Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Bishop Foundry and Machine Shop fonds
General material designation
- Multiple media
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on provenance of fonds
Level of description
Fonds
Repository
Reference code
CA PCNSWH MHCA0017
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1878-1995, predominant 1935-1975 (Creation)
- Creator
- Bishop Foundry and Machine Shop
Physical description area
Physical description
3.92 m. of textual records and other material
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Bishop Foundry and Machine Shop
Administrative history
Elias Bishop (1812-1895) and his son George A. (1838-1923) had a black smithing shop on Spring Street in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, in the 1860s. They were well known for making mussel mud diggers, iron ploughs and other farm machinery. Between 1873 and 1877 George established the Summerside Foundry on the corner of Water and East Streets and from 1879-1883 was in partnership with Thomas Campbell. Prior to 1900 his sons began working with the firm, Elias (1870-1951) as a moulder and Thomas (1879-1958) as a machinist. By 1909 the business name was George Bishop & Son, the son being Elias. Ten years later, it was known as George Bishop and Sons Foundry with Elias as President and Thomas as Vice-President. They carried on after their father's death until early 1935 when a decision was made to split the business. Elias worked in the foundry until 1946 when ill health forced him to retire. The building was rented for 22 months to Bruce Stewart Ltd. Of Charlottetown. Thomas ran his business as Bishop's Machine Shop until 1949 when it became Thomas H. Bishop & Son, leaving Ralph (1910-1991), son of Thomas, as sole owner in 1958. He continued to operate the shop at 101 Water Street until the mid 1970s. The building was closed up with machinery and tools intact and in 1998 was purchased by the City of Summerside for future restoration.
Custodial history
The business records of the foundry and machine shop were in the possession of Ralph Bishop at the time of his death in 1991. When the City acquired the contents of the shop in 1998, the files, ledgers and assorted materials were packed and removed to City Hall and then in July 2002 to the MacNaught History Centre and Archives.
Scope and content
The fonds mainly consists of the records of Bishop's Machine Shop, but does include some early ledgers (1909-1947) and daybooks (1878-1925) of Bishop's Foundry. In addition there are some personal papers of the machine shop's last owner Ralph Bishop. The fonds has been divided into the following series:
Ledgers and daybooks
Accounts payable
Accounts receivable
Bank records
Business files
Personal materials
Notes area
Arrangement
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
NO RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
PERMISSION FOR USE AND REPRODUCTION IS REQUIRED FROM THE MACNAUGHT HISTORY CENTRE AND ARCHIVES; QUESTIONS REGARDING COPYRIGHT ARE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE USER
Finding aids
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS AND FILE LISTINGS AVAILABLE
Associated materials
Related materials
Accruals
Physical description
Also includes 5 photographs, 6 architectural drawings, and 1 watercolour
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number area
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Bishop Foundry and Machine Shop (Creator)
Genre access points
Control area
Description record identifier
Institution identifier
Level of detail
Language of description
- English