For Rent: Craigflower, the oldest school in British Columbia
The province, having given up on Craigflower School, ca 1854, as a pay-its-own-way museum, has stripped it of its historical furniture and artifacts and is making it available for lease as an office building or the like. A request for proposals has gone out to find an organization interested in utilizing the two-storey ‘Georgian Revival’ structure built beside the Gorge waterway by the Hudson’s Bay Company for the children of their employees at nearby Craigflower Farm: “Successful proponents will offer a strong business case for a long-term use that provides community benefits, with a focus on financial independence from government,” according to a government statement. “The candidate with the strongest proposal will be invited to make a formal application for tenure. This proposed arrangement doesn’t include the spacious grounds surrounding what was originally known as the Maple Point School...
Read MoreThe facts and nothing but the facts
Never let the facts get in the way of a good story! I was reminded of this alleged quote by Farley Mowat when a lady suggested that, perhaps, I should change my initials to B.S. Paterson. She was joking, of course. Wasn’t she? She came to mind when a friend e-mailed to ask about the shooting of Joe Dougan at Cobble Hill in 1890. After he told me what he knew of the tragedy, I had to inform him that his previous informant was so far off the mark that he could probably find a job as a Hollywood script writer. Which brings up the difficult question, how much of history is truth? Has much of it been written, as one sceptic has accused, by the winners of wars or of succeeding civilizations and cultures? The first Europeans to...
Read MoreCoal Baron Robert Dunsmuir Inspired Historians and Mapmakers
Robert Dunsmuir vs. Sir James Douglas: If Douglas–fur trader, colonial governor and statesman –was ‘the father of British Columbia’ and our greatest public figure, Dunsmuir must surely rank as his peer in the private sector. Not in terms of ‘greatness’ as most would measure it, perhaps, but in terms of status and influence. He built an industrial empire and founded a dynasty. In his day, he was the province’s Morgan, Rockefeller, Getty and Trump rolled into one. So who, today, cares? Where’s the statue to this pioneering giant, the public tributes usually given to men who achieve incredible wealth? Victoria has Craigdarroch Castle, if one counts self-made landmarks as such. Son James Dunsmuir left us Colwood’s Hatley Park, for 50 years Royal Roads Military College and now Royal Roads University. The Dunsmuirs do grace our maps, albeit in a...
Read MoreMy Victoria Childhood: the good old days!
Victoria sure has changed. Since Woodward’s went under, Mayfair Mall operates under the Hudson’s Bay Co. banner. The landmark Vancouver store has been converted to affordable housing, and the famous rooftop neon sign flashes again after a decade of disuse. When T. Eaton Co., long an anchor of downtown Victoria, also folded, Sears took it over. Now Sears is ‘The Bay,’ whose own heritage building has been transmogrified under new ownership. All very confusing, but these events set me to thinking of just how rapidly the years do pile up. Before moving on, however, how many remember the radio jingle, “$1.49 Day, Tuesday, $1.49 Day, Woodward’s”? When all three Victoria department stores had food departments and issued catalogues? Or when the Victoria Eaton’s shoe department had a foot x-ray machine that kids would play with whenever staff members weren’t...
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