Douglas Brymner
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Douglas Brymner (July 3, 1823 – June 19, 1902) was a Canadian politician, journalist, civil servant and archivist. Born in
Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...
, Scotland, Brymner immigrated to Canada in 1857 with his wife and son settling in Melbourne,
Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...
. He served two terms as mayor of Melbourne before moving to
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in 1864 where he became editor of the ''Presbyterian'' and joined the editorial staff of the ''
Montreal Herald This is a list of defunct newspapers of Quebec. 1770–1799 * ''La Gazette du commerce et littéraire pour la Ville & District de Montréal'', 1778, Montréal, Fleury Mesplet, printer, and Valentin Jautard, editor and journalist * '' La Gazette ...
''. In 1872, he moved to
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
where he worked as Senior Second Class Clerk in charge of archives for the Department of Agriculture. In 1872, he was appointed the first
Dominion Archivist Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...
, a position he held until his death in 1902. In 1895, he was elected a fellow of the
Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...
. In 1898 he was elected a member of the
American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...
.


Creation of Canadian Archives and Appointment of Brymner, 1872

After
Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Canada, Dom ...
in 1867, there was a major push led by the
Literary and Historical Society of Quebec The Literary and Historical Society of Quebec (LHSQ) was the first historical society, and one of the first learned societies, in Canada. It was founded in 1824 by George Ramsay, Earl of Dalhousie, governor of British North America. Its headquar ...
for a national archive; it was a deemed as necessary for the Canadian government to create an archive because of the relationship between archives, history, national consciousness and national unity. A petition had been signed by more than fifty leading authors and scholars that urged parliament to create a repository of historical archives where archives could be collected, maintained, arranged and accessible to scholars for reference. The petition was strongly endorsed by the Canadian Library Committee and was transfer to the Minister of Agriculture who at the time was responsible for arts and manufactures.Ian E. Wilson, "A Noble Dream: The Origins of the Public Archives of Canada," Archivaria, 15 (Winter, 1982-83): 18 The petition was then put into action and in 1872
Canadian Parliament The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...
voted a sum of $4000 to the creation. Parliament appointed Douglas Brymner, then a noted journalist, as Senior Second Class Clerk and was responsible to oversee and create a national records repository and undertake general archival responsibilities.


First Year as Senior Second Class Clerk, 1873

Brymner, given the task of creating a Canadian Archives and was allocated, as reported later, an empty room and vague instructions; in starting, there was no single document with any description. Brymner approached his new position with much enthusiasm though and in his first year visited
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,
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, Halifax, Saint John and
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, reporting on the state of various accumulations of government records. In doing so, he captured his first major collection of records. In Halifax records of the British Army from the conquest of Canada in 1759 to the withdrawal of garrison in 1871 were found and transferred to
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
. These records, estimated at 400,000 items were the first major accession for the new archives.


Brymner's Notable Acquisitions, 1873-1902

Brymner's notable acquisitions and contributions to the archives consisted of the making of calendars of the Bouquet and
Frederick Haldimand Sir Frederick Haldimand, KB (11 August 1718 – 5 June 1791) was a military officer best known for his service in the British Army in North America during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. From 1778 to 1786, he serve ...
Papers, D. C. Harvey, "Douglas Brymner 1823–1902," The Canadian Historical Review 24, no. 3 (1943): 252, ISSN 1710-1093 the state papers of
Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...
from 1761 to 1838,
Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...
from 1791 to 1838, Nova Scotia from 1603 to 1801, New Brunswick from 1784 to 1801, Prince Edward and Cape Breton Islands from 1763 to 1801, and those relating to Hudson's Bay from 1673 to 1759. By 1883 the holdings of the archival branch contained 1, 063 volumes of British military records,Smith, Wilfred, "’Total Archives’: The Canadian Experience," Canadian Archival Studies and the Rediscovery of Provenance. Ed. Tom Nesmith. New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, 1993. 137. Print 197 volumes of Canadian civil and military records, 189 volumes of copies of private military records from the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, 450 maps and charts, 1, 395 books and 24 volumes of miscellaneous private papers.


Brymner’s Vision for Canadian Archives

Brymer’s greatest role was his setting the standard, goals and concept for future archivists. After spending time in Britain, and Paris from 1881 to 1883,Ian E. Wilson, "A Noble Dream: The Origins of the Public Archives of Canada," Archivaria, 15 (Winter, 1982-83): 20-21 Brymner became influenced by the European archival system and sent memorandum on government records in Europe. He also urged for the creation of a new building to house archives. In 1882, Brymner had started to develop this role for Canadian Archives and emphasized the importance of documenting all aspects of Canadian society, rejecting any gearing towards political life. In an Archives Report in 1882, he wrote: "The special object of the office anadian archives€¦ is to obtain from all sources, private as well as public, such documents as may throw light on social, commercial, municipal as well as purely political theory." It was Brymner’s goal to create an archive that looked past the traditional archival function as an administrative governmental body. Brymner wanted to archives to act as an information repository that took in information from various sources in which created a robust information repository that reflected Canadian heritage and life in general. Later, in a report for the American Historical Association, he wrote "My ambition aims at the establishment of a great storehouse of the history of the colony and colonists in their political, ecclesiastical, industrial, domestic, in a work every aspect of their lives. It may be a dream, but it is a noble dream."


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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brymner, Douglas 1823 births 1902 deaths Canadian archivists 19th-century Canadian civil servants Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada People from Greenock Canadian people of Scottish descent Members of the American Antiquarian Society Librarians and Archivists of Canada