Beattie, Judith Hudson 1944-
(Judith Valenzuela)

PERSONAL:

Born November 15, 1944, in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada; daughter of Percival Argue (a computer programmer) and Beatrice Margery (a homemaker; maiden name, Graham) Hudson; married Christopher Fraser Beattie, September 14, 1968 (died, July, 1977); married Francisco Valenzuela, May 7, 1988; children: (first marriage) Janet Beattie Ramsey. Ethnicity: "Canadian." Education:Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, B.A. (with honors), 1967; University of Toronto, M.A., 1968. Hobbies and other interests:Church activities, choir, English country dancing, storytelling in schools.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o Author Mail, University of British ColumbiaPress, 2029 W. Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z2, Canada. E- mail—jhbval@ mts.net.

CAREER:

Writer and archivist. Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, archivist, 1969-73; University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, archivist at Center for Research on Canadian-French Civilization, 1977-81; Hudson's Bay Company Archives, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, head of research and reference, 1981-91, keeper, 1991-2003; retired, 2003. Canadian Broadcasting Corp., weekly contributor, 1998—.

MEMBER:

Association for Manitoba Archives, Manitoba Historical Society (member of governing council, 1996—).

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with Helen M. Buss, and contributor) Undelivered Letters to Hudson'sBay Company Men onthe Northwest Coast of America, 1830-57, University of British Columbia Press (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), 2002.

Other writings include The Battle of the Restigouche, 1760, with Bernard Pothier, Parks Canada (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), 1978. Contributor to periodicals, including Epilogue, Manitoba History, Beaver, andArchivaria. Some writings appeared under the name Judith Valenzuela.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

The Colinda: The Hudson's Bay Company-Chile Connection, 1853-1856, completion expected in 2010; genealogical research in the Hudson's Bay Company Archives.

SIDELIGHTS:

Judith Hudson Beattie told CA: "During my employment in the Hudson's Bay Company Archives, I became familiar with the vast and detailed sources held in this national treasure. The stories of ordinary people, not otherwise preserved, were the main source of my fascination. Letters from women, the unschooled and the poverty- stricken, were preserved, and they provide an intimate view of everyday life over a period of more than 300 years. With the ‘undelivered letters’ I felt a mission to deliver these letters to descendants who were unaware of their existence and to tell the stories of those who history often ignores."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Beaver: Exploring Canada's History, December, 2003, Peter C. Newman, review of Undelivered Letters to Hudson's Bay Company Men on the Northwest Coast of America, 1830-57, p. 31.

Oregon Historical Quarterly, fall, 2003, Barbara Bel-yea, review of Undelivered Letters to Hudson's Bay Company Men on the Northwest Coast of America, 1830-57, p. 451.