Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
Parallel title
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Title notes
- Parallel titles and other title information: Source of parallel title from label on front of scrapbook.
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Edition area
Edition statement
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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)
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1882 - 1884 (Creation)
- Creator
- Pocock, Roger
Physical description area
Physical description
1 notebook ; ~78 leaves ; 34.4 x 21.1 cm
Publisher's series area
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Henry Roger Ashewell Pocock was born November 9, 1865 at Cookham, Berkshire, England. He came to Canada with his father in 1882, and settled in Brockville, Ontario. In 1882 and 1883, he attended the Guelph Agricultural College, and subsequently took a job as a surveyor for the Canadian Pacific Railway.
Pocock enlisted with the North-West Mounted Police at Fort Osborne in 1884. When the North-West Resistance broke out, Pocock marched with Colonel Irvine's relief force from Regina to Prince Albert in the winter weather, freezing his feet during the trek. As a result of the advanced frostbite to his feet, Pocock had to have several toes amputated, rendering him an invalid constable. He kept a diary/scrapbook for each year he was with the N.W.M.P., and later used the collections to write and publish a series of fictional books based on his experiences, the first successful of which was a biographical work titled "Following the Frontier" (N.Y., 1903) also published as "A Frontiersman" (London, 1903). According to Watters (A Check List of Canadian Literature, 1628-1950), Pocock published at least 15 titles between 1888 and 1931. In 1905, Pocock went on to found "The Legion of Frontiersmen of the Commonwealth." He died November 12, 1941.
Custodial history
Scope and content
Scrapbook consists of typewritten diary accounts for the years of 1882-1884. Cuttings and lithographs are either pasted or tipped in. Loose diary entries and letters are contained in envelopes, which are tipped in intermittently throughout the scrapbook.
Scrapbook contains:
Photographs of graves on C.P.R. construction; voyage across Atlantic in 1882; and Lake Superior.
Diary accounts of Pocock aboard the "Peruvian" for a cross-Atlantic passage (approximately 89 pages of loose, handwritten entries); "Narrative of occurrences from the date of my departure from England to the end of the year 1882" (typewritten, with sketches, clippings, and maps); "Narrative to replace diary of the year 1883 which was stolen at Prince Albert N.W.T. in 1886 (1887)" (handwritten, with imprint cuttings, map, and sketches); and "Narrative to replace diary stolen at Prince Albert in 1886, of the events of my life during the year 1884 (1887)" (handwritten, with interspersed imprint cuttings, letters, maps, and sketches).
Imprint cuttings of Alexandria; 1000 islands; R.H. Lindsay sketches of Quebec; animals; Port Arthur architecture; Lake Winnipeg; and the North-West (Red River to Hudson's Bay).
Sketches of Ontario and Quebec ("Sketches made from 'Picturesque Canada' during my convalescence in Prince Albert N.W.T. at the time of the Rebellion - Spring 1885").
Letters to his father and mother.
Notes area
Physical condition
Scrapbook is very fragile ; Covers are loose ; Pages are brittle and chipped along edges
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Location of originals
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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.
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General note
Formerly accessioned as 2008.6.1.1.15