Surveying Northern British Columbia: A Photojournal of Frank Swannell

Ann Turner is the financial and budget manager of the University of
British Columbia Library.

Frank Swannell was a professional land surveyor and gifted amateur
photographer who did the first surveys and mapping of a large area of
northern British Columbia between 1908 and 1914. He worked primarily in
the Nechako River–Stuart Lake region north of Quesnel, and also around
Lytton and the Pemberton Valley. In addition to his meticulous survey
records, Swannell kept detailed field journals of his surveying
expeditions, now housed in the B.C. Provincial Archives along with more
than 5000 of his photographs and negatives.

Jay Sherwood has chosen more than 150 of the photos and many quotations
from the journals to illustrate his account of Swannell’s activities
in each of the seven years. Together they present a vivid picture of
life in this remote wilderness and the difficulties that Swannell and
his crews encountered and overcame in traversing it, opening up northern
B.C. for future settlement. The Corporation of Land Surveyors of the
Province of British Columbia assisted with the publication of this
material in celebration of 100 years as a self-governing professional
body, and in recognition of a distinguished member’s accomplishments.