The Chilliwack Progress from Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada • Page 12

1 2 THE CHILLIWACK PROGRESS, Sunday, February 17, 2002 8 The Chilliwack Museum Historical Society presents Her it 2e PRFSFPVFPS PUBLISHED BY THE CHILLIWACK PROGRESS The Qwymc Vaughan PARK SOCIEIYaffl3H The Chilliwack Museum AND ARCHIVES The Gwynne Vaughan Park Society. A Chilliwack Heritage Award Winner for Preserving an Important Heritage House and Landscape KlrtittK. The Alfred "Fred" and Margaret Driscoll Gwynne Vaughan house, I lope River Road. In 1898 Mr A.D. "Fred" Driscoll and Miss Margaret Ryder wen; married in St.

Thomas' Anglican Church in Chilliwack. Aftcrashon honeymoon, they wmrned to reside in their Fairfield Island home, a home that Driscoll had built iwo years previously. It is believed that the Driscoll's lived in the house until 7 902 when they sold the house to D. E. Gwynne Vaughan and moved to Edmonton.

In 7 993, Mrs. Adelaide Bateman, daughter of David E. Gwynne Vaughan, bequeathed the house and 6.8 acre property to the District of Chilliwack. (PI 235, Chilliwack Archives photo) The Gwynne Vaughan Park Society was formed after Mrs. Adelaide Bateman willed her 6.8-acre property to the District of Chilliwack in 1993.

The Society undertook the responsibility for administering the park for the District. The property is located on Hope River Road and Williams Street on Fairfield Island and includes a heritage home, built in 1896, and gardens that include plants trees and shrubs, dating from the early 1900s. A. D. "Fred" Driscoll built the house in 1896.

In 1898 he married Margaret Ryder and the couple resided in the house until 1902 when they moved to Edmonton. David Edward Gwynne Vaughan, Adelaide Bateman 's father, then purchased the property. The Gwynne Vaughan's were avid gardeners. Ethel Stevenson, a childhood friend of Mrs. Bateman's described David Gwynne Vaughan as a "gentleman Adelaide Bateman inherited her father's love for gardening and became an active member in the Chilliwack Horticultural Society (now called the Chilliwack Garden Club).

A trophy for the best narcissus in the spring show is still awarded annually in her name. She enjoyed a good game of bridge and was an expert badminton player. In the early 1950s she married ii.v 77it Chilliwack Museum in the heart of the city. The Chilliwack Museum and Archives; One of the Best Since 1957, the Chilliwack Museum and Archives has collected objects and records that document Chilliwack's history. Some of the oldest records date to the 1860s while newer documents record events that may have occurred only recently.

The Archives collection encompasses over 30,000 photographs, hundreds of maps, ov er 300 oral histories and shelves of business, government and community records. Generally, staff can point researchers to appropriate documents that ill help them answer almost (but not all) questions about Chilliwack's history. People seeking information about family histories also use the resources of the archives to track genealogies. Objects in the collection tell stories about Chilliwack's past. In recent months the Museum has received a snare drum and camera used at the turn of the century by William Dusterhoeft, a notary public and local amateur musician and 1929 Model A (Photo by Rick Collins) photographer; two bricks from the recently demolished former Canadian Legion building on Main Street, an advertising pencil for A.

S. Gimby Real Estate and Insurance; and a circa 1910 quilting frame used by local residents Pearl Wilson and her mother. Almost all of the objects received by the Museum are placed in storage because the Museum does not have enough display space for the collection. Ron Denman, Director of the Museum and Archives, says that "we still collect and know that at some time in the future we will be able to use these objects in displays when we eventually acquire a larger facility." Objects can be viewed in the collection storage area in Evergreen Hall facility, however appointments are necessary. Further information about the Museum and Archives can be obtained by calling the Archives at 604-795-9255 or the Museum at 604-795-5210.

The Museum and Archives has a web site too that can visited at www.chilliwack.muse-um.be. cacm. 2002 T-Bird Sam Bateman who shared her love for the family home and property. In its first years of operation the Gwynne Vaughan Park Society received a generous donation from the Usher family. This donation enabled the Society to begin restoring the grounds.

A new paved path, fences and signs are some of the early accomplishments of the Society. In recent years the house has been given a new roof, exterior paint job, insulation and basement animal proofing while tenants in the house have painted and cared for the interior. Senior allotment gardens have been added, with twenty-two garden plots assigned. A group called the Friends of the Park meets weekly to assist in planning, designing, maintaining and expanding the garden beds. Some donation money is being used for memorial benches, trees, equipment, plants and paving stones.

Members of the Society have, for almost ten years, shown their dedication to preserve this important piece of Chilliwack's history while making the site available for community use. The Museum and Historical Society is pleased to recognize the Gwynne Vaughan Park Society for its work in preserving a part of Chilliwack's past. CHERRY FORD pans 604-792-3351 Service 604-792-2661 4.