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Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
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1866-1912 (Creation)
- Creator
- Spencers Island Company
Physical description area
Physical description
1.2 m of textual records
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Administrative history
The Spencers Island Company was a general merchandise and shipbuilding business which was formed in 1880 at Spencers Island, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. The company consisted of the following members: N.W. Eaton, Captain George Spicer, Captain Johnson Spicer, Captain J.S. Williams and Amasa Loomer (master builder). The company quickly became the builder of the largest vessels in the province and also had shares in the many vessels it built. In the first year the ship E.J. Spicer was built, followed by the ships Stephen D. Horton, 1883; Chas. S. Whitney, 1885; Geo. T. Hay, 1887; and Glooscap, 1891. The company also built several smaller vessels. In 1895 Percy L. Spicer, son of Captain George D. Spicer, bought the business. The last entry for the company was found in the 1902 edition of the Mercantile Agency Reference Book, which listed its value at between $35,000-50,000, and also listed the company as a general store.
Custodial history
The first accession of the Spencers Island Company fonds was found among Spicer family records and artefacts in the Spicer family home when it was purchased by Harold Lister of Parrsboro, Nova Scotia. The records were purchased in 1996 from Mr. Lister. The contents of the 2009 accrual to the fonds were donated by Gwen Spicer.
Scope and content
Fonds consists of correspondence, 1880-1897, shipping records 1875-1912, and financial records, 1880-1908, including Captain Levi Atkins' account books. The records document the company's business transactions and relationships with business associates such as the J.F. Whitney & Company, New York, and Arkell Brothers Wholesale & Export Clothiers, Cardiff, as well as activities of ship's captains who managed vessels for the company. Fonds also includes records documenting transactions and events occuring through regular shipping and travel between ports, such as change of crew members, conflicts, bills of health, and cargo manifests, 1875-ca.1900. After the company changed hands in 1895 the records document limited shipping activites as well as Spicer family and farming activities. Also includes a blueprint drawing of a ship.
Notes area
Physical condition
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Arrangement
The arrangement for the 2009 accrual is principally chronological and follows the arrangement of the records that was supplied by David Stanley who worked with and wrote about the records.
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Associated materials
Records relating to Captain Dewis Spicer and his shipping activities can be found in the Spicer family fonds (accession number 1997-174,vol. 007-014).