The Henderson’s Directories of Canadian cities are among the most popular resources scanned and maintained by the University of Alberta Library. However, the historical background for the directories is difficult to find online – and as the team maintaining the digital copies, we are hoping to shed some light on this previously-obscure context.
Published starting around 1880, the Henderson’s Directories covered many major cities of Canada, especially in the prairie region. The directories recorded households and businesses of a city. Today, this sort of information is easily accessible via the internet, and before that, via telephone books. But during the late-19th and earlier part of the 20th century, the Henderson’s Directories may have been one of the easiest ways to find specific people or places in cities like Winnipeg, Saskatoon, or Edmonton.
At present, the directories are a vital resource for researchers looking to learn more about the history of families or businesses in Canada. Since the directories scanned by our library range from 1880 to 1965, a year-by-year historical overview of many places and people can be seen. The most popular of the digitized Henderson’s has been viewed over 4,000 times, showing the material’s value as a research resource.
To learn more about this vital resource, we had a conversation with Bonnie Austen (née Henderson), the great-granddaughter of the founder of the Henderson’s, James Henderson. Bonnie reached out to us after a conversation with a friend about our online collection. Much to her friend’s surprise, Austen mentioned she was actually part of the creators of the directories, the Henderson family!
In talking to Bonnie, we learned much more about the historical background of the Henderson’s company and the people behind it, and how it ties into the history of the Canadian prairies. Below are some video highlights from our meeting!
Coming to the Prairies
The Henderson family was moving into the prairies just as the country of Canada was being established. Bonnie’s great-grandfather James Henderson had come over to Canada from Scotland, and eventually moved to Winnipeg around 1871. Bonnie’s father believed that they had traveled by water, charting the rivers from Montreal into Hudson’s Bay and finally to Winnipeg. James Henderson married one Jane Black, a member of another prominent family in Winnipeg. It was in Winnipeg, in 1881, where James Henderson established the Henderson’s Directories.
Moving entire families to cities
The process of collecting information for the directories involved moving to a new city to collect information. For example, James’ son (and Bonnie’s grandfather) Robert Black Henderson moved his entire family to Calgary during World War I in order to collect information for the directories, as well as enjoying their time in the new city.
Knocking door-to-door and getting family involved
The actual process of information collection relied on 2 things in particular: gathering names from companies, and going door-to-door to take a census. Being a family business, the Henderon’s Directories were initially compiled and published entirely by members of the Henderson family. Even Bonnie’s father was involved in this door-knocking, despite the Henderson’s Directories being sold in 1953.
After the Henderson’s were sold to a new publisher, the family became less involved, but the proud memory remains. Thanks to Bonnie kindly sharing her family’s story with us, that memory can be shared with anyone looking to learn more about the Hendersons!
Thanks so much to Bonnie and Patricia Leake for getting us in touch! We are so appreciative of your time and generosity. Don’t forget to browse our online archives of the Henderson’s Directories – you might even discover some of your own family history!
This post was authored by Logan Thienes, Student Digitization Assistant
This content is licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Creative Commons licence.
