The Armstrong Enderby Branch of the Okanagan Historical Society was established in Armstrong in 1950. The branch holds its annual general meeting in Enderby in the spring and a general meeting in Armstrong in the fall. At both meetings we invite guest speakers to share their stories about people, places and events past and present.
The branch and its members work closely with the Armstrong Spallumcheen Museum & Archives and the Enderby & District Museum & Archives to record and preserve history, heritage buildings and historical documents. For over thirty-five years the Armstrong Enderby Branch has worked closely with the Spallumcheen Municipality to preserve and protect the Lansdowne Cemetery. The heritage cemetery, established in 1882, is located near the former townsite of Lansdowne southwest of Enderby in Spallumcheen.
Lansdowne Cemetery, 1999. Courtesy Carmen Kirkland
The Cairn in the Lansdowne Cemetery. Courtesy Jessie Ann Gamble
The branch holds regular work bees to clean the site and the gravestones in the Lansdowne Cemetery. Members have planted trees, donated a picnic table and erected a chain-link fence around the site. In 2006 the branch completed a six-year research project and erected a cairn with plaques listing the names and dates of those interred at the heritage cemetery.
The Lansdowne Cemetery has historical significance because most of the early pioneers of Spallumcheen, Armstrong and Enderby are buried here, including Overlanders Catherine & Augustus Schubert and A.L. Fortune. Over the years branch members have participated in tours of the cemetery in partnership with the local museums.
Community residents enjoy a presentation and tour of Lansdowne Cemetery, 2017. Courtesy Enderby & District Museum
Alexander Leslie Fortune and his wife Bathia with a younger lady standing in front of their home on Fortune Rd., Spallumcheen, 1911. Courtesy Enderby & District Museum
Copies of the most recent report can be purchased at the Armstrong Spallumcheen Museum and the Enderby & District Museum.
ARMSTRONG - ENDERBY BRANCH
OKANAGAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Sunday, April 7 at 2 p.m.
in the Enderby & Disrict Museum,
901 George St., Enderby
Topic:
The History of Flooding in Enderby & District
Speaker: Jackie Pearase, curator/administrator,
Enderby & District Museum
Board of Directors for 2024-2025
President: Robert Cowan
Vice President: Jessie Ann Gamble
Secretary: Linda Samland
Treasurer: Joan Cowan
Past President: Carmen Kirkland
Editors: Jessie Ann Gamble, Robert Cowan
Directors: Craig McKechnie, Peter Vander Sar, Greg Wiebe
