Langley Centennial Museum
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Object Name
Oral History
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Recording
Object ID
SR-046 C
Title
Christine Johnstone, nee McIver, oral history interview conducted by Don Waite in 1976.
Extent
1 side of 1 audio cassette.
Date
1976.
Description
SR-046 C: Tracks 1 - 4 discuss Murdoch McIver, Johnston's father. McKay and Patrick Heafy are also mentioned.
Track 5 discussed the Morrison family, including Billy Morrison, Joe Morrison, and Kenneth Morrison.
Track 6 mentions Daniel McKay.
People/Subject
Johnstone, Christine (nee McIver)
Christine Johnstone was a daughter of Murdoch and Annie McIver, born in 1900. She married Charles Stokes, who died in 1969, and then James Johnstone.
McIver, Murdoch
Murdoch McIver (or Murdock McIvor) was born on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland in 1848. He worked in the British Navy until he was 23, at which point he jumped ship in New York Harbour. He spent several years in the New England, before moving to Quebec, and in 1876, to East Langley, where he had taken up 160 acres. He originally lived in a log cabin he built, and made yokes for oxen and cleared stumps on the land while logging and fishing to supplement his income. In 1880 he started working as a blasting foreman for the Canadian Pacific Railway, where he was a good fit due to his small frame and quick reflexes, allowing him to get behind cover quickly. Murdoch finished his career with the CPR free of serious injuries, and moved on to leasing the “Fort Hotel” in 1884, where he ran the bar for a year and a half. In 1886, Murdoch went east to Sherbrooke, Quebec. Accounts vary, with an oral history from his daughter-in-law, Ellen Isabella Mufford, stating that Murdoch met Annie McIver, his future wife, on the train out of town, as she was leaving to go to Pennsylvania with her sister, but instead the couple got married in Quebec soon after meeting. However, “The Place Between: 1860-1939” says that Murdoch had quit his business and returned to Sherbrooke to marry the eldest McIver daughter (no relation), but she had already gotten married, and instead Murdoch and Annie were married on November 4, 1886. Either way, the couple returned to Langley that year and set up in Murdoch’s cabin, before he built a new house between 1887 and 1890. The McIvers had nine children, three boys and six girls: Kenneth, John, Mary, Jessie, Christine, Mabel, Maggie, Beatrice (Bertie), and Alex. All but Alex survived to adulthood. Murdoch was involved as a municipal councilor in 1887, and was a founder and vice president of the Langley Agricultural Association. When his children went to school, he was elected as a trustee for the Langley School Board. He also was involved in the construction of the first East Langley School on the bluff above his farm in the early 1890’s, and when teachers needed boarding, they would stay with the McIvers. In 1927, Murdoch and Annie McIver sold half of their farm (80 acres) to a Mr. Kirke, and left the remaining land to their son Kenneth and his wife Ellen. Murdoch and Annie moved to a house on Francis Street in Fort Langley. In 1936 the couple celebrated their golden anniversary at the community hall in Fort Langley, with about 300 guests in attendance. Murdoch McIver passed away in 1946 at 97 years old (The Place Between: 1860-1939) or when he was 99 years old (Ellen Isabella Mufford’s Oral History). McIver died February 12, 1946 and is buried in the Fort Langley Cemetery.
Term Source: Oral history interview with Ellen Isabella Mufford.
"The Place Between: 1860-1939" by the Aldergrove Heritage Society.
Morrison family
Members of the Fort Langley Morrison family, descendents of Kenneth Morrison. Many were Fort Langley School students in the early 1900s.
Morrison, Joseph J. (1860-1963)
Joe Morrison was born on March 18, 1861, in Yale, and spent his youth in and around Fort Langley as the son of Kenneth Morrison, an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Langley, and his wife Lucy (nee Allard). As a youngster, Joe used to see the fur brigades arrive at the fort. Joe worked as a logger at Cape Midge and at Cowichan on Vancouver Island. He was hired out to cut ties for the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1884. One summer Joe did construction work on a canal in the East Kootenays. He patrolled and fixed breaks in the telegraph line between New Westminster and Yale. He rode the first train in B.C., operated the first steam winch in the logging industry, saw the first fery in operation between New Westminster and Surrey, saw the first flour mill constructed on the Lower Mainland and rode on the "Beaver, " the first steamboat to ply the Pacific Ocean. He was honoured in 1955 with a life membership in the Native Sons Post No. 19 He celebrated his 100th birthday March 20 in Fort Langley, and died March 31, 1963. He is buried in the Fort Langley Cemetery.
Term Source: Fort Langley Cemetery pg. 41 (Hannay)
Morrison, Kenneth
Kenneth Morrison was born in Scotland in 1831. He worked at the cooperage at the Hudson's Bay Company Fort Langley, and was one of the first people to pre-empt land, getting 160 acres just up river from the Fort. He called his home Barvis. He became a councillor in the first election held in Langley once it became a municipality. On July 31, 1859, Kenneth married Lucy Allard, whose mother was likely a member of the Hul’q’umi’num people, at the Fort Yale Wesleyan Methodist. The couple had children: Joseph, Matilda, Maggie, Alexander, Mary, Kenneth, William (Billy), and Elizabeth. He died May 18, 1900, and is buried in the Fort Langley Cemetery.
Morrison, William (Billy)
William (Billy) Morrison was born on October 15, 1871 in Fort Langley to parents Kenneth and Lucy (nee Allard) Morrison. Kenneth was a Hudson Bay employee at the Fort, and Billy ended up staying in Fort Langley his whole life. He married Janet Spalding Wilkie, and the couple had 7 children : Irene, Kenneth (Jerry), Janet (Bunny), Alice (Tucker), Joseph (Rorry), Violet (Tooty), and Henry (King). Billy spent many years working for the CNR, and served with the Canadian Armed Forces during WWI. Billy passed away June 3, 1959, and is buried in the Fort Langley Cemetery.
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