| | LEVEL OF DESCRIPTION: | Fonds | | No.: | PR1505 | | TITLE: | Pamela Farmer fonds | | CREATOR: | Farmer, Pamela | | DATE RANGE: | [ca. 1953]-[Copied before 1994] | | EXTENT: | 70 photographs and other material
Includes 37 audio reels, 14 audio discs, 7 films, 2 videotapes, and 0.11 m of textual records. | | ADMINISTRATIVE | | HISTORY/BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: | Pamela Farmer was born October 15, 1935 in England, the daughter of Harry and Kathleen Farmer. Harry Farmer was born February 1, 1911 in Walsall, Staffordshire, England, to Harry, music dealer, and Elsie May (Williams) Farmer. Harry began organ lessons at the age of eight, and by the age of twelve, he was performing on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Radio. At the age of sixteen, he became a professional musician, playing the organ on the movie theatre circuit, performing in his early years under the stage name “Andreas.” He married Kathleen Florence Lodge on October 28, 1934; their daughter was born the following year. During the Second World War, he enlisted with the Royal Armoured Corps, and in 1945 was transferred to Stars in Battledress, entertaining the troops along side Glenn Miller. He made over a hundred recordings; his recordings for Decca were under the pseudonym “Chris Hamalton.” In 1958 he was invited by Dr. G.R.A. Rice to be music director for CFRN Radio and Television in Edmonton, Alberta; Rice had heard Harry play in a hotel in Cornwall. He was the music director for the Sunwapta Broadcasting Company, Limited from 1958 until 1973. Harry also founded the Edmonton Boys’ Choir in 1958, and was organist and choirmaster at St. Paul’s United Church and then Trinity United Church. He was also director of the Alberta Opera Society. He founded the Edmonton Self-Starters Association in 1978. In 1984, a park in the Castle Downs area of Edmonton was named in his honour. Harry Farmer died December 17, 1986. Following his death, scholarships in the Music Department at the University of Alberta and at the Banff School of Fine Arts were named for Harry Farmer. | | SCOPE AND CONTENT: | The fonds consists of records concerning Pamela’s father, Harry Farmer, and includes copied textual and photographic records, dating 1913 to 1986, compiled about Harry Farmer’s life and career and annotated by Pamela Farmer, and audio recordings of Harry Farmer’s (and Chris Hamalton’s) performances and his broadcasts. | | RELATED RECORDS: | Also see the CFRN Radio fonds and the CFRN Television fonds at the Provincial Archives of Alberta. | | GENERAL NOTE: | Information for the biographical sketch is from the records.
Harry Farmer deposited records at the Provincial Archives of Alberta that are part of the CFRN Television fonds (1969.0133); the records concern the program “Sunday Visit.” |
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