History Helps Volume Six, Number 6, May 2006
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• Greetings
• University of Toronto Libraries
• 1940 National Registration
• Press Release on New Book about Bill Miner
• Subscription, Privacy Policy

Happy May Day -- whatever you interpret that to be!

University of Toronto Libraries

The University of Toronto - Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library has announced online access to their 'Canadian Pamphlets and Broadsides Collection'. Their website, located at http://link.library.utoronto.ca/broadsides/ describes the collection as follows:

"The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library has extensive holdings of Canadian pamphlets and broadsides in a great diversity of subject areas from agriculture and land settlement to politics and government to education, temperance, transportation, natural resources, and the arts. The collection encompasses examples from the earliest period of printing in Canada, such as the 1763 prospectus for the Quebec Gazette, to a 1930 price list of officer's uniforms issued by the Montreal firm of W. Scully. Within the broad class of pamphlets and broadsides a variety of genres is represented, including programs, campaign literature, catalogues, reports, and many forms of advertising. The collection includes items in English, French, German and several aboriginal languages."

The site provides access to pre-1930 Canadian pamphlet and broadside holdings printed in Canada, by Canadian authors, or about Canadian subjects, mainly of a non-literary nature. Images are derived from works in the public domain. The site consists of 597 broadsides (single sheets, printed on one or both sides) and 1255 pamphlet titles, which amount to 43182 page images. Additional titles will be added on a regular basis. Page images in are in full colour, and contents of each item are fully searchable.

1940 National Registration

This is an update of a previous entry in respect of the 1940 National Registration, which I’ve not used, but know of researchers who have.

It also clarifies what has happened to the data collected for the National Registration that was carried out during World War One.

Find the page at http://www.collectionscanada.ca/genealogy/022-907.006-e.html.

Press Release on New Book about Bill Miner

“THE FINAL WORD ON BILL MINER IN CANADA 1903-1907

In May of 1906, a train robbery near Kamloops, BC led to the arrest and conviction of one of the best-known outlaw characters of the era: the infamous Bill Miner.

An American who spent four years as both a free man and in captivity while in Canada, Miner is widely regarded as one of the nation’s most notorious and misunderstood criminal personalities.

A new book by Kamloops, BC author Peter Grauer titled “Interred With Their Bones – Bill Miner in Canada 1903-1907” provides unprecedented insights, discoveries, and historical accounts that have been, until now, inaccessible and unpublished.

In a book that has been 100 years in the making, Grauer uses rare and confidential historical sources to shed new light on a well-known piece of Canadian history. In addition to a 6 year research project investigating community archives throughout the Interior and the Lower Mainland, Grauer was granted unprecedented access to restricted BC Provincial Police files for the period 1903 to 1907, and unpublished BC Penitentiary files detailing the incarceration of Miner and his gang. Only after petitioning the BC Supreme Court was special unparalleled access to the bench books of Miner trial judge Paulus Irving granted for the first time.

As a result, “Interred With Their Bones” ventures into new territory in the Bill Miner story, leading to a number of noteworthy discoveries: ...

The book also examines the detailed story of how the Miner Gang was caught, paying tribute to the contributions made by Shuswap First Nations members who helped B.C. Provincial Police Constable William Fernie track Miner and his accomplices to the Douglas Lake country, allowing the Royal North West Mounted Police to make their famous arrest.

Numerous personal interviews, including those with the daughter of Constable Fernie and many early pioneers, some now long gone and whose memories differed from previously published sources, enabled Grauer to tell the true story of Bill Miner, one that is more true crime drama than standard Canadiana.

The book will be of particular interest to local historians as it takes readers back to a Kamloops of 1906, describing palpably the setting around which the Miner saga unfolded.

“Interred With Their Bones”, published by Kamloops-based Partners In Publishing, is scheduled to be released in May of 2006, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the Miner Gang’s train robbery near Kamloops.

About The Author –
Peter Grauer had been writing historical articles for the Kamloops Daily News when, in preparing for an article on Bill Miner, he uncovered some new information which ultimately led to the realization that the true story of Miner had not been told. “Interred With Their Bones” is the result. He also appeared in History Television’s “Manhunt” series in 2004 in an episode about Bill Miner.

Peter is based in Kamloops, BC and is available for interview requests about this book. He can be contacted at 250-573-3670 or through the website at www.billminer.ca.

Peter Grauer Partners In Publishing can be contacted via their website at www.partnersinpublishing.ca or by calling 1-866-574-3734.”

Subscription, Privacy Policy

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Gwen Szychter, M.A.

P.S. Here's a favour you can do for me: If you liked this newsletter and found it helpful or just interesting, please pass it on to a friend or colleague. Thank you.

Newspaper Obituary Database coming to

History of Delta, British Columbia On-line

Delta History On-Line

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