Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
- Textual record
- Graphic material
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Repository
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1885 (Creation)
Physical description area
Physical description
1 scrapbook ; ~21 leaves ; 23.2 x 19.1 cm
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Custodial history
Scope and content
Pocock's 1885 scrapbook contains approximately 70 pages, with entries (many dated) in a very legible hand, numerous tipped-in and loosely inserted original drawings, autograph letters, illustrations, and clippings. A few leaves have clippings pasted over manuscript entries.
It is bound in quarter maroon leather and marbled boards, with paper label on the cover (labeled "1885"). A bookplate states "Be Traist" ("Be Faithful", the crest of the Innes Clan).
Entries record important events, which were either personally experienced or gathered first-hand from those directly involved. Shortly after his entry into the N.W.M.P., Pocock was immersed in the official response to the uprisings now known as the North-West Resistance of 1885. His 1885 scrapbook conveys the activities related to the military operations, as he had access to direct information. He also records valuable observations of his life as a N.W.M.P. officer. He compiled a list of duty-related statistics (kit prices, N.W.M.P. personnel statistics, expenses, deaths, distance, and important dates with incidents noted), and transcriptions from other sources, including Riel's personal diary. The scrapbook is illustrated with his own pencil and ink sketches and drawings. Included are letters written to his family telling of his experiences with the N.W.M.P. and events of the North-West Resistance, some illustrated with drawings and maps, apparently retrieved for inclusion in the diary books which were to become the source for his planned autobiography. Interspersed throughout the scrapbooks are short stories, poems, and other jottings. Notably this scrapbook contains an early and very faded photograph of Big Bear.
Notes area
Physical condition
Scrapbook is in decent condition ; The bindings are rubbed and scuffed ; Some of the leaves are slightly chipped along their edges, with the loss of partial words on a few leaves ; The contents are otherwise in clean and fine condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
All researchers (including students, faculty, visiting scholars, and members of the general public) must submit a Retrieval Request Form at least 24 hours before their visit to Bruce Peel Special Collections in order to be sure that library materials have been retrieved from storage and are available for their use.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Associated materials
There are many items that were kept loose within the scrapbook. These items have been removed and arranged into separate folders. The descriptions of these items follow this record.
Accruals
General note
Formerly accessioned as 2008.6.1.1.1