Social History Archives | Advance with Courage: Lord and Lady Aberdeen in the Okanagan Valley

Book Cover of Lady Aberdeen’s 1893 “Through Canada with a Kodak”

This is the book cover of Lady Aberdeen’s 1893, Through Canada with a Kodak. The book was published in London by Simpkin Marshall Hamilton Kent & Company.

Travelling by Wagon, 1890s

Travel by horse and wagon between the Okanagan Mission and the Coldstream Ranch was long and could be challenging in the 1890s.

Proposed House for the Aberdeens at Rattlesnake Point, 1895

William Van Horne gave the Aberdeens a sketch for a proposed new house at Rattlesnake Point. The design was of a wood and shingle structure, dominated by a […]

Guisachan House after Rehabilitation, 2015

The Cameron family lived in Guisachan House until it was sold to be subdivided. Paddy Cameron kept a life-lease on the house and the remaining seven acres until […]

Reception for the Aberdeens at Vernon, c.1894

Whenever Lord and Lady Aberdeen arrived or left the Vernon train station, there were always lots of people waiting to either welcome the famous family or see them […]

Welcome Arch for the Aberdeens’ Visit, 1890s

Vernon’s residents decorated the main street, Barnard Avenue, with a Welcome to Vernon arch, trees and banners. This was to welcome Lord and Lady Aberdeen to Vernon when they visited […]

“Residence No. 1. Present owner emerging from inspection”; “Residence No. 2.”; “Residence No. 3.”, 1891

John McDougall was born at Fort Garry around 1827 to a Scottish father and a First Nations mother. McDougall travelled through the Okanagan Valley while working for the […]

Coldstream, 1898

Archival photographs are used in the video to illustrate some of the people, buildings, and places in the Coldstream area that Lady Aberdeen described in her journal. These […]

The Aberdeens arrive at Guisachan Farm

The Aberdeens arrive at Guisachan Farm October 14th, 1891 They arrived unannounced at Okanagan Mission and had to walk a couple of miles to the Guisachan. At first […]

The Aberdeens Arrive in the Okanagan Valley

The Aberdeens arrive in the Okanagan Valley, October 14th, 1891 October 14th, 1891. Vernon, Sicamous, Guisachan. Here we are at last at our destination! The starting of the first […]

“First Passenger Train to Vernon. Wed. Oct 14th ’91.”

The Aberdeens were passengers on the first train to Vernon. The train stopped in Enderby where Lady Aberdeen Kodaked the train in the station.

The 1888 Kodak Camera

This is the same model of camera that Lady Aberdeen purchased for her trip to Canada. The original Kodak camera, developed by George Eastman in Rochester NY, made […]