2010 July

Entries from July 29th, 2010

They Burned Poor Higgins in Effigy

July 29th, 2010 · No Comments · British Columbia, Canada

Pioneer journalist and newspaper man David William Higgins was at times, extremely unpopular in Victoria.As editor of The Colonist newspaper and successor to the quirky previous editor, Amor de Cosmos, Higgins enjoyed his fair share of conflict and controversy. James K. Nesbitt dug up this story, published The Standard, a rival newspaper, which exemplifies the brutal [...]

Theatre Patron’s of the 1880′s Were No Polite Bunch

July 28th, 2010 · No Comments · British Columbia, Vancouver Island, Victoria

It seems that perceptions of early Victorians as strictly polite and unwaveringly sophisticated people may have been untrue. In his Islander article “Theatre Patrons of the 1880s Who Would Never Be Missed Wore Big Hats, Talked To Much”, historian James K. Nesbitt shares excerpts from a an article published in the Daily Colonist that scathingly [...]

B.C.’s Worst Coal Mining Disaster

July 27th, 2010 · 1 Comment · British Columbia, Canada, Vancouver Island

During the 19th century, coal mining was one of Vancouver Island’s major industries. Coal mining in early British Columbia was risky business, and accidents often occurred, which killed miners and damaged and destroyed mines and mine shafts. One of the very worst mining accidents very to occur in British Columbia happened in the Spring of [...]

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Tags:Disasters·Fires·Historical·Mining

A Single Gunshot in the Night

July 22nd, 2010 · No Comments · Vancouver Island, Victoria

And now for another tale of murder and mayhem..sort of. Almost 150 years ago, a man named Robert Coombs, a popular musician, was killed by a single gunshot in Esquimalt. Islander author T.W. Patterson describes the tale of Coombs’s unfortunate end. Robert Coombs met sudden and violent death at Esquimalt. Almost two centuries after [his] [...]

The Second Bride Ship

July 21st, 2010 · 1 Comment · Vancouver Island, Victoria

Previously, From the Islander has described the story of the so-called two bride ships that came to Victoria, as part of an attempt to balance the population of the colony. While a fair amount known about the first bride ship the Ss. Tynemouth, much less is known about the second ship the Robert Lowe. Historian [...]

Alfred Waddington Champion of Amalgamation

July 20th, 2010 · 1 Comment · British Columbia, Vancouver Island, Victoria

In the past, this blog has described the efforts of men like C.B. Young, who were desperately opposed to the notion of Vancouver Island becoming a part of an amalgamated British Columbia. Understandably, emotions ran high on both sides of the issue, and one of the men who opposed people like Young, was Alfred Waddington. [...]

Victoria’s Great Fire of 1910

July 15th, 2010 · No Comments · British Columbia, Canada, Victoria

Throughout its history, Victoria has seen a number of disastrous fires. One of it’s most notable conflagrations occurred in October of 1910. The fire, which started in the Spencer’s Department store, caused somewhere between $1,500,000 to $2,000,000 damage to the city’s downtown core, and destroyed several landmark buildings. Islander author Leonard Myers describes the fire. [...]

Random Ghost Towns of BC: Port Kusam

July 14th, 2010 · No Comments · British Columbia, Canada, Vancouver Island

A brief article by Islander author Eugene Cameron. Port Kusam was established in 1895 and is located in a just south of the mouth of the Salmon River on Johnstone Straight. The Ruby House at Port Kusam opened in 1898. It operated as a store, saloon, post office, and hotel until 1921, at which time [...]

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Tags:Ghost Towns·Historical·Shipping

First to Arrive Fought the Fire

July 14th, 2010 · No Comments · British Columbia, Canada, Vancouver Island, Victoria

Fires were a constant threat in early Victoria. Before the Victoria Fire Department was ever officially formed, the city had a three different private fire fighting companies, who each competed with each other every time there was a fire. The first to be formed was the Union Hook and Ladder Co. in 1859. A year [...]

Victoria’s Grand Old Man of the Cloth

July 13th, 2010 · No Comments · British Columbia, Vancouver Island, Victoria

Religion played an important role in the society of colonial Victoria. Perhaps the most important, and well known and controversial church men of the colony was Bishop Edward Cridge. A fixture in early Victoria, Cridge first arrived on the island as the first chaplain of the HBC Fort. Islander author Leonard Myers, describes the life [...]

From The Islander

Notable articles from the Victoria Times Colonist's Islander Magazine