Archives of Manitoba

George Henry Hambley fonds

1901-1983

64 volumes of textual records including drawings and ca. 800 photographs
ca. 75 cm of textual records including ca. 250 photographs
3 photograph albums
ca. 120 photographs
66 photographs : glass lantern slides
7 film reels

Fonds consists of diaries, correspondence, photographs, film footage and other records created by George Hambley during his career in the Canadian Light Horse during the First World War, as a student following his return to Canada at the end of the war and then as a United Church minister in Manitoba for over forty years.

The diaries contain regular entries documenting Hambley's service with the Canadian Light Horse during the First World War, his time as a student in Toronto and Winnipeg after the war, and his decades as a United Church minister in various Manitoba communities. Many of the diaries also contain pencil and ink sketches, photographs, cards, letters, clippings and handwritten annotations added years after the creation of the diaries. These records document Hambley's work, family, friends and the congregations and communities of Lavenham, Sydney, High Bluff, Warren, Elgin, Kenton, Grandview, Roland, Basswood, and Melita where Hambley served, as well as political events.

Fonds also includes photograph albums, loose photographs and glass lantern slides which include photographs of Hambley (including some photographs of his time in the Canadian Light Horse and in Europe after the end of the First World War), his friends, family and members of his congregations as well as Manitoba churches, other buildings, cairns and statues, bridges, roads and communities taken by Hambley during his travels. The glass lantern slides were prepared for a slide show which Hambley presented in various Manitoba communities. Most of the images used for the slide show are also in photograph albums or loose photographs. The scripts for the slide show are also included in the records.

Fonds also includes unpublished manuscripts written by Hambley including "Boots and Saddles," "Fast Flows the River," (co-written by his wife Florence Hambley) "School Teacher to Solider," and "Far Pastures are Green," as well as articles, speeches, and short stories and the musical score for "O'er Bethlehem's Plain" for which Hambley wrote the words.

Fonds also includes some military training manuals, an army field message book, the family's Second World War ration books, programs from annual dinners at Wesley College, as well as two published books of poetry, "Troopers in France," by R.T. Anderson and "Prairie Pioneer Poems," by W.L. Coutts.

Fonds also includes seven 8mm film reels containing (silent) footage shot by Hambley in the 1950s and 1960s. Contents of the film reels include an archery contest in Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg in 1958, the Queen's visit to Brandon in 1959, farming, the Legislative Building, parades (in Fort Frances and Napinka), family members, weddings, funerals, a pow wow at Manitou Rapids and the 1967 Centennial Caravan.

George Henry Hambley (1896-1983) served with the Canadian Light Horse during the First World War and was a United Church minister in Manitoba for over forty years.

Click on the link(s) below for more information.

Hambley, George Henry

There are no restrictions on access to these records except for the glass lantern slides. Contact the Archives of Manitoba for further information.

Researchers are responsible for observing copyright legislation. Permission may be required for any form of publication or exhibition where records are not in the public domain.

Most of the records were donated to the Archives of Manitoba by George Hambley's children, Ruth Breckman, Grant Hambley, and Barrie Hambley in 1984.
Two photograph albums, the glass lantern slides and some other loose photographs were brought to the Archives of Manitoba in 1984 but were not officially donated until 2013.
The 8mm film reels were donated to the Archives of Manitoba by Ruth Breckman in 2015.

Some of the films in this fonds have been digitized and can be viewed through the listings database.

MG7 H11