George Fraser Papers 1926-1991

Access and use

Location of collection:
University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400110
160 McCormick Rd
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Brenda Gunn
Phone: (434) 924-1037
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Restrictions:

Collection is open to research.

Terms of access:

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred citation:

George Fraser Papers, Accession 10553-w, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library

Summary

Creator:
American Rhododendron Society
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

George Fraser Papers, Accession 10553-w, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists of about seventy items, [1926-1939], 1960 and 1988-1991, pertaining to the career of George Fraser(1854-1944) of Ucluelet, British Columbia(on the west coast of Vancouver Island), a pioneer rhododendron nurseryman and hybridizer. These items were collected by Bill Dale, Dr. Stuart Holland, and Miss Frances Gundry, a rhododendron study group whose purpose was to preserve the life and work of George Fraser.

Copies of letters from George Fraserto Joseph Gable, 1926-1939, with their accompanying transcripts comprise the largest portion of this collection. Only electrostatic copies of the Gable-Fraser correspondence are present in this collection; the originals are in the British Columbia Archivesin Victoria. Since all of his botanical and horticultural notes and records at his home were destroyed after his death, these copies of his letters to Gable are important sources of information about his work. George Fraser Plantsmancompiled by Bill Dale, Frances Gundry, and Dr. Stuart Hollandhas excerpts from Fraser's letters to Joseph Gablein Appendix A, pp. 55-69, arranged in four separate sections: rhododendron hybrids, general comments and observations concerning rhododendrons, comments about Fraser himself and his activities, and comments concerning trees.

The folder of miscellaneous correspondence also contains copies of three letters between Joseph B. Gable, Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, and Clive L. Justice, President of the British Columbia Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society, about Gable's correspondence with George Fraser, which discuss how Fraser helped and influenced Gable's early work with rhododendrons (1960). Also present in the miscellaneous correspondence folder is a letter from Bill Daleto Caroline Gableconcerning the project to preserve Fraser's horticultural work in British Columbia(1990 Feb 20).

There is a great deal of biographical information about George Fraserin this collection in the article by Bill Dale, "The Cornwall-Pennsylvania-British Columbia Connection" and George Fraser Plantsmancompiled by Bill Dale, Frances Gundry, and Dr. Stuart Hollandat the conclusion of their project to collect all available Fraser material.

Fraser was born at Draimie, Morayshire, Scotland, on October 25, 1854. At seventeen he began his apprenticeship at Gordon Castle with the gardener, John Webster, and continued working in Scotland until he immigrated to Canada in 1883. He first settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but moved to British Columbia in 1888. Fraser lived and worked in his nursery on Vancouver Island for the last fifty years of his life, carrying on a vast amount of correspondence with other rhododendron growers and hybridizers. He was a fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society in London.

Acquisition information:
These papers were given to the Library on February 14, 1992, by the American Rhododendron Society, through Kendon Stubbs, Alderman Library, University of Virginia.
Processing information:

Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

Physical location:
Physical description:
70 items