Nova Scotia Archives Finding Aid - () Generated by Access to Memory (AtoM) 2.3.1 Printed: November 16, 2017 Language of description: English Nova Scotia Archives 6016 University Ave. Halifax Nova Scotia B3H 1W4 Telephone: (902) 424-6060 Fax: (902) 424-0628 Email: archives@novascotia.ca http://archives.novascotia.ca/ https://memoryns.ca/index.php/jones-roome-van-allen-family-fonds
Table of contents Summary information... 3 Administrative history / Biographical sketch... 3 Scope and content... 4 Notes... 5 Access points... 5 Series descriptions... 5 2015-030, Correspondence,... 5 2015-030, Diaries,... 5 2015-030, Scrapbooks,... 6 2015-030, Photographs,... 6 2015-030, School for the Deaf,... 6 2015-030, Genealogical material,... 6 - Page 2 -
Summary information Repository: Title: Date: Physical description: Dates of creation, revision and deletion: Nova Scotia Archives 1865-1995 (date of creation) 2.2 m of textual and graphic materials (23 boxes) Administrative history / Biographical sketch Note Howard Parker Jones was born in Weymouth on September 27, 1863 and was the second son of St. Clair Jones and Helen Cecelia (Ladd) Jones. Howard Jones was educated at the Collegiate school and at King s College, Windsor where he earned his M.A. in 1881. In 1884, he travelled to Germany to study at the University of Heidelburg and earned a PhD in German Literature in 1886. On July 6, 1893 he married Elizabeth Isabel Ridd of Windsor. Elizabeth Ridd was born on January 22, 1859 in Barnstable, England to Mary and Frederic Ridd. After their marriage, they moved to New York where he was appointed as an instructor in German at Cornell University from 1893-1898. During this time, Howard and Elizabeth had three children, Helen Lorna born on April 26, 1895, Frederick Howard Marling born on September 5, 1896 and Edith Madeline born in 1898. In 1898 Howard Parker Jones became professor of modern languages at Hobart College, Geneva, New York and held that position until 1906 when he was appointed chair of Modern Languages at Dalhousie University. Howard Jones published several articles and, in 1900, he authored A German Reader, with Notes and Vocabulary. He continued to teach until his death on April 29, 1924 at age 60. Elizabeth Jones died on October 26, 1938 in Bedford. Administrative history / Biographical sketch Note Helen Lorna Jones was born in Ithaca, New York on April 16, 1895 and was the first child of Howard Parker Jones and Elizabeth Isabel (Ridd) Jones. In 1907, Helen moved to Halifax with her family when her father was appointed chair of Modern Languages at Dalhousie University. On June 26, 1917 she enlisted as a nursing sister in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. Prior to this, she served in the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD), providing nursing services in the Gifford House Hospital and Leicester Base Hospital. On February 4, 1920 she married Richard Edward Graham Roome, a jeweller, in Dartmouth. R.E.G. Roome was born on May 1, 1892 in Woodside and was the son of George Nathaniel Roome and Florence August (Graham) Roome. In 1915, at the age of 23, he joined the Canadian Expeditionary Nova Scotia Archives Page 3
Force. During World War I, he served with the Royal Canadian Artillery and the British Royal Field Artillery. He was also a member of the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force. After the war, Roome returned to Halifax and co-founded Harris and Roome Ltd. He was also involved in forming the 87th Field Battery in Dartmouth in 1921. Reg Roome also served in World War II and, in 1942, was promoted to brigadier. In 1943 he was appointed Deputy Adjutant General in Ottawa. Reg and Lorna had two children, Howard born in 1924 and Lorna born in 1927. R.E.G. Roome died in August, 1985 at age 93. Administrative history / Biographical sketch Note Karl Cornelius Van Allen was born on November 5, 1898. He married Marguerite Coulter on December 28, 1927 in Belleville, Ontario. Karl Van Allen was trained at the Ontario School for the Deaf in Belleville, Ontario and the Clark School for the Deaf in Northampton, Massachusetts. He was principal of the School for the Deaf in Halifax from 1939-1961. From 1961-1964, Karl Van Allen served as superintendent of the Interprovincial School for the Education of the Deaf in Amherst. Following a brief retirement, he became the first principal of the Newfoundland School for the Deaf from 1965-1967. Alexander Cornelius Neil Van Allen was born on January 27, 1929 in Belleville, Ontario to Karl and Marguerite (Coulter) van Allen. He moved from Belleville to Halifax in 1939 when his father was appointed Principal of the School for the Deaf. Neil Van Allen studied music at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Toronto, London, and Paris. In 1963, he was appointed Professor at the Guildhall School of Music, London where he stayed until 1977. In September, 1977 he was appointed Associate Professor in the Music Department, Memorial University of Newfoundland. He married Lorna M. Roome on June, 1951 in Holborn, Middlesex. Neil Van Allen died on July 15, 2014 in Halifax. Custodial history Donated to Nova Scotia Archives by Lorna Van Allen in 2015. Scope and content Fonds consists of correspondence, diaries, photograph albums and loose photographs, and scrapbooks. The records document Helen Jones Roome s time spent overseas as a nursing sister during World War 1, including correspondence related to the Halifax Explosion when Helen was granted leave to return to Halifax to assist her family. Also included are records related to Karl Van Allen's work as Principal of the School for the Deaf. Nova Scotia Archives Page 4
Notes Title notes Finding aids File list available. Other notes Publication status: Published Status description: Final Access points Roome, Richard Edward Graham, Brigadier, 1892-1985 (subject) Van Allen, Karl, 1898-1973 (subject) Jones, Helen Lorna, 1895-1974 (subject) Jones, Howard Parker, 1863-1924 (subject) Series descriptions Series 2015-030: Correspondence The series forms part of Jones, Roome, and Van Allen family fonds and consists of letters and postcards written and received by various members of the Jones, Roome, and Van Allen families. It includes letters sent to Howard Parker Jones (1916, 1922-1924), Isabel Jones (1915-1931), Edith Jones (1916-1932), Helen Jones (1915-1926, 1928, 1933-1934, 1941-1945), R.E.G. Roome (1915-1919, 1969, 1973), R.E.G. and Helen (Jones) Roome (1940-1949), Marguerite Van Allen (1950-93), Neil Van Allen (1949-1958), and Lorna (Roome) Van Allen (1947-1958). Series 2015-030: Diaries The series forms part of Jones, Roome, and Van Allen family fonds and consists of diaries compiled by Howard Parker Jones (1884, 1906, 1911), Isabel (Ridd) Jones (1903-1907, 1910, 1912, 1914-1919), Nova Scotia Archives Page 5
Helen (Jones) Roome (1915-1916, 1919, 1932-1935, 1937-1950, 1959-1973), Karl Van Allen (1917, 1964), Marguerite Van Allen (1967-1968, 1977-1981), and Lorna (Roome) Van Allen (1943-1945, 1947-1948) Series 2015-030: Scrapbooks The series forms part of Jones, Roome, and Van Allen family fonds and consists of one scrapbook compiled by Isabel (Ridd) Jones (1859-1932) containing correspondence, photographs, certificates, and other material relating to the history of the Ridd and Jones families. Series also consists of a scrapbook compiled by Helen (Jones) Roome (1912-1919) documenting her work as a nursing sister during World War I. In addition, there are two scrapbooks (1940-1944), possibly compiled by Helen (Jones) Roome, containing newspaper clippings and photographs relating to R.E.G. Roome s activities during World War II. Series 2015-030: Photographs The series forms part of Jones, Roome, and Van Allen family fonds and consists of photographs of the Ridd and Jones families (ca. 1890-1951); photographs taken by or compiled by Helen Jones (1912-1918); photographs of the Roome family (1916-1982); photographs related to R.E.G. Roome s activities during World War I and II. Series 2015-030: School for the Deaf The series forms part of Jones, Roome, and Van Allen family fonds and consists of photographs of the building and classrooms (ca. 1950), articles about the principal, Karl Van Allen, and a Short History of the School for the Deaf, Halifax, 1856-1961, by K.C. Van Allen. Series 2015-030: Genealogical material The series forms part of Jones, Roome, and Van Allen family fonds and consists of notes on the Ridd family compiled by Lorna (Roome) Van Allen, 1950-1955; A Genealogy of the Family of Cereno Nova Scotia Archives Page 6
Upham Jones by Mary E.R. Jones, 1905; and a family chart of the Jones family from Weymouth, Digby County. Nova Scotia Archives Page 7