Viewing Object

Object Description

Object Name

Oral History

Recording

Object ID

SR-255

Title

Interview of Henry "Hugh" Davis Conducted By Warren Sommer.

Extent

5 audio cassettes and 5 CDs (SR-255.1-255.5)

Date

24 Feb., 1 Mar., and 10 Mar. 2011.

Description

Interview of Henry "Hugh" Davis conducted by Warren Sommer. Interview took place on Febuary 24, March 1 and March 10 2011. 5 cassettes were donated. 5 preservation and 5 research CDs were produced.

SR-255.1 (CD 1)
Track 1: Henry talks about how he got his name. He discusses his family history and how his parents came to Langley. Parents met in Guelph. How his Grandfather came to Langley from Ireland.

Track 2: Hugh describes what the land his parent's farm on was like. Talks about the land surrounding the house.

Track 3: The uses of the farm are discussed. Pastured cows and hay in the summer. He talks about how his farm was mainly dairy. Hugh tells of the neighbours. Moody family, Muffords, Cummings, Butcher, Heyward.

Track 4: There was a company that sold land from Langley Prairie. Muffords got Sikh labourers to clear their land.

Track 5: Sikh landowners. Dabo Ram and his friend.

Track 6: Animals kept on the Davis farm. Machinery becoming more prevalent. Early milking machines.

Track 7: Their hay was bailed in Fort Langley and picked up by the river.

Track 8: Hugh discusses paid help on the farm. Father would hire young boys during the summer. Only big farms in Langley had live in help. He discusses his siblings involvment in the farm. Brother became veterenarian. The jobs of children on a farm are also discussed.

Track 9: Farm house that father built. It was modern for the time. He gave the neighbours 3 acres of land in payment for help in building the house.

Track 10: Playing. Aunt's husband was well off. Would buy them lots of toys. Got allowance from parents. Organized sports.

SR-255.2 (CD2)
Track 1: Organized sports as a youth. Watched sports like football, baseball, and basketball. Mountain's team. Other events in the community were barn dances. Harold Hilton had an orchestra in Milner. Would play at these dances.

Track 2: Hugh talks about how economical the farm was. How his family would sell crops from home.

Track 3: The Depression. How common bartering was. Talks about tramps and hobos coming through town on the rails. The Muffords would often finance other farms around them. They were the bank and lent money.

Track 4: What types of cattle were on the farm. Holsteins were the main breed. The merits of certain breeds of cows and what the neighbours had. He talks about the process of milking and shipping milk changing over the years.

Track 5: Hugh discusses how cows were bred. The use of bulls and eventually the Artificial Insemination Centre which his father helped set up.

Track 6: Dairy farmers left in Langley. What's happening on the former Norris farm? Bella Vista farms. How Vancouver buisness people would buy homes in the country.

Track 7: The formation of an unnoficial consortium in the mid 1900s. People helping on others farms when it got busy and buy equipment together. Barn raisings.

Track 8: The Davis' had their first milking machine in 1930. Hugh says how unreliable the first ones were and the evolution of milking machines.

Track 9: Animal Diseases. The different types of testing farmers can do. Dr Jervis and Dr Mendel were the first veteranarians in Langley that Hugh can remember. Hugh also describes the role of a vet.

SR-255.3 (CD 3)
Track 1: The cost of bringing a cow to pasture. Major animal epidemics and government relief.

Track 2: Mechanization of farm equipment. From horse drawn plows to tractors.

Track 3: Advances in agricultural sciences. Resources available to farmers. The different journals and co-ops that were around at the time. Otter co-op.

Track 4: The different agricultural clubs. Hugh's participation in 4-H. Trips to the PNE with these clubs.

Track 5: Auctions in Langley Prairie. JW Berry and Joe Gibson had auctions.

Track 6: The Logan Farm is discussed.

Track 7: Cattle auction in Abbotsford.

Track 8: Fraser Valley Milk Producers. The pros and cons of belonging. Milk Quotas. They own a yogurt plant in Quebec. Prices of milk and co-ops.

Track 9: Hugh discusses how historically Willoughby was a wild place with lots of bachelors. Most were loggers who lived there seasonally. Lots of Scandinavians. Mill's that are left.

Track 10: Things to do as a child. Shopped in Milner and sometimes in Vancouver.

Track 11: Meeting new kids at school. High ratio of girls to boys. Principal was Manzer.

SR-255.4 (CD 4)
Track 1: Hugh did not graduate high school because he couldn't pass finals. He rode his bike to school instead of taking the bus. Cliques and meeting new people are also discussed.

Track 2: Hugh talks about his life after leaving high school. Helping around the farm.

Track 3: Dividing family land. Building Artificial Insemination Centre in Milner.

Track 4: The AI Centre and it's effect on the community.

Track 5: Social life and social events. May Day and other community events.

Track 6: World War One awareness. Life around Milner. What was in Milner and how it looked.

Track 7: Going into Langley Prairie on a Saturday night. The Langley Electric Bakery.

Track 8: Liquor in the community. The different hotels had pubs in them. Liquor in the house. Billiard halls also had liquor. Where billiard halls a place to avoid?

Track 9: Hugh discusses how important the church was to his family. Both mother and father were heavily involved. The reasons for the church closing are also discussed.

Track 10: The community picnics and how they would get there. They were done by the Sunday school. Went to Stanley park. Took boats and trains.

Track 11: News. Politics. how family got it's news. WHy Langley is so conservative.

Track 12: Hugh discusses the Langley theatre and different productions that were put on htere. Pop leonard and his operas.

Track 13: The royal visit.

Track 14: Second World War. How life in Langley was affected during the war. Rationing and blackouts.

SR-255.5 (CD 5)
Track 1: Japanese kids in classrooms. Reaction from the community at the time of internment. National registration and the reaction of people in Langley to the war. Langley airport and losing members of the community to the war.

Track 2: War celebrations in Langley. VE day and VJ day.

Track 3: How Hugh met his wife. Social life. Talks about their first house and the history of it. Talk about house before the got married and it's history to this day.

Track 4: Hugh discusses his children and grandchildren. Growing up in Langley. Drugs?

Track 5: The urbanization of Langley. Secession of Langley Prairie.

Track 6: The division of Willoughby. Highway 1 cutting up Langley. Urbanization of Brookswood. Government aid for farmers. Ways that Langley is poorer because of urbanizatoin. Governments role in agriculture and it's involvment.

People/Subject

Davis, Hugh

Hugh Davis is a member of the farming Davis family in Milner.

Fraser Valley Milk Producers Association

On June 18, 1913, a group of farmers gathered in New Westminster and signed a charter for a dairy marketing co-operative. 90% of farmers in the region signed on to be members and purchased shares, however the inception of the group operations was delayed due to World War I. The group formed the Lower Mainland Milk and Cream Shippers Association as one of its first acts. The FVMPA worked as a bargaining agency between distributers and dairy farmers.

In 1923, a monthly bulletin called Butter-Fat was started. Its objectives were "[t]o pull together through the columns of this medium. To keep in closer communication by means of frequent meetings of locals. To produce the Best Product; thus this association will move more solidly and successfully forward to greater success."

In 1919, the association bought out fluid milk dealers and began their own distribution. By the end of the year, they had purchased two plants. On May 1, 1919 the FVMPA bought the Standard Milk Dairy Company and entered the retail milk trade. At this time, the association entered into a partnership with Guy Clarke and the company became Fraser Valley Dairies Limited. The partnership ended in 1923 when Guy Clarke was bought out.

A utility plant in Sardis was completed in June 1925. Equipment was brought in from the Chilliwack Creamery and they made butter, cheese and casein.

In 1931, 11 fluid milk distributing companies from Vancouver formed the Associated Dairies. In 1943, FVMPA bought the stock and became the sole owner. Dairyland fluid milk division was created.

Japanese Canadians

Japanese Internment

Langley Electric Bakery

Willoughby

World War, 1914-1918

World War, 1939-1945

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