Personal Information
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Name
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William Crawford Rackham
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| Gender | ♂️ Male | |
Additional Information
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Additional Info
Early life William Crawford Rackham was born in 1869 in Stratford on Avon, England. From the 1881 census (Doc 1) we can see William Crawford Rackham aged 11 living in Stratford Upon Avon at 8 High Street (Drapers shop) with: Canadian Special Forces Boer War William served in the 2nd Strathcona’s Horse Regiment of the Canadian Special Forces services in South Africa 1899-1900, the Boer War extending between 1899 and 1902 with units serving from the British Army, Royal Navy and colonial forces who took part (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India and South Africa). The Strathcona regiment was unusual! The movement of the unit explains the movements of William Crawford, i.e. out of Ottawa, to South Africa and then back to London to receive the Queen’s Medal enroute back to Canada! In William's record it says he was awarded the Queen’s Medal with three clasps: Belfast, Natal and Orange Free States (Doc 1 & Doc 1a). • BELFAST – Awarded to troops who, on 26 or 27 August 1900, were east of a north and south line drawn through Wonderfonein, and west of a north and south line through Dalmanutha Station, and north of an east and west line drawn through Carolina (Transvaal) • NATAL – 11 October 1899 and 11 June 1900 William was discharged on the 16th March 1901 in Ottawa, his recruitment and discharge record makes interesting reading Hudson Bay Company (from the Archives of Manitoba website) William Rackham was married by the time he left the Hudson Bay Company. He lived at Fort Alexander, Manitoba, from as early as 1926 and as late as 1939. There he fished, farmed and developed his property. His date of death is not known. He did receive a medal for 15 years service with the Hudson Bay Company along with a medal commemorating the 250th Anniversary of the Company. While he was an employee of the Hudson Bay Company he took a lot of photographs as he travelled around Canada, which is why William has a record and collection of his own in the Archives of Manitoba. Details of this record were obtained from a lady called Anna Shumilak at the Archives, which includes 222 photographs taken on his travels, his personal diary and a separate photo album donated by J.G.M. Christie (who likely travelled with him while working in the Fur Trade Department). The photographic collection was presented to the Archives by Carl S. Simonson of Winnipeg in 1965 (1965-57). The photographs include scenes from both the Athabasca and Keewatin Districts (i.e. northern Alberta and Manitoba). They were presumably taken when Rackham was Inspecting Clerk in Athabasca (1912-15) and Inspecting Officer in Keewatin (1915-18) Copies of the photographs are available at cost - three requested are shown below, amazing quality, but some of the names of the remaining are intriguing: 'Boat going over rapids', 'Teepee at God's Lake, 'Canoes on Hairy Lake', 'Beaver Indians on the Peace River', 'Group of five people having a cup of tea along a river bank during winter', 'Cree Indian camp near the Peace River, drying moose meat', 'Man displaying a 28 pound lake trout', 'Slavery Indians at Fort Vermillion post', 'Iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean', and 'boy and bear cub playing'. This is proper pioneer stuff!
Hudson Bay Company Peace River - taken by William Crawford Rackham c 1902
Hudson Bay Company Interior of store - taken by William Crawford Rackham 1910
Hudson Bay Company Rackham House - taken by William Crawford Rackham no date
Hudson Bay Company Wolverine Point in the Peace River - taken by W.C.Rackham 1910 Next Steps So many questions to follow up if anyone is interested...
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Contact Information
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The Gorman Family