William Kaye Lamb (May 11, 1904 – August 24, 1999) was a Canadian

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can consis ...

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

, and civil servant.

Career

Born in

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capi ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Lamb received his BA in 1927 and MA in 1930 from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

. He completed his PhD at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

in 1933, under the tutelage of

Harold Laski Harold Joseph Laski (30 June 1893 – 24 March 1950) was an English political theorist and economist. He was active in politics and served as the chairman of the British Labour Party from 1945 to 1946 and was a professor at the London School of ...

. From 1936 to 1937, he was President of the

British Columbia Historical Federation The British Columbia Historical Federation encourages interest in the history of British Columbia through research, presentation, and support. The Federation provides a collective voice for its member societies. History The British Columbia Histo ...

. From 1934 to 1940, he was the Provincial Archivist and Librarian of

. In 1936, he was also appointed Superintendent of the BC Public Libraries Commission. From 1940 to 1948, he was the University Librarian of the University of British Columbia. From 1948 to 1968 he was the

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 t ...

of Canada, and from 1953 to 1968 he was the first National Librarian of Canada. In 1949, he was elected a

fellow of the Royal Society of Canada Fellowship of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Canada judges to have "made remarkable contributions in the arts, the humanities and the sciences, as well as in Canadian public lif ...

and was its president from 1965 to 1966. In 1969, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Between 1964-1965 he served as president of the

Society of American Archivists The Society of American Archivists is the oldest and largest archivist association in North America, serving the educational and informational needs of more than 5,000 individual archivist and institutional members. Established in 1936, the or ...

. Lamb specialized in the early history of British Columbia. He edited and wrote a number of scholarly books relating to explorers of Western Canada, including George Vancouver, Daniel Williams Harmon, and Sir Alexander MacKenzie, as well as a volume on the history of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Personal life

In 1939, he married Wessie Tipping, and they had a daughter, Elizabeth (Lamb) Hawkins.

References

Bibliography

External links

William Kaye Lamb
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

W. Kaye Lamb Award for service to seniors
a
Ex Libris Association

William Kaye Lamb biography
at Ex Libris Association
W. Kaye Lamb Award for the Best Student works
at British Columbia Historical Federation {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, William Kaye 1904 births 1999 deaths Alumni of the London School of Economics Canadian archivists 20th-century Canadian civil servants Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian librarians Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Officers of the Order of Canada People from New Westminster University of British Columbia alumni 20th-century Canadian historians Presidents of the Society of American Archivists Presidents of the Canadian Historical Association