Father Edward Purbrick assembled his collection of quilled bark items such as model canoes, baskets and table mats in 1879, during a tour of Canadian Jesuit missions in Ontario which visited Wikwemikong, Garden River, Sault Ste. Marie, and Fort William. After leaving Toronto on August 27th, 1879, Purbrick went to Wikwemikong on August 28th, was at Sault Ste. Marie on September 5, and at Prince Arthur-Fort William (now known as Thunder Bay, Ontario) from September 9th to the 10th.

He susequently donated his collection to Stonyhurst College.

The Stonyhurst Collection was loaned to the British Museum in 1977, where it was transferred permanently in 2003.