Table of Contents


Kitwanga

Kitwanga, British Columbia, Canada

Kitwanga BC

alt- Gitwangak- People of the Place of Rabbits

alt- Gitwangar, Kitwaugah, Kit-Wah-Gah

Located in Gitxsan Traditional Territory

Cassiar Land District

Unincorporated Area


Located at the junction of the Kitwancool River and the Skeena River

Elevation- 584 ft above sea level


CNR Kitwanga Station
Photo Courtesy Brian Wolfe, Ladysmith BC

Kitselas 1592.7 miles from Winnipeg

Kitwanga Superior School


Totem Poles at Kitwanga ca 1915 Credit: William James Topley/Library and Archives Canada/PA-011216 

Disclaimer 
I am fully aware the First Nation Population were here,
long before the European History shown on my pages.
I will leave the Native History to them.
I have trouble doing the last hundred years!
Note- Some of the men listed below are First Nation Ancestry


Native Girl fishing, ca 1915 Credit: William James Topley/Library and Archives Canada/PA-


Kitwanga CNR Station


Hudson's Bay Store
Bottom 3 photos courtesy Brian Wolfe, Ladysmith BC

Tid Bits of History as I find them

1910

Indian Mission Settlement here

1913

Ferry installed at Kitwangar, in 1913 by the Prov. Government, crossing the Skeena River

1916

V. E. R. Ardagh- Physician, Drug Store
Rev. Vernon Edmund Russell Ardagh (Jr.)
b- 1863, Arivjhabar, West India
d- Feb 6, 1944 in Coquitlam BC, age 80
son of Dr. Vernon Edmund Russell Ardagh Sr.,
mother- Elizabeth Staton
Graduated from Edinburgh University
Medical Missionary in Metlakatla BC
Father was a Surgeon in the Indian Army
his Widowed mother died Aug 14, 1894 age 49, in Metlakatla
she lived in Clover Bank, Northam, Devon before going to Canada
Vernon Jr. married- Emma Frances Ardagh, nee Thelwall,
bet: Jan-Mar, 1889, Reg Dist, Barnstable, Devon England
b- July 22, 1867 in Reg. Dist. Thame, England
d- May 14, 1955 Prov. Infirmary, Marpole, Vancouver BC, age 87
son- Sydney Vernon Ardagh
b- July 14, 1891 in Metlakatla BC
Enlisted in WWI, surveyor living at Gitwangak
daughter- Kathleen Francis Ardagh
b- Metlakatla BC
son- Edward Russel Ardagh
b- Metlakatla BC

A. H. MacIsaac- Telegraph Operator

plus numerous Farmers, Miners etc:

Ralph Gordon Craddock- Farmer
b- June 2, 1885, in London, England
d- Oct 1, 1962 in Steadman Private Hospital, Vancouver BC, age 77
son of Henry Gordon Craddock and Lillian “Lily” Spencer
Retired Club Steward when he died
married Nettie Murphy June 11, 1925 in Vancouver BC

Francis F. “Frank” Doig- Farmer
b- ca 1870 in ON
d- Mar 11, 1927 in Woodcock BC, age 57
son of William Doig and Amelia Smart

Emory Dutton- Farmer
b- Mar 8, 1902, Seattle WA
d- July 25, 1965, Wrinch Memorial Hospital, Hazelton BC, age 63
Railroader for 12 years
son of Llewellyn Dutton and Charlotte Thomas
married Myrtle Bard, Apr 15, 1922 in Prince Rupert

Leon Kenneth Dutton- Farmer
b- Nov 20, 1899, St Paul MN, USA
d- Dec 3, 1977, Skeenaview Lodge, Terrace BC, age 78
buried in Kitwanga Cemetery

Horace Du Vernet (see below)- Farmer

Mike Lauzon- Farmer
b- ca 1855
d- Aug 10, 1925, in Kitwanga, age 70

Archibald Stephen Tordiffe- Carpenter
b- Dec 30, 1881, in England
d- Mar 25, 1964 in Cottage Private Hospital, Matsqui BC, age 82
lived in Smithers
Forestry Civil Servant
son of Cyril Tordiffe, and Beatrice LNU
married Alice Tomlinson, June 15, 1905 in Victoria
daughter of Robert & Alice Tomlinson, see my Cedarvale page

David Lawrence Wells
married Margaret Matthews Bryant, Oct 29, 1929 in Kitwanga

1926

James Fowler- Section Man
b- in BC, age 23 in 1921

William C. Washburn- Government Telegraph Operator (still there in 1930)
still shows up in 1958 voters list in Kitwanga, as a Clerk

Ambrose Derrick- General Store
Charles Derrick- Pool Room and Conf.
Hudson's Bay Company Trading Post
T. W. Harris & Co. - General Store
Kitwanga Lumber Co. Ltd.- Sawmill

James Ryan- General Store
b- in BC, age 42 in 1921
wife- Maggie Ryan, age 40,
son Phillip Ryan, age 20

Robert Alfred Sampare- General Store and PO (see below) plus numerous farmers

1930

RCMP
William Hinton
H. Sinoneau

HBC Otto B. Utterstrom- Manager

1940

Oct 17/19- Crib and Pier of the Ellsworth bridge at Kitwanga washed away with flooding.

1943

Dec 21, 1943
P/O R.F.W. Sedgewick's Hurricane airplane plunged into the Skeena River, after his Hurricane struck a cable of the Kitwanga ferry

Post Office History

Name of Office: Kitwanga
Federal Electoral District: Skeena (BC)
Office opened Jan 1, 1910

Former Name- Gitwangak, changed Aug 1, 1917

Postmaster Information:

Name of Postmaster Military Status Date of Appointment Date of Vacancy Cause of Vacancy
Reverend Alfred Edwin Price 1910-01-01 1911-03-15 Resignation
Horace DuVernet 1911-06-01 1914 Change of site
Joseph Augustus Sampare 1914-06-23 1917-01-27 Resignation
Robert Alfred Sampare 1917-03-01 1931-08-27 Death
Joseph Augustus Sampare 1932-01-30 1946-06-10 Resignation
Mrs. Katie Rowe 1946-07-15 Acting
“ 1946-10-17 1946-12-28 Resignation
Evan Lewis Davies 1947-02-01 Acting
” 1947-04-23 1955-04-01 Resignation
Norman Graham Simpson OAS 1955-09-09 Acting
“ 1955-11-10 1960-04-07 Resignation
George Edward Brown OAS 1960-06-30 Acting
” 1960-08-12 1960-12-02 Resignation
Eldon Lynn Nelson 1960-12-03 Acting
“ 1961-09-08 1966-07-19 Resignation
Mrs. Marjorie Lynn Nelson 1966-11-17 Acting
Mrs. Marjorie Elaine Ward 1966-12-29

Additional Information:
Dwelling - 1946-07-15 Store

This reproduction is NOT represented as an official version of the materials reproduced, nor as having been made in affiliation with,
or with the endorsement of the National Archives of Canada. The source of this material is the National Archives of Canada

Postmaster Bio and Genealogy

First Post Master
Rev. Alfred Edwin Price
b- 1863, in England, age 55, widow, in 1919
d- 1931
He built the St. Paul Church in Kitwanga in 1893, also a school here.
Missionary with the Church Missionary Society from 1889 to 1912 in Kitwanga
He moved on to Massett and Metlakatla
His diary is in the BC Archives
son of Frederick Thomas Price and Amelia Clare
married 1st, Elizabeth Anstee, May 10, 1888 in Victoria BC
they had a son Reginald Price
married 2nd, Elizabeth Jane Soal, Mar 20, 1919 St. Andrew's Church, Prince Rupert
b- in England, age 46 in 1919
d-
daughter of William Soal and Mary Anne Harknett
see link below

Horace DuVernet
Appointed Justice of the Peace in 1917

Horace DuVernet,
b- Sept 29, 1886, Kingston, Frontenac co., ON
d- ? Greenville, SC?
1891 age 5, living in St. James Ward, Toronto, ON

son of Stella Yates
b- Jan 11, 1849 in Kingston, Canada,
d- Dec 11, 1928 in Prince Rupert, BC, age 78
buried in Fairview Cemetery, Prince Rupert, BC
daughter of Horatio Yates
see my Arthur Gould Yates Page
she married the Most Rev. Professor Frederick “Fred” Herbert Du Vernet, Sept 7, 1885
b- Jan. 20, 1860 at Hemmingford, Que,
d- Oct 21, 1924 in the evening, at his home, in Prince Rupert, BC, age 64
buried in Fairview Cemetery, Prince Rupert, BC

Married Beatrice Irene Bradt, Apr 29, 1911 in Vancouver BC
b- 1883, in ON
d- ?
Her father- William C. Bradt

2nd he married- Lilian Monica Pretoria King
b- Mar 27, 1901
d- May 18, 1983
Horace had 3 children by one or both, of the women above
a Mrs. Horace Duvernet left Kitwanga, BC
in July 1925, for Greenville, Greenville Co. SC,
where her husband, Horace went some time before
article says it was 13 years, before 1925, the family went to Shandilla
on the Skeena river, also called the DuVernet farm.
one a son H. Duvernet, possibly Henry?
there is a Duvernet Dr near Greenville, SC

daughter- Alice Frances (Francis?) Du Vernet,
b- Mar 16, 1899, in Toronto, York Co., ON
d- July 24, 1952 in Prince Rupert, BC, age 62
married James Byres Gibson- Jan 24, 1929, in Prince Rupert BC
b- Jan 31, 1881 in Portadown, Armagh, Ireland.
d- July 24, 1952 in Prince Rupert, BC, age 70
Father- James Gibson, mother- Isabel Mould
note- they both died same day.

Joseph Augustus Sampare
b- ?
d- ?
married Catherine Langwukl, Feb 16, 1898 in Kitwanga
had a daughter Evelyn, baptized in Kitwanga
storekeeper in Kitwanga

Robert Alfred Sampare
b- ca 1875
d- Aug 27, 1931 in Kitwanga, age 56
son of Alfred Sampare, b- Quebec, and Boneita Harris, b- Gitwangak
married Mary Lizzie Sampson, Oct 14, 1894 in Kitwanga
married Harriet Brown, Dec 13, 1910 in Kitwanga
married Flora D. Magar, May 31, 1929 in Prince Rupert

Mrs. Katie Rowe
b-
d-

Evan Lewis Davies
b- Feb 11, 1885 Lampeter, Wales
d- Sept 28, 1963, Prince Rupert General Hospital, age 78
occupation Telegrapher,
when he married he lived at Telegraph Point, Souris River
when he died he was a widow
married Grace Beatrice Taylor, Dec 6, 1914 in Metlakatla BC
b- Putney, Surrey, age 34 when she married
daughter of George B. Taylor

Ext Links
Note- not my sites, links may or may not work

Gitwangak Battle Hill
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/bc/gitwangak/index.aspx

Soal and Price Family
http://www.sole.org.uk/backwood.htm

Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/canadagood/galleries/72157622314439389/



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