Captain Thomas Salter Guns fonds [textual records]
Fonds number
VMM77
Physical description
15 cm. of textual records
Administrative history / Biographical sketch
Thomas Salter Guns was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, and first saw Vancouver in 1884 as an apprentice on the barque Highland Glen. He returned to Vancouver to work on various coast vessels of the Canadian Pacific Navigation Company. In 1894, he received his Master's ticket, and in 1916 he joined the Vancouver Pilotage Authority where he worked until his retirement in 1935.
Captain Guns' career:
1883: Highland Glen (Nuvanu), Scottish barque – Apprentice
1888: Islander (on maiden voyage), coastal steamer – Quartermaster
1888-1897: Standard, mate
Yosemite, sidewheeler – first mate
Princess Louise, sidewheeler – mate
Princess May, coastal steamer – mate
1897-1907: Tees - pilot
Daube - pilot
Amur - pilot
Islander - pilot
Princess Victoria - pilot
Maude, sidewheeler – pilot
Rainbow - master
Queen City - master
Charmer (premier) – master
1907-1915: Czar, tug – master
Nanoose, tug – master
Nitinat (ex. William Joliffe), tug – master
1916- : B.C. Pilot (secretary)
Scope & content
The fonds consists of primary source materials created or collected by Guns during the course of his career, including photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, reports and daily logs and journals. The fonds also includes manuscripts for fiction that Guns wrote between and during his stints at sea, offering a romantic view of seafaring in the late 1800s. Included in the fonds are three spiral-bound volumes created by Guns' family, which contain transcripts and scans of some of the materials in the fonds.
Detailed notes about many of the items have been provided by the donor. These are included in the file- and item-level scope and content notes.
Arrangement
Original order has not been maintained. Materials have been arranged by the donor.