Photo Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Photograph |
Collection |
Oil Museum of Canada Collection |
Catalog Number |
OMC FD.001.009.001.p |
Date |
ca. 1913 |
Description |
Black and white studio photograph of International Driller, Fred Webb's family taken in approximately 1913. Sitting is Frederick Thomas "Fred" and his wife, Eliza "Lizzie" (Lawry) Webb and their three children are standing behind, from left to right: Gladys, Lyla and Frederick James "Jim". |
Provenance |
Frederick Webb was a big man - a man renowned for his strength, both on the rugby fields of his home-town Petrolia and on the international drilling fields. Few drillers took their families overseas, but this did not stop Webb from taking his wife Lizzie and his children Lyla, Gladys, and James across the world twice. Hired on a three-year contract with the Royal Dutch Drilling Co. in 1906, working in Borneo, Sarawak, Sumatra, and Celebes Islands, Webb and family had opportunities to see more of the world than many of their friends and family in Southern Ontario. Retirement did not sit well with Webb, only two years after retiring, he found himself accepting an offer from Alf Burns in 1924, the Vice-President of Imperial Oil, to spend two years working in Ecuador, overseeing a subsidiary called the Petroleum Company. After returning to Petrolia, Webb managed his own oil rigs for a number of years, permanently retiring to London, Ontario in 1954. |
Print Size |
14cm x 10cm |
Search Terms |
Family Photo Hair Bow International Driller Photograph |
People |
Webb, Eliza Webb, Fred Webb, Gladys Webb, Jim Webb, Lyla |