Archives of Manitoba

Charles Cuthbert Sinclair family fonds

1886-1921

5 albums (388 photographs)
188 photographs

Fonds contains five albums and an assortment of loose photographs created by the Sinclair family during Charles Cuthbert (C.C.) Sinclair's employment with the HBC. An album created by Ramona Sinclair, daughter to C.C. Sinclair contains photographs of her family and friends at locations such as Norway House and Winnipeg. Additionally, the album contains photographs from the 1921 Mackenzie River Inspection trip featuring the Sinclair family at various locations along the Hayes and Mackenzie River. The final pages contain photographs of Ramona Sinclair as an adult.

The second album was created by C.C. Sinclair and features photographs of Norway House, the buildings at the post, and fur trade activities that took place there. Photographs of the transport of supplies and furs are featured extensively, particularly around the Norway House and God's River areas.

Three other albums were most likely compiled by C.C. Sinclair's family. The third album in the fonds contains photographs of Norway House with a significant number of pictures of canoes and York Boats at the post and several photographs of members of the Sinclair family. A fourth album contains numerous photographs of Norway House. Subjects include the ship "Premier," dog teams, Ramona Sinclair playing, the Sinclair family, and church events at Norway House. The fifth album includes photographs of Norway House, buildings at the post, the Sinclair family, and people connected with HBC activities in the Norway House region.

A collection of 146 photographs from Sinclair's 1921 Mackenzie River inspection trip detail subjects such as HBC posts, HBC employees, Aboriginal people and Sinclair's family. The fonds also contain a post-1924 postcard of Hudson's Bay Company House in London.

C.C. (Charles Cuthbert) Sinclair (1870-1944) served intermittently as an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company beginning as a clerk at Island Lake in 1887 and ending as a fur buyer in Winnipeg and Regina in 1931.

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Sinclair, C.C. (Charles Cuthbert), 1870-1944

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Five photograph albums and 147 loose photographs were received from Barbara Johnstone (C.C. Sinclair's great-grandniece) from Selkirk, Manitoba in 1981. These were likely reviously held by Ramona Sinclair. A further 36 loose photographs, possibly held previously by Moray Sinclair, were received from the estate of Barbara Johnstone in 2003.

Captions in the albums, often in white pencil, were written by Charles Cuthbert Sinclair's daughter Ramona.

Barbara Johnstone, a relative of C.C. Sinclair, added many supplemental notations to the captions provided by the creators of albums and photographs. For further information on Johnstone, see the Barbara Johnstone fonds.

Captions in the albums, often in white pencil, were written by Charles Cuthbert Sinclair's daughter Ramona.