Lake Kathlyn Anthracite Coal Company Ltd.

Location- North half of Section 8, south half of Section 17, in Township 1 (A), Range 5, Coast District BC,
at head of Glacier Gulch, near Lake Kathlyn, 5 miles NW of Smithers BC.

Mid June 1915- Certificate of Incorporation given to this Company in Vancouver (non-personal liabilty) $200,000
George H. Ballard (see bio below), and Frank X. Frank (see bio below) and Associates from Smithers, were listed as owners
Ten coal licenses were held by Frank in 1917
Coal Licenses #11172 and #11198 were held by Frank and Ballard in 1926
C. Frank is shown as the name in a 1916 BC Mining Report

1927 3 partners owned this mine, Mr. G. H. Ballard, Mr. Frank X. Frank and T. J. Beatty (see bio below)

This company mined Anthracite Coal, the hardest coal, near Lake Kathlyn, near Smithers BC

Oct 12, 1932- C.W. Dill President of the Company, F.N. Ballard Managing Director of the company. Town office in the Chester Building in Smithers. Crew of 15 on camp construction, Bunkhouse, Blacksmith shop, and Power Plant House. They built a 250ft chute uphill to the tunnel of the mine, known as the Ballard Seam. 150 ft down the hill they were digging in to tap this seam.
In 3 weeks they were hoping to produce 50 tons daily.
they had 3 bunkers built on the site to hold the mined coal.

Oct 16, 1932- Charles W. Dill (see bio below) and F. Ballard were in charge of the Company

Nov 1932- Mining the Ballard Seam, Thomas F. Campbell was in charge of the mine.

Mar 1, 1933 Anthony McDonald worked on the development of the mine, and was in the hospital with a broken foot.

June 12, 1934 The Worker's Compensation Board, under a warrant, seized a lot of the mining equipment.

Oct 16, 1934 a mechanics lien on the company by Mark Wicks and Roy Wicks brought an end to the company it seems. A Sheriff's sale took place Dec 19, 1934 at the office of R. L. Gale (see bio below) at the Chester building in Smithers. They were selling the prospecting licences of the coal mine, in location shown above, and all the coal mining equipment, machinery, tools, buildings and supplies. George H. Ballard and the company were listed as defendant.

Oct 24, 1934- F.N. Ballard, G.C. Elliott and W.H. Parker visited the mine, These were all principal owners of the mine from down on the coast at Vancouver. Thomas Campbell was Mine Superintendent

Feb 6, 1935- William Dinsdale was Mine Foreman, and his Assistant H.J. Graham, had a narrow escape with death at the mine. They had completed a round of holes, placed the charge, and withdrew to the portal to fire the shot. The shot failed to fire, and the 2 men went into the mine to check the wiring, and the charge blew. they were both seriously injured with flying rock.

Aug 7, 1935 a Mr. Eric Jones from Victoria BC was involved in the mine.

Mar 9, 1938 the government was being asked to keep the road open to the mine so it must have reopened? Thoams Campbell opened the mine with local associates it seems ca 1934 per document below.

Francis “Frank” Xavier Frank
b- Dec 3, 1863 New Germany (Kitchener), ON
d- Nov 26, 1954 in Vancouver BC, age 90
buried Calvary Section, Ocean View Burial Park, Burnaby BC
lived in Vancouver ca 1927, one of 3 partners in this mine at that time
Father: Augustine Frank, b- Germany
Mother: Frances Kloepfer, b- Germany
Frank married Edith (Sarah Margaret) McKune, Aug 31, 1892, Wellington, ON
she was b- Aug 20, 1869 in Michigan, USA, d- Aug 23, 1955 in Vancouver BC
1935 he was in Burrard-Vancouver area with his wife, he was shown as a Merchant

George H. Ballard
b- Apr 1, 1868 Burford, Brant Co., ON
d- Sept 27, 1948 in Smithers BC, age 80
buried in Smithers Cemetery
Lived in Evelyn BC before he died in the Smithers hospital
Lived in Evelyn in 1927 when he was one of 3 partners owning this mine
Father- Henry Allan Ballard
Mother- Sarah McLean
wife- Ellen Royce

Thomas James Beatty
b- abt 1858, (Jan 1861, age 35 in 1896) in ON
d- Apr 19, 1932 in Vancouver BC, age 74
1911 teamster, Govt Road worker, living in Princeton
1921, he was age 59, he was a mining broker in Vancouver
1927 he lived in Princeton BC and was one of 3 partners that owned this mine
Father- John Beatty born in Ireland
mother- Isabbela Beatty, nee ?, born in Ireland
married Catherine F. Davies Sept 24, 1896 in Vancouver BC, she was born in England

Charles William Dill b- Aug 27, 1870 in Bracebridge, Muskoka, ON
d- Nov 24, 1951 in Vancouver BC, age 81
Civil Engineer, living in Yale area
Obit says he was a Noted Freemason
Graduated from University of Toronto
Designed and built the arch bridge at Niagara Falls
Father: Jacob William Dill
Mother: Mary Ann “Annie” Wright
Charles married Zaida Florine Bettes Apr 3, 1895, Muskoka District, Muskoka, ON

F. N. Ballard
lived in Vancouver in 1932, and had a family there

W. H. Parker
b-
d-

G. C. Elliott
b-
d-

R. L. Gale
Reginald Leake Gale
b- Aug 21, 1879 Cheltenham, Gloucester, England
d- July 3, 1961 Ganges, BC
Enlisted in WWI in Telkwa, Reg No- 703704, received military cross for his work during a July 23, 1918 raid.
102nd Canadian Battalion 2nd Central Ontario Regiment
Lived in Hubert BC when he enlisted, next of kin- brother Walter living there as well
Walter Gale was the postmaster at Hubert BC
He was a LT-Col, Real Estate and Financial Agent, Mining Broker, Insurance Agent, Notary Public, Judge of small debts court, Judge of court of revision and appeal, and probably more!
married Edith Francis Buss Mar 7, 1925 in Saanich BC

Anthony McDonald
b-
d-

William Dinsdale
b-
d-
married in 1935 living in Smithers
passed 2nd class mining certificate in June 1944, shown in Telkwa at that time.
passed first class mining certificate in July 1948, shown in Nacmine PO, AB

Thomas F. “Tom” Campbell
b-
d-

Ext Links
Note- Not my sites-
more owners here
BC Govt document

more mine info in BC Museum Mining book
External Link

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