The Archives of Will R. Bird: A Guide
Collection Number: MS-2-367Collection processed and finding aid written by Charles Erlichman, April 2003
Finding aid revised and electronic version prepared by Kathryn Harvey, July 2003
Collection Level Description
Title: Will R. Bird fonds
Dates: 1910-1973, bulk 1928-1950
Extent: 82 cm of textual records. -- 49 large format scrapbooks. -- 2 boxes of index cards. -- 10 volumes
William R. Bird was born in East Mapleton, N.S. on May 11, 1891. Born into poverty, he moved to the Canadian Prairies to help harvest crops as a teenager. In 1914, he enlisted in the Canadian Army and served in the trenches with the Canadian Expeditionary Forces (42nd Battalion, Black Watch of Canada) in France and Belgium until 1918. Upon demobilization in 1919, he returned to Cumberland County, N.S, where he married Ethel Sutton with whom he had two children, Stephen and Betty. After a failed general store venture in Southampton, he moved to Amherst with his family and worked at the Post Office. Winning a story-writing contest in the early 1920s and a love of writing prompted him by 1928 to try making his living by writing. Bird's stories were widely accepted by magazines such as
Saturday Evening Post,
Maritime Advocate,
Toronto Star Weekly,
Family Herald
and
Weekly Star
and his first monograph,
A Century at Chignecto, was published in 1928. During the 1930s, Bird lectured widely across Canada, and in 1933 he joined the staff of the recently established Nova Scotia Tourist Bureau. For the next thirty-three years, he worked in various capacities for the Nova Scotia government. In 1938, he and his family moved to Halifax where he served as Chairman of the Historic Sites and Monuments Advisory Council until his retirement in 1966. Bird died on January 28, 1984.
In 1949 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters by Mount Allison University. He published roughly 25 books and 600 short stories, for which he garnered acclaim for his historical fiction and war stories. Although Bird wrote on many subjects, he was continually fascinated by the early settlers of Nova Scotia and wrote many stories and novels on the topic. His experience during the First World War also became inspiration for much of his work. He twice won the Ryerson All Canada Award for Fiction and served as president of the Canadian Author's Association.
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The complete fonds of Dr. William R. Bird were acquired through purchase by the Dalhousie University Archives on May 23, 1979.
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The fonds includes correspondence covering the years 1962-1978; scrapbooks containing clippings, correspondence and photographs (1926-1973); manuscripts for a number of Bird's published and unpublished works-including novels, stories and articles (undated); hardcover novels, fiction and non-fiction published in magazines, journals and newspapers (1928-1975); and miscellaneous documents including reviews, articles about Bird and royalty information (1935-1976).
Correspondence / 1962-1967, n.d.
Scrapbooks / 1926-1973
Manuscripts / n.d.
Published Fiction / 1928-1969
Published Non-Fiction / 1927-1975
Miscellaneous Documents / 1935-1976
The records within each series are arranged chronologically unless otherwise noted.
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[Identification of item], William R. Bird fonds, MS-2-367, Dalhousie University Archives and Special Collections, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
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Combined Series and File Level Descriptions
Date:1962-1967, n.d.
Extent: 4 cm of textual records
Scope and Content:
This series contains correspondence collected by Bird. Correspondents include fans and contemporaries. Repeat correspondents include Clarke, Irwin and Co., the MacMillan Group publishing company, McGraw-Hill, University of Toronto Press, the Cumberland Publishing Company, and the Banff School of the Arts. Bird's natural order of organizing this correspondence (incoming and copies of outgoing mail stapled together) has been preserved. See also the Scrapbook Series for further correspondence.
File Level Descriptions
Folder - 1.1
1962-1967
Folder - 1.2
1970-1972
Folder - 1.3
1973-1978
Folder - 1.4
n.d.
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Date:1926-1973
Extent: 49 large format scrapbooks. -- 2 boxes of index cards
Scope and Content:
This series contains 56 large format scrapbooks compiled by Bird. Dates of material contained within the scrapbooks are wide ranging and the organization, idiosyncratic and haphazard. The scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, programmes, playbills, invitations, correspondence, magazine clippings, photographs, birthday cards, obituaries, advertisements, published writings from pamphlets. Dates of materials within the scrapbooks (as far as can be discerned) are provided. When photographs or other salient features appear, they are noted. Also included in this series are two small boxes of index cards created by Bird to give more information about materials included in the scrapbooks.
Arrangement:
Bird made an attempt to number the scrapbooks donated to the archives. Unfortunately, some of these numbers have gone missing as the tags Bird used have in some cases fallen off and gone missing. He numbered the scrapbooks firstly with numbers (1-?). A second set was numbered 55-1, 55-2, etc. Reasons for this numbering system are unknown. Two #42 scrapbooks exist and as such, one has been numbered 42a. The 17 unnumbered scrapbooks have been numbered A-Q. By utilizing Bird's numbering system, natural order has been preserved as much as possible.
File Level Descriptions
Box 9
Scrapbooks
Volume 3 - 1946-1948
Volume 4 - 1910
Contains photographs.
Volume 5 - 1931-1942
Volume 7 - 1934-1960
Volume 9 - 1948
Mostly correspondence.
Volume 10 - 1918-1934
Mostly correspondence.
Volume 11 - 1951-1963
Volume 12 - 1963-1967
Box 10
Scrapbooks
Volume 13 - 1972-1973
Volume 14 - 1931-1961
Volume 17 - 1954
Volume 20 - 1951
Box 11
Scrapbooks
Volume 22 - 1945
Contains photographs.
Volume 24 - 1948-1949
Box 12
Scrapbooks
Volume 25 - 1949-1950
Volume 26 - 1950
Contains photographs.
Volume 27 - 1934-1966
Box 24
Scrapbooks
Volume 28 - ca. 1940s-1960s
Clippings of people and animals from around the world.
Box 13
Scrapbooks
Volume 30 - 1945-1946
Volume 32 - ca. 1940s-1960s
Contains photographs.
Volume 33 - 1966?
Box 24
Scrapbooks
Volume 34 - ca. 1940s-1960s
Volume 35 - ca. 1940s-1960s
Volume 36 - ca. 1940s-1960s
Volume 38 - 1960-1972
Volume 39 - 1968-1970
Photographs.
Box 14
Scrapbooks
Volume 40 - 1965-1966
Photographs.
Volume 42 - 1951-1953
Box 15
Scrapbooks
Volume 42a - 1960-1965
Volume 43 - 1952-1953
Box 16
Scrapbooks
Volume 55-1 - 1926-1934
Volume 55-2 - 1956-1957, 1973
Volume 55-3 - 1960s?
Box 17
Scrapbooks
Volume 55-6 - 1962?
Mostly newspaper clippings.
Volume 55-8 - 1934
Volume 55-9 - 1949-1951
Book reviews by Bird.
Volume 55-10 - ca. 1940s-1960s
Volume 55-11 - ca. 1940s-1960s
Volume 55-14 - 1951-1963
Box 18
Scrapbooks
Volume A - 1934-1960
Volume B - 1935
Volume C - 1932-1960
Volume D - 1944-1948
Box 19
Scrapbooks
Volume E - 1949
Photographs.
Volume F - 1957
Travel memorabilia, photos from European holiday.
Box 20
Scrapbooks
Volume G - 1952-1957
Volume H - 1952-1959
Box 21
Scrapbooks
Volume I - 1953-1957
Photographs.
Volume J - 1953-1969
Box 22
Scrapbooks
Volume K - 1954
Volume L - 1954-1955
Photographs.
Volume M - 1955-1956
Box 23
Scrapbooks
Volume N - 1959
Volume O - 1961-1964
Boxes 25
Scrapbooks
Volume P - ca. 1940s-1960s
Contains prints of works by Van Gogh, Ruebens, Velasquez, Cassatt, Vermeer, Gaugin, Rousseau, El Greco, Degas, etc.
Volume Q - 1948-1970
Contains loose calendar pages, mostly prints of ships.
Boxes 7-8
Index Cards relating to scrapbooks
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Date:n.d.
Extent: 33 cm of textual records
Scope and Content:
This series contains manuscripts of seven novels, seven articles, and two manuscripts of plays and pageants.
File Level Descriptions
Boxes 1-3
Manuscripts of Novels
1.11-13
"Angel Cove"
1.14-16
"An Earl Must Have a Wife" (Draft One)
2.1-3
"An Earl Must Have a Wife" (Draft Two)
2.4-5
"Misadventures of Rufus Brody" (Galley Proofs)
2.6-8
"Off Trails in Nova Scotia"
Published as "Off Trail in Nova Scotia."
2.9-11
"Prince Henry the Crusader"
3.1-2
"Top of the Hill"
Boxes 3, 6
Manuscripts of Articles
3.3
"Expulsion of the Acadians" - 35 pp.
3.4
"Fan Mail" - 9 pp.
3.5
"Halifax Has Major Historical Attractions" - 5 pp.
3.6
"Interview - with W.R.B." - 26 pp.
3.7
"The London Coach in Cumberland County" (2 Drafts) - 13/14 pp.
3.8
"Story of the Nova Scotia Highways" - pp. 1-58
3.9
"Story of the Nova Scotia Highways" - pp. 59-141
6.1
"To the Officers and Men of the North Nova Scotia Highlanders"
Box 3
Manuscripts of Plays and Pageants
3.11
"Halifax - 1749. A Musical Play" - 107 pp.
3.10
"The Birth of a City - 1949 - Pageant" - 33 pp.
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Date:1928-1969
Extent: 31 cm of textual records. -- 8 volumes
Scope and Content:
This series contains published fiction including 5 stories published in journals; 20 stories published in magazines; 8 stories published in newspapers; 8 hardcover first editions of novels; one published play; 12 stories published in the
Spectator/Advertiser
, an annual advertisement publication from Kentville Nova Scotia; 35 undated stories published in the
Busy East
most likely dating from between 1927 and 1932; 52 undated stories published in the
Maritime Advocate and Busy East
most dating from between 1933 and 1948; 6 stories appearing in
Canadian War Stories
; and 34 stories published in
The Legionary
.
Arrangement:
Items are arranged chronologically.
File Level Descriptions
Box 5
Stories Published in Journals
5.3
"When Yorkshire Came to Nova Scotia" - Dalhousie Review
n.d.
5.3
"Sleep" - Whirligig
circa 1930s
5.3
"When a Moment Seems an Eternity" - Whirligig
circa 1930s
5.5
"The Kaiser's Birthday" - Reveille
May 1934
5.5
"Sleep" - Reveille
December 1939
Boxes 5-6
Stories Published in Magazines
5.17
"The Old Man's Mascot" - Carry-On Magazine
November 1928
6.6
"Private Elemental" - MacLean's
May 1929
5.17
"The Wisdom of the Major" - [unknown]
October 1929
5.17
"Courage" - Forty Stories Magazine
circa 1930
5.17
"One Dark Night in '18" - The Veteran
circa 1930
6.6
"Fundy Fog" - The New Goblin
September 1930
6.6
"Beyond the Wire" - Collier's
April 1931
6.7
"Pro Tem" - Maclean's
October 1931
6.4
"The Love of Bride Crowdy" - Chatelaine
April 1932
6.7
"Grammy's Art" - Canadian Home Journal
December 1932
6.7
"The Reward" - The Farmer
April 1934
6.8
"From The Things That Are to The Things that Were" - The Canadian Veteran
September 1934
6.8
"The Substance of Content" - The Canadian Magazine
January 1935
5.17
"Champion of the Driving Dam" - Nova Scotia Fishing and Game
May 1936
6.8
"Home Pastures" - The Canadian Magazine
April 1938
5.17
"The Dory Builder" - The Canadian Magazine
December 1938
5.17
"Sit Down Strike" - The Canadian Magazine
February 1939
6.8
"A Homesteader Needs A Wife" - Canadian Home Journal
September 1942
6.9
"There's Gold on Oak Island" - Mayfair
June 1947
6.9
"The Money Belt" - National Home Monthly
May 1948
6.9
"Halifax" - Echoes
Spring 1949
Box 6
Stories Published in Newspapers
6.5
"Impressions of Paschendale" - Ypres Times
October 1923
6.5
"The Night Watchman" - Sunday Leader
December 1923
6.5
"Ma's Enlargement" - The Standard
ca. 1930
6.5
"A Man Who Knows What He Sees" - The Standard
ca. 1930
6.5
"Pearly Without Price" - The Standard
ca. 1930
6.5
"The House of Mystery" - Bridgewater Bullet
August 1935
6.5
"Jerome, Mystery Man of Digby County" - Digby Corner
September 1949
6.5
"The Chignecto Ship Railway" - Amherst Daily News
June 1967
Box 4
Novels
"Thirteen Years After," The Maclean Publishing Company, Limited: Toronto, ON -
1932
"Here Stays Good Yorkshire," The Ryerson Press: Toronto, ON
1945
"Sunrise for Peter," The Ryerson Press: Toronto, ON
1946
"The Passionate Pilgrim," The Ryerson Press: Toronto, ON
1949
"This is Nova Scotia," The Ryerson Press: Toronto, ON
1950
"To Love and to Cherish" (signed), The Ryerson Press: Toronto, ON
1953
"Tristam Salvation," The Ryerson Press: Toronto, ON
1957
"An Earl Must Have a Wife" (signed), Clarke, Irwin and Company: Toronto, ON
1969
Box 3
Published Plays
3.13
"The Baronets of Nova Scotia"
June 15, 1939
Boxes 3, 6
Stories published in the
Advertiser/Spectator
6.10
"For A Peaceful Life"
May 1944
6.10
"Let us Live in a House on the Hill"
May 1946
6.10
"The Prisoner"
May 1952
3.15
"Uncle Egbert and Bessie"
May 1956
3.15
"Wedding on the Green"
May 1958
3.15
"Diana Keeps a Diary"
May 1959
3.15
"The Decoy"
May 1961
3.15
"Bride Crowdey"
May 1962
3.16
"The Gold Laced Hat"
May 1964
3.16
"Bachelor Brother"
May 1965
3.16
"Fort Orders"
May 1966
3.16
"The Substance of Content"
May 1968
Box 5
Stories published in
Busy East
5.14
"Clear Crystal"; "Clothes Make the Man"; "Far Lands"; "Forty-Seven Dollars Worth of Life"; "Ghosts and Haunted Places"; "Governor Charles Lawrence"; "Jonah and the Wail"; "Legacy"; "One Night at Pin Tickle"; "Outwitted"; "Personal"
5.15
"Priscilla's Private"; "Simple-Minded"; "Take Your Choice"; "That Astute Mr.Bannerman"; "The Attractions of Annapolis"; "The Courtesies of War"; "The Future of the Maple"; "The Golden Lure of Pirate Treasure"; "The Judgment of the Hawk of Fundy"; "The Matchmaker"; "The Mecca of the Maritimes"; "The Message"; "The Nightshirt Exchange"; "The Preacher and the Bear"
5.16
"The Secret of the Wooden Bear"; "The Stranger at the Landing"; "The Widow Muroy"; "The Wizard's Thumb"; "To Have and to Hold"; "Trapper Joe"; "Two Pioneers of Cumberland County"; "Umpty-Ump"; "When Ships Were to Cross Chignecto by Rail"; "White Magic"
Box 5
Stories Published in
Maritime Advocate and Busy East
5.10
"A Man's Place"; "A Soldier's Place"l Acquaintance"; "Angel's Faith"; "Buried Treasure"; "Captain Jonas Wintell, Curiosities"; "Don't Let them Call you Sweetheart"; "Escape"; "Fish is Brain Food"; "Full of Bounce"; "Grand Finale"; "Green Mouth"
5.11
"Grip of Circumstance"; "Henry Meets Adventure"; "Hero from Spain"; "Home Pastures"; "In Memory of a Gentleman"; "In Time of Flood"; "Love and Water Find a Level"; "Leather Pants"; "Looking In"; "Love and Water Find a Level"; "Married on Tuesday"; "Magic Chariot"; "One Year Married"; "Queen of Value"; "Rainbow's End"; "Red Brush"
5.12
"Red Cupid"; "Remember the Blond Man"; "Return"; "Safely Through"; "Storm Child" (two copies); "Sundown at Dagett's Brook"; "The Axe"; "The Courtship of Mary Belle"; "The Dory Builder"; "The Hired Man"; "The Lady Shed Tears"; "The Last Letter"; "The Night of the Full Moon"
5.13
"The Proving of Corporal Flynn"; "The Recovery of Joe Peters"; "The Romantic Scarf"; "The Russian Coat"; "The Saga of a Poet"; "The Shot-Out Part"; "The Soldier's Place"; "The Third Letter"; "The Thoroughbred"; "The Widow's Right"; "The Willow Whistle"; "The Woman with Three Daughters"; "Under Cover"; "Voice of Adventure"; "When Losers Win"; "When Williams Smiled"; "Witchery"; "Words with Music"
Box 5
Stories published in
Canadian War Stories
5.2
"The Coal Dust Twins"
September 1929
5.2
"Spotted!"
October 1929
5.2
"Boots!"
November 1929
5.2
"The Tired German"
December 1929
5.2
"Bones and Skulls" (?)
January 1930
5.2
"You Don't Know my Officer"
February 1930
Box 5
Stories published in
The Legionary
5.6
"His Deputy"
July 1927
5.6
"The Major's Prisoner"
March 1928
5.6
"June Reminiscences"
June 1928
5.6
"A Turn of the Wheel"
August 1928
5.6
"When Knights Were Bold"
October 1928
5.6
"The Night Hawk"
January 1929
5.6
"No Man's Land"
March 1929
5.6
"Sunshine"
June 1929
5.6
"The Dead Germans"
June 1929
5.6
"Wire Overhead"
September 1929
5.6
"If You Were Me"
October 1929
5.6
"Merry Christmas"
December 1929
5.7
"Slightly Shell Shocked"
January 1930
5.7
"Mechanical Matthew"
March 1930
5.7
"Tin Targets"
May 1930
5.7
"You Don't Know My Officer"
May 1930
5.7
"Eyes! Eyes! Eyes!"
June 1930
5.7
"The Creeping Phantom"
September 1930
5.7
"The Spy Catcher"
February 1931
5.7
"The Laughing Jackass"
November 1931
5.7
"The Finer Instincts"
December 1931
5.8
"White Collars Part I"
February 1932
5.8
"White Collars Part II"
March 1932
5.8
"Vimy - Before April 9, 1917"
July 1932
5.8
"What Price Liberty Part I"
July 1932
5.8
"What Price Liberty Part II"
August 1932
5.8
"'Midnight Visitations' on the Western Front"
November 1933
5.8
"The Night Before Christmas"
December 1933
5.8
"Was it Yesterday"
July 1935
5.8
"Dear Mother, I am Now at Vimy..."
August 1935
5.8
"Nobody Missing"
April 1936
5.8
"The Three Maskoteers"
July 1936
5.8
"To Secure Prisoners for Identification"
August 1939
5.8
"Ask Will Bird"
August 1939
Box 6
Stories Published in
Toronto Star Weekly
6.2
"Auntie Abdul"
August 3, 1929
6.2
"Aristocrat"
November 30, 1929
6.2
"Jo John's Joe"
August 30, 1930
6.2
"The Little Yorkie"
February 25, 1950
6.2
"Fort Orders"
April 14, 1951
6.2
"The Making of a Man"
November 8, 1952
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Date:1927-1975
Extent: 7 cm of textual records
Scope and Content:
This series contains Bird's published non-fiction: two articles published in journals; seven articles published in magazines; eight undated articles appearing in the
Ypres Times
- a war-time 'trench' newspaper; and one published speech given to the Institute of Public Administration.
File Level Descriptions
Box 3, 6
Articles in Published in Journals
3.14
The London Coach in Cumberland County - The Nova Scotia Historical Quarterly
June 1971
6.3
The Prisoner - Canadian Defense Quarterly
Boxes 3, 5
Articles Published in Magazines
5.18
"Three Centuries of Farming in Maritime Provinces" - The Tea Hour
August 1927
3.17
"Historic Amherst" - Amherst Nova Scotia Travel Guide
ca. 1949
3.18
The War Dead of the British Commonwealth and Empire - Beny-sur-mer Canadian War Cemetery
1955
3.19
"Nova Scotia Has Many Lights" - Canadian Geographical Journal
March 1957
3.19
"Some Historic Houses of Nova Scotia" - Canadian Geographical Journal
August 1958
3.19
"Nova Scotia's Historic South Shore" - Canadian Geographical Journal
June 1963
Includes map.
3.17
Excerpts from "The Misadventures of Rufus Brody" - Sojourn
June 1975
Box 3
Pamphlets
1939-1955
3.18
The War Dead of the British Commonwealth and Empire: Beny-sur-mer Canadian War Cemetery
1955
Uncredited introduction, "The War in France," possibly written by Bird.
Box 5
Articles published in the Ypres Times
5.9
"And We Go On"; "Impressions of Passchendale"; "Salient Patrols"; "The Prisoners Who Cannot Escape"; "Vignettes from Passchendale"; Various other unsigned articles
n.d.
Box 5
Published Speech
5.4
"This Canada of Ours" - Institute of Public Administration
n.d.
2 copies.
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Date:1935-1976
Extent: 7 cm of textual records; 2 volumes
Scope and Content:
This series contains miscellaneous documents pertaining to Bird: three academic works about Bird; seven reviews of works by Bird; six articles about Bird; one file of royalty documents with Clarke and Irwin and Co. and McClelland and Stewart; one file of undated tour notes; one file of undated personal notes and a file of miscellaneous memorabilia.
File Level Descriptions
Box 5
Theses and School Projects
5.1
Matthews, Lillian Hunter. "The Life and Works of Dr.Will Bird." Acadia University
August 1953
5.1
Mahn Keyworth, Vida. "The Regional Novels and Travel Books of Will R. Bird." University of Montreal
1960
3.20
Eagles, M.W.S. "Will R.Bird - Canadian Literature"
January 1958
Box 1
Reviews of works by Bird
1.5
Review of "Maid of the Marsh" from the Legionary
November 1935
1.5
Review of "Angel Cove" from the Chronicle Herald
April 8, 1972
1.5
Review of "Angel Cove" from the Ottawa Citizen
June 10, 1972
1.5
Review of "These are the Maritimes" from the Vancouver Sun
April 25, 1975
1.5
Review of "The Misadventures of Rufus Brody" from the Kingston Whig-Standard
January 5, 1976
1.5
Review of "The Misadventures of Rufus Brody" from the Lethbridge Herald
January 23, 1976
1.5
Review of "The Misadventures of Rufus Brody" from CKCO TV (transcript)
Boxes 1, 3
Articles about Bird
1.6
"Will Be Anniversary Speaker at Church" - The Citizen
May 28, 1975
1.6
"Fine Arts Award for Dr. Bird" - source unknown
n.d.
1.6
"St.Stephen 50th Anniversary" - Trinity
n.d.
1.6
"Whatever happened of Will R. Bird?" - source unknown
n.d.
1.6
"Will R. Bird - Author of 'This is Nova Scotia'" - Canadian Life
n.d.
3.12
"Maritime Writer's Breakout" - Axiom
August/September 1975
Box 1
Royalty Documents
1.7
Agreements and statements between Bird and Clarke, Irwin and Co. and McLelland and Stewart -
1967-1972
Box 1
Tour Notes
1.8
Handwritten and typed listings of locations of Bird speaking engagements
n.d.
Box 1
Notes
1.9
Typed notes for various of Bird's projects
n.d.
Box 1
Miscellaneous
1.10
Press releases, advertisement, book-jacket blurb, report on St.Matthew's church and Candian Author's Association event programme; "The Quality of Life in Atlantic Canada," advertisement for speaking engagement
n.d.
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