TITLE

Standen-McQueen family fonds. -- ca. 1860-ca. 1975. -- 2.3 m of textual records and related materials. -- ca. 2500 photographs. -- ca. 1500 negatives.

Sydney Helmer Standen and Euphemia Young McQueen
on their wedding day, 18 August 1930, Saskatoon
(Photo credit: Gibson Photos, Saskatoon)

BIOGRAPHY / HISTORY

Sydney (Sid) Helmer Standen was born in 1905 in Minesing, Ontario, the son of Andrew Ronald and Ada Louisa Standen. In 1911, his family moved to Kindersley, Saskatchewan where Sid grew up. He later became a teacher and also served in World War II.

Euphemia (Effie) Young McQueen was born in 1903 in London, England, daughter of James and Margaret McQueen (nee Drysdale). In Effie’s first year, the McQueens moved to Scotland and then, in 1913, to Canada, where they settled in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Effie became a teacher and appeared in theatrical performances and recitations.

Sid and Effie married in 1930 and settled in Hanley, Saskatchewan. They had four sons: Philip Andrew, Neil McQueen, Sydney Drysdale (Dale), and Eric James William; Philip died in 1955 at the age of 22 during a tactical flight training exercise near Chatham, New Brunswick. In 1942, Sid and Effie moved to Burnaby, British Columbia where they were to spend the remainder of their lives. After Effie’s death in 1965, Sid married Gladys Marshall; he died in 1975. (Taken from “Standens and McQueens: A Canadian Story of Migrant Families” by S. Dale Standen, 2014).

SCOPE AND CONTENT

Fonds is comprised of the family papers of Sydney Helmer Standen and Euphemia Young Standen (nee McQueen). These papers include ancestral records and photographs dating from the 1860s to the 1970s and touch geographically on England, Scotland, Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. They pertain primarily to the families of Standen, McQueen, Drysdale, Ronald and Bensen and include such individuals as Sydney (Sid) Helmer Standen, Euphemia (Effie) Young Standen, Philip Andrew Standen, Neil McQueen Standen, Sydney Drysdale Standen, Eric James William Standen, James McQueen, Margaret (Maggie) McQueen, Elsie McQueen, and Peter Ian McQueen. Subjects include migration, settlement, farming, education, teaching, military service and war, and domestic life.

NOTES

Custodial History: Fonds was in the custody of Professor Dale Standen, son of Sydney Helmer Standen and Euphemia Young Standen (nee McQueen), before being donated to Trent University Archives in 2014.

Immediate Source: Fonds was in the custody of Professor Dale Standen before being donated to Trent University Archives in 2014.

Associated fonds: This fonds is related to the William Standen fonds (87-006) which is comprised of six nineteenth-century diaries of William Standen (transcriptions are available through the above link). William Standen was the paternal grandfather of Sydney Helmer Standen and great-grandfather of Professor Dale Standen.

Fonds Arrangement:

This fonds was arranged and described by the donor, Trent University Professor Emeritus Dale Standen. With Professor Standen’s permission, we have extracted text directly from his descriptions for the purpose of creating this finding aid. The original descriptive text provided by Professor Standen is located in two binders in Box 15.

Re: Boxes 1-12
Series A: Correspondence (also includes some photographs)
Note: Professor Standen provided item-level descriptions for the contents of Boxes 1-11; this item-level description is found in a binder titled “Standen-McQueen Papers” located in Box 15. Researchers should use the “Standen-McQueen Papers” binder to access the detailed item-level inventory of letters and documents found in Boxes 1-11. Box 12 is comprised of envelopes which were removed by Professor Standen from items which are located in Boxes 1-11.

Re: Boxes 13-15 & Large Materials Cabinet – Drawer 53
Series B: Photographs and Negatives
Note: An index to the photographs and negatives found in Boxes 13-15 and in the Large Materials Cabinet (Drawer 53) was created by Professor Standen and is found in a soft-covered green binder titled “Standen/McQueen Photographs” located in Box 15. Researchers should use the “Standen/McQueen Photographs” binder to access the detailed list of photographs and negatives found in Boxes 13-15 and in the Large Materials Cabinet (Drawer 53).

Restrictions: N

FINDING AID

Series A: Correspondence

Sydney Helmer Standen (Boxes 1-5)

Boxes 1-5 contain records relating to Sydney Helmer Standen (SHS) (known as Sid), as well as papers relating to other members of his family and of the families of Euphemia (Effie) Young Standen (nee McQueen) (EYS), his wife. Sid Standen was born 27 July 1905 in Minesing, Ontario, and died in Burnaby, British Columbia, 12 March 1975. In addition to documents of vital statistics, there are files regarding his schooling, teaching career, military service, sporting life, church life, and household and financial affairs. Professor Standen indicates that the papers were arranged to reflect their provenance as nearly as possible as they were found on the death of SHS in 1975. Most of the correspondence in these files contains letters received by SHS and EYS. They represent only a small fraction of the correspondence that the two received in their lives together. It is evident from even this limited record that they both engaged in a voluminous correspondence with distant family and friends. The letters span two world wars, drought and depression, and the Cold War era.

Full descriptions of the file contents are included in a white binder titled “Standen-McQueen Papers” which was provided by the donor and is located in Box 15. File titles only are provided below:

Box 1

Folder

1. Banking, 1931-1965
2. Church, 1938-1960
3. Correspondence 1, 1910-1964
4. Correspondence 2, 1942-1945
5. Correspondence 3, 1965
6. Correspondence 4, 1961
7. Income Tax, 1940-1958
8. Income Tax Summaries, 1961-1973

Box 2

Folder

1. Insurance, Life, 1934-1971
2. Insurance, Other, 1953-1971
3. Investment Finance, ca. 1942-1970
4. Medical, 1934-1966

Box 3

Folder

1. Military Decorations, 1944-1945; n.d.
2. Military, 1942-1943
3. Military Newspapers, 1945; related correspondence, 1986
4. Military Overseas Operations, 1943-1944
5. Overseas Packet 1, 1944-1945
6. Overseas Packet 2, 1944-1945
7. Overseas Packet 2 (2), 1940-1944
8. Military Photographs, 1941-1947; n.d.
9. Military Post WWII, 1944-1969
10. Military Record Personnel, 1940-1956

Box 4

Folder

1. Miscellaneous, 1951-1958; n.d.
2. Mortgage, 1954-1964
3. Personal and Family 1, 1926-1982
4. Personal and Family 2, 1867; 1946-1966
5. Property Tax, 1954-1972
6. Receipts, Misc., 1946-1970
7. Schooling, 1918-1949

Box 5

Folder

1. Sports, 1940s-1970s
2. Teaching 1, 1927-1941
3. Teaching 2, 1933-1949
4. Teaching 3, 1950-1971
5. War Justification, 1940-1941

Philip Andrew Standen (Boxes 6-8)

Boxes 6-8 include records related to Philip Andrew Standen (PAS). PAS was born in Saskatoon on 24 April 1932 and died near Chatham, New Brunswick, on 8 February 1955. The papers consist of some academic and scholarship records from school and university; correspondence with his mother while he was stationed elsewhere in Canada with the RCAF after graduating from the University of British Columbia, June 1954 to February 1955; correspondence from friends and family mostly from 1954-1955; photographs, newspaper clippings and official correspondence relating to his death and funeral; a family portrait and negative; a few miscellaneous pieces, including a couple of letters from Trudy Mounce to Phil’s mother, Effie Young Standen, after his death. Phil’s death in an air crash in the RCAF on 8 February 1955 in Chatham, New Brunswick, precipitated a voluminous correspondence. Professor Standen notes that the letters received in connection with this event by his parents, SHS and EYS, are included here in the dossier of Philip Andrew Standen because they were located with his other papers. There are some letters and other items relating to Phil in the dossier of SHS.

Full descriptions of the file contents are included in a white binder titled “Standen-McQueen Papers” which was provided by the donor and is located in Box 15. File titles only are provided below:

Box 6

Folder

1-5. Chatham, New Brunswick, 1954-1955
6-8. Death and Condolences

Box 7

Folder
1-12. Death and Condolences (cont’d)

Box 8

Folder

1-8. Death and Condolences (cont’d)
9. Death and Funeral
10. Personal
11. Scholarship and Awards

Euphemia Young McQueen (Standen) (Box 9)

Box 9

Box 9 includes records pertaining to Euphemia (Effie) Young McQueen (EYS) born on 28 August 1903 in London, England, eldest daughter of James and Margaret McQueen. She married SHS on 18 August 1930 in Saskatoon and died in Burnaby, British Columbia on 2 September 1965. The dossier contains documents relating to vital statistics, some correspondence in the form of letters received, records of her teaching career, academic records, and numerous documents relating to her amateur theatrical performances and recitals before and after her marriage in 1930. There are a few postcards and photos and some legacies from relatives. There is a scrapbook, only partially filled, with clippings and other items relating to her schooling, performances, and other activities. There are also many documents relating to EYS in the dossiers of SHS and of James McQueen, notably letters that she wrote to her parents and to her husband.

Full descriptions of the file contents are included in a white binder titled “Standen-McQueen Papers” which was provided by the donor and is located in Box 15. File titles only are provided below:

Box 9

Folder

1. Academic and Teaching
2. Correspondence 1
3. Correspondence 2
4. Personal 1
5. Personal 2
6. Scrapbook 1
7. Scrapbook 2
8. Scrapbook 3
9. UK Trip Journals

James McQueen (Boxes 10-11)

Boxes 10-11 include records of James McQueen (JM) who was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on 25 October 1874 and died in Burnaby, British Columbia, on 29 April 1947. JM married Margaret (Maggie) Drysdale on 31 July 1902 in London, England, where he was practicing his trade of decorator and painter. Margaret Drysdale was born in Kincardine, Scotland on 26 October 1873 and died in Burnaby, British Columbia on 2 February 1942. James and Margaret McQueen had three children: Euphemia Young (EYS), Elsie Hutchison, and Peter Ian.

Full descriptions of the file contents are included in a white binder titled “Standen-McQueen Papers” which was provided by the donor and is located in Box 15. File titles only are provided below:

Box 10

Folder

1. Alexander Drysdale
2. Correspondence 1
3. Correspondence 2
4. Correspondence 3
5. Correspondence 4
6. Ian McQueen

Box 11

Loose in box:

Journals and diaries

Folder

1. Margaret McQueen (trip to West Indies, 1937)
2. Miscellaneous
3. Newspaper clippings: popular, sentimental
4. Newspaper: Yorkton Enterprise, 5 February 1942
5. Personal and family

Envelopes (Box 12)

Box 12

Loose in box:

This box is comprised of envelopes which were removed by Professor Standen from items which are located in Boxes 1-11. Also included is an envelope of cancelled Canadian stamps.

Series B: Photographs and Negatives

Boxes 13-15 & Large Materials Cabinet – Drawer 53

An index to the photographs and negatives was created by Professor Standen and is found in a soft-covered green binder titled “Standen/McQueen Photographs” located in Box 15. Researchers should use the “Standen/McQueen Photographs” binder to access the detailed list of photographs and negatives found in Boxes 13-15 & Large Materials Cabinet (Drawer 53).

Approximately 2500 photographs and 1500 negatives are located in Boxes 13-15. Subjects include members of the Standen and McQueen families and their activities. These photographs and negatives are located in albums, binders, envelopes, and rolls (in the case of panoramic photographs).

Panoramic photographs (located in Box 13) include:
Picnic at Forestry Farm of Summer School – University of Saskatchewan, 1930
Burke Public School – Yorkton – September 1929
Marshall-Wells Annual Staff Picnic – Bowen Island 1946
Jantzen – Annual Social Club Picnic – Bowen Island 1946
Collegiate Institute 1926 – Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
I.O.O.F. No. 10 – Champion Baseball Team 1949

Box 15 also includes a white binder of thumbnail contact prints made by Professor Standen of many of the original photographs; these contact prints serve as an inventory and will be useful to researchers wishing to quickly identify photographs in the fonds.

Box 15 also contains the two aforementioned binders with the item-level descriptions of letters and photographs; these binders are titled “Standen-McQueen papers” and “Standen/McQueen Photographs.”