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 species; as well as the ...

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 cons ...

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

, and

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

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 cap ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, 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 university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

. He completed his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

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. 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 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 life" ...

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 Voluntary association, association in North America, serving the educational and informational needs of more than 5,000 individual archivist and institutional members. Establi ...

. 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 Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...

Daniel Williams Harmon Daniel Williams Harmon (February 19, 1778 – April 23, 1843) was a fur trader and diarist. Harmon was born in Bennington, Vermont on February 19, 1778, son of Daniel and Lucretia (Dewey) Harmon and died April 23, 1843, in Sault-au-Récollet (Mon ...

, and Sir Alexander MacKenzie, as well as a volume on the history of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

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; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

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 Librarians and Archivists of Canada