Interview with Herschel Biggs

Audio recording and transcript of Herschel Biggs's 1979 interview with Myrtle Bergren for the Coal Tyee History Project. Biggs' discusses his family's history on Vancouver Island, which dates back to 1854, when his grandparents, John and Jane Biggs, arrived on the Princess Royal. As well as being a coal miner himself, Biggs shares how many of his relatives, including his father, uncle, and brothers, worked in the coal mining industry, and that his uncle, George Biggs, was killed in the 1887 explosion at the Number 1 Esplanade Mine. Biggs describes conditions he experienced in coal mines and he also reflects on other aspects of living in Nanaimo.