year courtship with Noel Booth, who she had met through her father. On June 1, 1921 Noel and Lillian were married at the First Lutheran Church in Vancouver. The newly weds arrived in Fern Ridge in the fall of 1921 by the B.C. Electric Interurban Railway and were assisted by local farmers over the rough roads to their new home. Mrs. Booth began running the Fern Ridge post office when they arrived, while Noel commuted to his plumbing business in Vancouver until the mid-1920s. By that time a small store was added to the post office, and eventually the Booths' developed a small fleet of travelling stores. By all accounts, Mrs. Booth was the one that ran the show, as Mr. Booth concentrated on his political career. The couple had two children: Mark and Valara. Gertrude Booth died in Langley on October 13, 1973.
Term Source: Donna J. MacDonald's "The Booth Travelling Store"

Booth, Noel Bowman

Noel Bowman Booth was born in Nottingham, England on May 23rd 1897. He came to Canada as a 14 year old. He travelled a bit, became a commercial fisherman on the B.C. Coast and he served in the First World War. He married Gertrude Lillian Osterberg (1900-1973) in 1921 and they moved to Langley to operate the Fernridge post office. He grew the general store which was attached to the post office, expanding it to a fleet of five mobile stores. The Booth General Store was a community hub. Booth ran a library from his store, let adults and children gather around its fire, and for a time he had the only phone for miles. His business closed in 1970.

Outside of work Booth was a Reeve (1933-35, 1946-47), Councillor (1945, 1949, 1956, 1959, 1967), Alderman (1968) and School Trustee. Booth initiate the local Douglas Day celebration during his term in office and he started the Fraser Valley Regional Library. Booth also donated the land on which Glenwood School stands. He became a Freeman of Langley Township in 1977.

He had a daughter, Valara (Val) Nichols (1928-1994) and a son, Mark (d 1970). A local park and school are named in Booth's honour. He died on May 22,1979.

Noel Booth Store and Gas Station

The Booths arrived in Fern Ridge, south Langley, in the fall of 1921 to continue operating the local post office there. Mrs. Gertrude Lillian Booth assumed the role of postmistress while Mr. Booth commuted to Vancouver to his plumbing business until the mid 1920s. The Booths expanded the services of the post office soon after (a temporary partition was built to accommodate two services, the post office and a small grocery store). Initially a limited number of goods were offered for sale, due largely to the limited floor area. The post office ceased operation in 1926. The gas station at the Booth Store was built in the early 1930s, a small building with a covering for the pumps. There were two pumps - gas and coal-oil. Coal-oil was used extensively for lighting and heating prior to electricity in rural Langley. The store underwent a major renovation in 1936 when the Booths contracted the services of the Smith Brothers, a local construction company. The renovation changed the store layout from an "L" to a linear design. After the renovation the store was now called N. Booth's General Store. The Booth's expanded in 1940 and 1941, adding stores in Whalley and White Rock. The White Rock store closed for economic reasons, and the Whalley location after its manager enlisted in the army. During the Second World War the Booths' established a fleet of mobile stores, at the height of their use between 1946 and 1947. The service was decreased to a one vehicle operation in 1947, and the last remaining vehicle, a Diamond "T", remained in service until 1963 when the traveling grocery was cancelled.
Term Source: Donna J. MacDonald's "The Booth Travelling Store"; Inventory of Historic Buildings in Langley by the Langley Heritage Society.

Link to Search Results