Fonds AR281 - Frank and Cecilia Sylvester family fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Frank and Cecilia Sylvester family fonds

General material designation

    Parallel title

    Other title information

    Title statements of responsibility

    Title notes

    Level of description

    Fonds

    Reference code

    CA UVICARCH AR281

    Edition area

    Edition statement

    Edition statement of responsibility

    Class of material specific details area

    Statement of scale (cartographic)

    Statement of projection (cartographic)

    Statement of coordinates (cartographic)

    Statement of scale (architectural)

    Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

    Dates of creation area

    Date(s)

    • ca. 1854-1950 (Creation)
      Creator
      Sylvester, Frank and Cecilia (family)

    Physical description area

    Physical description

    30 cm of textual records;269 photographs

    Publisher's series area

    Title proper of publisher's series

    Parallel titles of publisher's series

    Other title information of publisher's series

    Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series

    Numbering within publisher's series

    Note on publisher's series

    Archival description area

    Name of creator

    Biographical history

    Frank Sylvester (1837-1908) and the family of Cecelia Davies (1848-1935) were active figures in the early Victoria B.C. establishment. They were among the first Jewish arrivals in Victoria and were important to the founding of the Jewish congregation. Frank Sylvester travelled to Victoria from San Francisco in 1858 en route to the Fraser River gold fields, then settled in Victoria in 1863. He joined the auction firm of Joshua Davies and, in 1869, he married Davies daughter, Cecelia, who had moved to Victoria with her parents in 1863. After 15 years at the Davies firm, Sylvester began his own accounting business. Sylvester was prominent in the Victoria Fire Department, the Natural History Society, the Historical Society, and the AOUW. Cecelia Davies Sylvester (1848-1935) was born in Sidney, Australia and moved with her parents to San Francisco, and finally to Victoria in 1863. She was a member of the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire, and was active in charitable organizations and the Jewish community, and was on the board of the Royal Jubilee Hospital, which her father helped found. The Sylvesters had 8 children: Elizabeth, Lousie, william, Clarence, May, Jesse, Rachel and Ruby. Their daughter, Ruby Florence Sylvester, married Lawrence P. Macrae, a descendant of David Mcrae.

    Custodial history

    Lawrence and Ruby Macrae collected and maintained their family archives.

    Scope and content

    The fonds consists of 4 series: the Frank Sylvester series, ca. 1862-1908; the Cecelia Davies Sylvester series, ca. 1854-1928; Family ephemera series, 1867-1918, and Photographs, ca. 1870-1950. The Frank Sylvester series includes: cannery contracts, legal invoices, lecture manuscripts, and a diary. The Cecelia Davies Sylvester series includes: an autograph book, and scrapbooks containing clippings, photographs and ephemera. The Family ephemera series includes: biographical information, documents, pamphlets and publications. The Photographs series includes: photographs, negatives, and glass plate negatives.

    Notes area

    Physical condition

    Immediate source of acquisition

    Arrangement

    Language of material

      Script of material

        Location of originals

        Availability of other formats

        Restrictions on access

        Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

        Finding aids

        Inventory available with series and file level control.

        Associated materials

        Related materials

        Accruals

        Alpha-numeric designations

        BCAUL control number: UVICARCH-340

        Alternative identifier(s)

        Standard number

        Standard number

        Access points

        Place access points

        Name access points

        Genre access points

        Control area

        Description record identifier

        Institution identifier

        Rules or conventions

        Status

        Level of detail

        Dates of creation, revision and deletion

        Language of description

          Script of description

            Sources

            Accession area