Old Cemetery Society Visits Cowichan Valley Cemeteries
I thought I knew my Cowichan Valley cemeteries. I do, of course, but, oh, what a difference a year makes! A year ago, I could take you to almost any grave I’d mentioned in Tales the Tombstones Tell, my ‘walking guidebook’ to Cowichan’s 16 public cemeteries. That’s because everything was fresh in my mind, as indeed it should have been after 30 years’ research and scores of trips, for weeks on end, to each one in search of stories and to take photos. But leading last week’s bus tour for Victoria’s Old Cemetery Society proved to be more challenging, more time-consuming and more work than I expected. Probably because, when you think of it, while there aren’t that many cemeteries in the Cowichan Valley, there are thousands of graves, all of them randomly placed without a thought given to...
Read MoreDaring jailbreak an exciting Archival Moment
To say that my personal Archives is extensive after much of a lifetime of gathering information on various aspects of British Columbia history is an understatement, believe me. As a result, almost daily in shuffling files I come upon a ‘nugget’ that I’ve tucked away in hopes of using it in some way, shape or form in the future. As often as not, for various reasons, these stories never again see the light of day, at least with me. Which prompted this Archival Moment from the Victoria Daily Colonist of January 15, 1896. And proving yet again that there was hardly a dull moment in our history… Very Daring Escape A Prisoner at Nelson Locks the Jailer in a Cell and Escapes Tough Struggle, in Which the Constable Comes Off Second Best–Captured Again One of the prisoners in the...
Read MoreStanley Park almost missed 125th birthday
VANCOUVER–On Sept. 27, 1888, Stanley Park was opened as Vancouver’s first official green space. This month the city is marking the 400-hectare park’s125th birthday with a weekend of special events –The Canadian Press. None of this would be possible had Capt. Edward Stamp had his way. A quarter century before this Burrard Inlet rain forest was declared parkland, he wanted to clear-cut it. He would have, too, but for an unforeseen obstacle. So, who was Capt. Edward Stamp? Historians hold conflicting opinions of this pioneer businessman. The late Victoria historian James K. Nesbitt termed him, “British Columbia’s first No. 1 industrialist.” Vancouver writers Alan Morley and Eric Nicol didn’t take as kindly to the former mariner’s early day efforts to develop what’s now the metropolis of Vancouver. Few can deny, however, that Stamp made a considerable contribution to the...
Read MoreThe Mystery of Johanna Maguire
“Had I been asked to point to a thoroughly depraved and worthless person I should have indicated the Maguire woman.”–D.W. Higgins D.W. Higgins How many fascinating characters have departed the British Columbia stage, unknown and unsung? The answer must be in legions as few have been blessed with recognition let alone immortality. One who almost slipped through the cracks, as much by design as by circumstance, was the mysterious Johanna Maguire. Fortunately for posterity, she encountered journalist D.W. Higgins at Fort Yale, then a booming gold camp. Higgins was working as agent for the express company that carried mail up and down the Fraser River. “One morning a tall, dissipated-looking woman, very plainly draped, entered the place and enquired if there were any letters for Johanna Maguire,” Higgins wrote in a series of priceless reminiscences that were published...
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