Showing 855 results

Authority record

Weekes, J. N.

  • RC0554
  • Person
  • [18--]-[19--]

J.N. Weekes served aboard H.M.S. Sapphire. H.M.S. Sapphire was a light cruiser of 3,000 tons built in 1905. At the outbreak of the war the ship formed part of the 7th Battle Squadron and was on escort duty in the English Channel as the British Expeditionary Force crossed to France. Later on the ship took part in operations at Gallipoli and eventually was stationed at various Italian Naval Bases.

Webster, Carrie

  • RC0281
  • Person
  • 1898-1992

Carrie Webster was born on 29 November 1898 in Leeds. Her father was Dr. Hugh Webster, one of the original members of the Independent Labour Party. He became a member of the Hull City Council and served for 25 years. Most of Carrie’s life was spent in Hull. She cared for her father who died in 1952 at the age of 85. Carrie became a life-long friend of Constance Malleson; their correspondence begins in 1925. She died in November 1992.

Webb, Arthur Pelham

  • RC0682
  • Person
  • 1885-1917

Pelham Webb was an English poet who was killed in action at the Battle of Arras 9 April 1917. He was the son of of Dr. and Mrs. Pelham Webb, of London, and attending Abingdon School in Oxfordshire. He was a Second Lieutenant in the King's Shropshire Light Infantry, D Compnay, 5th Battalion. His only book of poems Wandering Fire was published in Chelsea in 1916. He was buried in the British Tilloy Cemetery, Tilloy-les-Mofflaines, France.

The information in this file originally stated that Webb had been killed in 1914, but this is believed to be incorrect. There are no Pelham Webb's listed in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and while he does generally sign his name 'Pelham Webb', omitting the Arthur, one of the documents is initialed APW.

Weaver, John

  • RC0932
  • Person
  • ca. 1948-

John Charles Weaver received his B.A. from Queen’s University in 1969. He studied at Duke University as a James B. Duke Commonwealth Scholar and completed his Ph.D. in 1973. A member of the Department of History since 1974, he was made an Associate Member of the Geography Department in 1988. In 1991 and 1993, he was a Visiting Research Fellow in the Research School of Social Sciences at Australian National University. He served as chair of the McMaster History Department from 1988 to 1993, and Dean of Graduate Studies from 1994 to 1999. Weaver’s research interests have included urban government, housing and suburbanization, criminal justice and, most recently, land policy on nineteenth-century settlement frontiers. He is the author of The Great Land Rush and the Making of the Modern World, 1650-1900 (Montreal: McGill-Queen's Press, 2003) and Sorrows of the Century: Interpreting Suicide in New Zealand, 1900-2000 (Montreal: McGill-Queen's Press, 2013). The Great Land Rush received the Albion Award of the North American Conference on British Studies and the Ferguson Prize from the Canadian Historical Association. A prior book, Crimes, Constables and Courts, deals with the Ontario criminal justice system from the early 1800s to the 1970s. With Michael Doucet, he wrote Housing the North American City (1991). From 1987 to 1993, he edited the Urban History Review.

Watson, J. Wreford

  • RC0101
  • Person
  • 1915-1969

James Wreford Watson, geographer and poet, was born on 8 February 1915 in Shensi, China, and educated at George Watson's College, Edinburgh, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of Toronto. He became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1953. He joined the McMaster University faculty as the first regular appointment in geography in 1939. He left for Ottawa in 1949, becoming chief geographer for the Government of Canada and holding a concurrent appointment at Carleton University, 1951-1954. He returned to Scotland and the University of Edinburgh in 1954 and held a number of appointments there, including Dean of the Faculty of Social Science and Director of the Centre of Canadian Studies. He returned to Canada over the years, serving as a Visiting Professor at Queen's University, University of Manitoba, University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, and the University of Calgary.

Elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1954 and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1957, he received the Canadian Association of Geographers’ award for service to the profession in 1978. In addition to writing books about geography, he was also a published poet, beginning with Of Time and the Lover (1952). Watson died in September 1990 in Scotland.

Watkins, Margaret

  • RC0024
  • Person
  • 1884-1969

Margaret Watkins was born Meta Gladys Watkins on 8 November 1884 in Hamilton, Ontario. Her parents were Frederick W. Watkins and Marion Watt Anderson. Mr. Watkins was an alderman, head of the YMCA, a trustee of the Centenary Methodist Church, a knight of the temperance movement, and a prominent dry goods merchant. He was owner of Pratt & Watkins and later Frederick W. Watkins stores. Marion Watt Anderson was from Glasgow, Scotland. She was active in art and music.

Watkins left home in 1908. She worked in various artists' communities, including the Roycrofters in East Aurora, New York from 1909 to 1910, and the Lanier Camp in Maine from 1911 to 1916. She lived in Boston from 1912 to 1915, where she published the occasional poem and designed costumes for amateur plays. She attended the Clarence H. White Summer School of Photography in Maine in 1914 and worked as an apprentice photographer with the Arthur Jamieson Studio in Boston. In 1915 Watkins moved to New York City and began work for Alice Boughton. She attended and taught at the Clarence H. White School of Photography. Watkins's photographic works were exhibited in a number of locations, including San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Java, Japan and London.

Watkins became a successful commercial photographer specializing in portraits and still life works. She was commissioned by Macy's and J. Walter Thompson to photograph items. Watkins also trained some of the best commercial photographers of her time including Paul Outerbridge, Ralph Steiner and Margaret Bourke-White. Watkins was actively involved with the Pictorial Photographers of America, The Art Center and the Zonta Club of New York. In 1928, Watkins left for a six-week holiday in Europe. When she arrived, she took over caring for her maiden aunts and never returned to New York.

Watkins continued to photograph in Europe and was a member of the West of Scotland Photographic Club and the Royal Photographic Society. She photographed trips to the USSR, Germany and France (1928-1933). She and her friend, Bertha Henson (nee Merriman), began an import/export business in the late thirties. Margaret Watkins died in Glasgow on 10 November 1969.

Waters, Frank Henry

  • RC0094
  • Person
  • ?

Frank Henry Waters was not a dominant journalist on the scale of James Louis Garvin. He was, however, trusted and enormously well-liked on Fleet Street. Because of his probity and discretion, many members of the Establishment confided in him. He started in the Beaverbrook newspaper empire in 1936 and then from 1945 to 1950 was Assistant Manager of The Times. He ended his career as Managing Editor of the News Chronicle.
Longer biographical sketch by Richard A. Rempel can be found in Library Research News 9, no. 2 (Autumn 1985): ii-iv.

Waterlow, Sydney

  • RC0535
  • Person
  • 1878-1944

Sir Sydney Philip Perigal Waterlow, born 12 October 1878 in Barnet, England, was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. After a short period as part of the diplomatic service, Waterlow returned to Cambridge to resume his studies in 1905. It was during this period that Waterlow attached himself to the Bloomsbury group, a group he kept in close contact until his death. After his second marriage to Margery Eckhard, Waterlow resumed work in the diplomatic service. From 1919 through 1929, Waterlow held the positions of acting First Secretary at the Paris Peace Conference, Director of the Foreign Division of the Department for Overseas Trade, and as Minister at Bangkok and Addis Ababa. In the decade following, Waterlow served as British Minister in Athens until 1939. Sir Sydney Waterlow died on 4 December 1944.

Washington, Jackie

  • RC0143
  • Person
  • 1919-2009

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Jackie Washington (1919-2009) was the grandson of a Virginia slave. The second of thirteen siblings, Washington began his musical career at age five when he started singing with The Four Washington Brothers. By the early 1930s, Washington and his brother Ormsley became a self-taught musician, learning the guitar and piano. Before serving in World War II, he worked as a porter for Canadian Pacific Railroad, which inspired his lifelong interest in trains. During this time, the Washington family played host to many talented touring musicians including Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Lionel Hampton.

After obtaining a medical discharge from the army, Washington worked in Hamilton at the American Can Company, eventually forming a musical duo with Sonny Johnston. The two soon developed a weekly radio show on CKOC and in 1948 Washington became Canada’s first black disc jockey for CHML radio. His career showed continuing promise in the 1960s when the musician took full advantage of the burgeoning coffee house scene in order to establish himself as a folk musician. When folk festivals gained popularity in the 1970s, Washington became a fixture at such events as the Home County Folk Festival in London, Ontario and the Festival of Friends in Hamilton, Ontario.

In spite of health problems (Washington was diagnosed with diabetes in 1970), he continued to work, recording his first album, Blues and Sentimental, in 1976. In the late 1980s, Washington continued to tour as part of a trio “Scarlett, Washington and Whitely,” with Mose Scarlett and Ken Whitely. During his later years, Washington was upheld as an important musician both locally and nationally. He was recognized with an honorary doctoral degree conferred by McMaster University in 2003. The Jackie Washington Rotary Park was named in his honour in 2004.

Warden, Iris Amy

  • RC0798
  • Person
  • 1904-

Iris Amy Warden, author and illustrator, was born in 1904 presumably in England.

Ward, Harold LeRoy

  • RC0605
  • Person
  • 1921-2010

Harold LeRoy Ward was born in the environs of London, Ont. on 10 July 1921. He attended Dorchester School. During World War II, he was a flying officer, specifically a wireless air gunner, in the Royal Canadian Air Force. After the war he worked for the CPR as a train dispatcher. He was the husband of Violet Jean (née Wright) for 67 years. They had two daughters, Sharon (later Kormendi) and Cicily (later Squire). He died in his eighty-ninth year at Victoria Hospital in London on 21 May 2010.

Ward, Doug

  • RC0221
  • Person
  • [19--]-

Doug Ward was active in the Company of Young Canadians.

Walter M. Lowney Company of Canada

  • RC0401
  • Corporate body
  • 1883-[19--]

The Walter M. Lowney Company, an American candy and chocolate manufacturer, renowned especially for the Cherry Blossom, was founded in 1883 in Boston. The company operated a series of chocolate stores and also published cookbooks. A Canadian branch of the company was in operation sometime in the 1890s. A factory was built in Montreal in 1905, and there were also Canadian offices in Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Vancouver. The Canadian branch is now owned by Hershey Canada Inc., a subsidiary of The Hershey Company.

Walker, Frank Norman

  • RC0155
  • Person
  • 1892-[19--?]

Frank Norman Walker was born in 1892 and graduated from medical school at the University of Toronto in 1918. He was a member of the Toronto Academy of Medicine and worked at the Toronto General Hospital. He published widely in the field of medicine in Canadian and American journals. He was awarded a McLaughlin Travelling Fellowship in 1964 and upon his return to Canada was associated with the Department of Anaesthesia, Victoria Hospital, London, Ontario.

Besides being a doctor, Walker had varied interests. He ran as a Liberal candidate for the riding of Woodbine in the federal election of 1926. He was also a member of the Board of Education for Toronto, and for twelve years was a member of its Library Board, twice serving as Chairman. He was elected to offices in the Ontario, Canadian and American Library Associations during the years 1945-1954.

As a historian Walker published several books on the topic of 19th century engineering in Canada and the United States. In Daylight Through the Mountains, which was published by the Engineering Institute of Montreal in 1957, Walker documents the letters and works of engineer brothers Walter and Francis Shanly. The book was co-authored by his wife, Gladys Chantler Walker. Other published works are Four Whistles to Wood-up; Stories of the Northern Railway of Canada (1953) and Sketches of Old Toronto (1965), which concentrates on the personalities and highlights of the city of Toronto in the period 1791-1851. The Oxford Companion to Canadian History and Literature (1967) cites Sketches of Old Toronto in the bibliography under the entry for “Toronto”. His date of death is unknown.

Walker, Alan

  • RC0107
  • Person
  • 1930-

Alan Walker, Doctor of Music, F.R.S.C., university professor and writer, was born in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England on 6 April 1930. He was educated at the Guildhall School of Music and at Durham University, where he specialized in piano, theory, harmony and counterpoint. In his early career, he lectured at the Guildhall School of Music from 1959 to 1961, and at London University from 1954 to 1970.

Walker was a producer at the British Broadcasting Corporation from 1961 to 1971, and has contributed to programmes at the BBC and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He served as Distinguished Visiting Professor of Music at City University in London from 1984 to 1987 and has been a Professor of Music at McMaster University since 1971, where he was Chairman of the Department from 1971 to 1980 and again from 1990 to 1993. Walker is the recipient of numerous honours, including the Hungarian Liszt Society Medal in 1980, the American Liszt Society Medal in 1984, and the Pro Cultura Hungaria Medal in 1995. He was awarded an honorary doctorate, D. Litt (honoris causa), from McMaster University in 2002. In January 2012, he received the Knight's Cross of Merit of the Republic of Hungary, one of Hungary's highest honours.

He is the author of A Study in Music Analysis, 1962, An Anatomy of Musical Criticism, 1968, Franz Liszt, 1971, Robert Schumann, 1976, Franz Liszt: Volume One, 1983, (for which he won the James Tait Black Award in 1983, and Yorkshire Post Music Book of the Year Award in 1984), Franz Liszt: Volume Two, 1989, Franz Liszt: Volume Three, 1996, and The Death of Franz Liszt, 2002. He co-authored, with Gabriele Erasmi, Liszt, Carolyne, and the Vatican: The Story of a Thwarted Marriage, 1991, and was the editor of Symposium on Chopin, 1967, Symposium on Liszt, 1970, Symposium on Schumann, 1972, The Diary of Carl Lachmund: An American Pupil of Liszt, 1995, and Hans von Bülow: a life and times, 2009. He has written over 100 articles for learned journals including a major entry on Franz Liszt for the latest edition of Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2001. His biography, Fryderyk Chopin, was launched in October 2018 to much acclaim and has subsequently been translated into numerous languages.

Waisglass, Harry J.

  • RC0056
  • Person
  • [1920/1]-2014

Harry J. Waisglass was a pioneer in labour relations and mediation. He retired as Director of McMaster University's Labour Studies Programme in 1981. Before coming to McMaster in 1975 he had worked as a researcher for the United Steelworkers of America, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers and other labour organizations. He also held the position of Director-General of Research and Information at the Canadian Department of Labour for some years. He passed away at the age of 93, in October 2014.

WIlson, Catherine

  • RC0549
  • Person
  • [19--]-

Catherine Wilson attended the University of Western Ontario. She was appointed as copywriter and publicist for McClelland & Stewart Ltd in 1969 and was promoted to Director of Marketing. In 1972 she was a consultant to the Department of the Secretary of State in Ottawa. She joined James Lorimer & Co. where she was General Manager from 1973 to 1976. She was the senior arts producer for the CBC radio program Sunday Morning in its first season from 1976-1977 and Assistant to the Publisher at Clarke Irwin from 1977-1978. From 1978 to 1980 she was a Communications Department consultant for the Government of Botswana, Africa. In 1980 she was appointed Vice-President and General Manager of James Lorimer & Co. Ltd. Wilson has also worked as Director of Publishing for the United Church of Canada from 1990-1996; as General Manager and Director of Human Resources from 1997-2002 and as Policy Consultant for Children’s Mental Health Ontario from 2004-2005.

Vista Productions

  • RC0199
  • Corporate body
  • [19--]-

Vista Productions was a small English recording company begun and directed by Michael Smythe (1932-1979). Most of Smythe’s recordings were of organ music, though he also recorded choral music and some chamber music. Although he did issue many of his recordings on his own labels, first Progress and then Vista, he also recorded for the larger companies: E.M.I, RCA, Decca and others. Smythe became well known for his authentic and natural-sounding recordings of the organ, all of which were done with a single microphone and very little editing.

Vickers, George Stephen

  • RC0158
  • Person
  • 1913-1993

George Stephen Vickers, was born on 19 December 1913 in St. Catharines, Ontario, the son of William Vickers and Jane E. Vickers (nee Rooke). After attending St. Catharines Collegiate Institute, he entered McMaster University and took his B.A. (Hons.) in English and History in the spring of 1936. While at McMaster, he also took a few courses in Fine Art, where he met Elizabeth Smith. In the fall of 1937 he entered the graduate program in Fine Art at Harvard University. In the summer of 1939, he sailed to Europe to begin his doctoral studies but had to return with the outbreak of World War II. On 3 June 1940, he married Elizabeth Smith, and until 1942, they lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where their daughter, Hannah, was born. They would have a son, Daniel, in 1952.

In 1942, they returned to Canada, where Stephen became a machinist in Hamilton and then joined the Canadian Signal Corps. Between 1943 and 1945, he served as a corporal at Camp Vimy in Barriefield, Ontario, mainly as an instructor. At the war’s end he was discharged, and he returned with his wife and daughter to complete his Ph.D. at Harvard. In 1946, however, he was offered a permanent position in Fine Art at the University of Toronto. He dedicated his career to teaching – both graduate and undergraduate – and to building the Fine Art Department at Toronto. He also played a role in designing the first secondary school program in art history for the province of Ontario and was the primary author of Art and Man (1964), the first high school textbook in art history published in Canada. He retired in 1980. On 1 November 1993 he was struck by a car near his home. Two days later he died of a massive coronary at St. Michael’s Hospital.

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