Young, Mary Etta
Item
Maker Name
Young, Mary Etta
married name: Hawkins, Mary
Biography
Mary Young was the first known pottery instructor in BC, teaching in Summerland (March, 1923) and later in Victoria at the Summer School for Teachers (Summer, 1923). Both workshops were supported by John Kyle, BC's Organizer of Technical Education, who strongly advocated developing a pottery industry in BC using local clay.
From about 1914 to 1920, Young had been a technician at the Ceramics Lab of the Mines Branch in Ottawa, where she tested clay samples under the direction of well-known clay specialist Joseph Keele and wrote a booklet entitled "Pottery Clays" in 1919 in which she described clays suitable for pottery in numerous sites across the country.
As part of a government effort to promote distinctively Canadian pottery, Young made prototypes for the Mines Branch based on Indigenous designs from Ontario. Seeking to produce these commercially, she resigned from the Mines Branch in 1920 and established Banff Pottery in 1922 with the aim of producing and selling souvenirs made of Canadian materials and of Canadian design in the national parks. While her business survived for only just over a year, it generated considerable interest across the country.
Young married Stanley Hawkins in Banff in 1923, and for many years the couple lived an itinerant life following Stanley's work at irrigation and hydro projects across the county. It would appear that after 1923, she ceased her involvement in pottery altogether.
While in Summerland she taught Marion Cartwright and Doris Cordy, and in the Fall of 1923 returned to teach one last time and to install a kiln in the local craft centre called the Log Cabin. In Victoria she taught Catherine Lothian and Margaret Grute, who would become central figures in Victoria's pottery community in the 1920s and 30s
From about 1914 to 1920, Young had been a technician at the Ceramics Lab of the Mines Branch in Ottawa, where she tested clay samples under the direction of well-known clay specialist Joseph Keele and wrote a booklet entitled "Pottery Clays" in 1919 in which she described clays suitable for pottery in numerous sites across the country.
As part of a government effort to promote distinctively Canadian pottery, Young made prototypes for the Mines Branch based on Indigenous designs from Ontario. Seeking to produce these commercially, she resigned from the Mines Branch in 1920 and established Banff Pottery in 1922 with the aim of producing and selling souvenirs made of Canadian materials and of Canadian design in the national parks. While her business survived for only just over a year, it generated considerable interest across the country.
Young married Stanley Hawkins in Banff in 1923, and for many years the couple lived an itinerant life following Stanley's work at irrigation and hydro projects across the county. It would appear that after 1923, she ceased her involvement in pottery altogether.
While in Summerland she taught Marion Cartwright and Doris Cordy, and in the Fall of 1923 returned to teach one last time and to install a kiln in the local craft centre called the Log Cabin. In Victoria she taught Catherine Lothian and Margaret Grute, who would become central figures in Victoria's pottery community in the 1920s and 30s
First name
Mary
Last name
Young
Date of Birth
1891
Date of Death
1973
Place of Birth
Kingston, ON
Place of Death
Formal Education
Source
Allan Collier