Accession Number

2024.001

Alternate Name

invalid chair

Description

One oak, steel and rattan wheelchair with its seat, back, and thigh supports made of flat-sawn oak with cane webbing. The seat cane is torn/punctured in two places and the backrest cane is punctured in three places. The foot rest on the left side (as viewed by a seated user) is split and is being held together by two brass screws threaded through the foot rest and into a non-original piece of wood. This model has two swiveling rear wheels. The wheelchair has a steel frame and utilizes steel leaf springs on each side of the seat. The ebonized turned pushing bar is mounted behind the seat on curved wooden arms screwed onto the seat oak frame and supported from above with curved steel bars. The handle shows signs of wear from use. The overall condition of the chair is good. At the back edge of the seat is the manufacturer’s identification plate with black text on bare aluminum and a stamped serial number: “Mfd. By THE GENDRON WHEEL CO. FACTORY TOLEDO, OHIO. MADE IN U.S.A. CATALOG NO. 632 N”

Narrative

This circa 1900 oak wheelchair by the Gendron Wheel Company of Toledo, Ohio has adjustable leg and back supports and can extend into a gurney as needed. The seat is supported by two steel leaf-springs.

This is the type of wheelchair that might have been used at Craigdarroch by Joan Olive Dunsmuir (1828-1908) toward the end of her life, and by her daughter Marion Joan Dunsmuir (Mrs. Charles Houghton 1855-1892) during her final years in Craigdarroch. Such a chair might have also been useful to Mrs. Dunsmuir's son, Alexander Dunsmuir (1853-1900), who was in in a state of debility whilst visiting his mother in the Castle in August of 1898.¹

This type of wheelchair was also probably used at Craigdarroch Military Hospital from 1919 to 1920. On southern Vancouver Island, the federal government's Department of Soldiers Civil Reestablishment (DSCR) cared for disabled WW1 veterans at Craigdarroch, Esquimalt, and Resthaven (Sidney, B.C.) Military Hospitals. The DSCR also had agreements with Victoria's Royal Jubilee and St. Joseph's Hospitals to care for its patients.

1. British Columbia Archives GR-2731 Hopper vs. Dunsmuir case file 12/92 Transcript from Victoria (Hon. Justice Drake) Victoria, December 3, 1903.

History of Use

The history of use of this wheelchair is unknown. It was purchased by The Castle Society from a Victoria antique mall in 2024. The seller had purchased it from Victoria’s Royal Jubilee Hospital in 2023.

Date

circa 1895

Dimensions

117.6 x 69.5 x 117 cm

Material

Wood, oak; Cane; Metal, steel; Rubber

Serial Number

632 N

Technique

Flat sawn; Woven; Turned; Cast; Forged

Country of Origin

United States of America