Robert Henry Leighton Letters to the Leighton Family
Scope and Contents
Sixty-six manuscript letters and an epistolary journal created by Robert Henry Leighton, 1911-1917.
Letters document Leighton's arrival in Vancouver, British Columbia; his work for the law firm Harris, Bull & Mason, as well as the Western Canada Power Company and B.C. Fisheries Ltd.; and his experiences working on a "government road" and mining coal and gold. Included are Leighton's descriptions of economic conditions in British Columbia, his social interactions, and the Haida (also known as X̱aayda, X̱aadas, X̱aad, X̱aat).
Later letters document Leighton's enlistment with the Canadian Forestry Corps and time in France during World War I.
Leighton wrote from Vancouver, Ruskin, Burnaby Lake, Skidegate, Graham Island, Moresby Island, Aliford Bay, Prince Rupert, and Queen Charlotte City (now Daajing Giids on Haida Gwaii), British Columbia; Brockville, Ontario; and "Somewhere in France."
Letters are addressed to Leighton's father, John Alexander Leighton, as well as his sisters Margaret "Maggie" Currie Leighton, Ruth Leighton, and Catherine "Katie" Campbell Leighton.
The 24-page epistolary journal documents Leighton salmon fishing in Skidegate Inlet in September 1912.
Dates
- 1911-1917
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Robert Henry Leighton Letters to the Leighton Family is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from McBride Rare Books on the Arthur Corbitt Hoskins Memorial Fund, 2022.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Extent
0.21 Linear Feet (1 box)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
Sixty-six manuscript letters and an epistolary journal created by Robert Henry Leighton, 1911-1917.
Letters document Leighton's arrival in Vancouver, British Columbia; his work for the law firm Harris, Bull & Mason, as well as the Western Canada Power Company and B.C. Fisheries Ltd.; and his experiences working on a "government road" and mining coal and gold. Included are Leighton's descriptions of economic conditions in British Columbia, his social interactions, and the Haida (also known as X̱aayda, X̱aadas, X̱aad, X̱aat).
Later letters document Leighton's enlistment with the Canadian Forestry Corps and time in France during World War I.
Leighton wrote from Vancouver, Ruskin, Burnaby Lake, Skidegate, Graham Island, Moresby Island, Aliford Bay, Prince Rupert, and Queen Charlotte City (now Daajing Giids on Haida Gwaii), British Columbia; Brockville, Ontario; and "Somewhere in France."
Letters are addressed to Leighton's father, John Alexander Leighton, as well as his sisters Margaret "Maggie" Currie Leighton, Ruth Leighton, and Catherine "Katie" Campbell Leighton.
The 24-page epistolary journal documents Leighton salmon fishing in Skidegate Inlet in September 1912.
Biographical / Historical
Robert Henry Leighton (1878-1942) was the son of John Alexander Leighton (1841-1928), a solicitor in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, and Caroline Campbell Wilson Leighton (1849-1885).
Leighton arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in April 1911 and began work at a local law firm, Harris, Bull & Mason. Let go by the firm for his inability to pay related fees, he took a job as a laborer with the Western Canada Power Company in Ruskin, British Columbia. Following the Canada Northern Railway Strike, he traveled to Skidegate, a Haida community on Graham Island. There he cleared brush, built infrastructure, worked for fisheries, and mined for gold and coal among other work. In December 1916, Leighton enlisted in the Canadian Forestry Corps and shipped out to France, arriving near the front on February 1917.
On July 11, 1924, Leighton married Winifred Charlotte Couplan (1897-1970) at Prince Rupert, British Columbia. The couple arrived in Liverpool, England, in October 1928. He died in Wandsworth, Greater London, in 1942. Winifred Charlotte Couplan Leighton returned to Canada and remarried.
Processing Information
Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.
These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards. For more information, please refer to the Beinecke Manuscript Unit Processing Manual.
- B.C. Fisheries Ltd.
- British Columbia -- Description and travel
- British Columbia -- Economic conditions -- 20th century
- British Columbia -- Social life and customs -- 20th century
- Coal mines and mining -- British Columbia
- Fishers -- British Columbia
- Fishers -- British Columbia -- 20th century
- France -- Description and travel
- Gold mines and mining -- British Columbia
- Graham Island (B.C.)
- Haida Gwaii (B.C.)
- Haida Indians
- Harris, Bull & Mason
- Indians of North America -- British Columbia
- Layton family
- Leighton, Catherine Campbell, 1882-1956
- Leighton, John Alexander, 1841-1928
- Leighton, Margaret Currie, 1871-1947
- Leighton, Ruth, 1884-1947
- Miners -- British Columbia
- Miners -- British Columbia -- 20th century
- Moresby Island (Skeena-Queen Charlotte, B.C.)
- Northern Irish -- Canada
- Ontario
- Prince Rupert Harbour (B.C.)
- Salmon fishing -- British Columbia
- Skidegate Inlet (B.C.)
- Vancouver (B.C.)
- Western Canada Power Company
- World War, 1914-1918 -- France
Source
- McBride Rare Books (Bookseller)
- Title
- Guide to the Robert Henry Leighton Letters to the Leighton Family
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Sarah Lerner
- Date
- February 2023
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
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