From The Islander

Notable articles from the Victoria Times Colonist's Islander Magazine

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Entries Tagged as 'Recreation and Leisure'

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 [...]

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Tea Among the Trees

July 8th, 2010 · No Comments · British Columbia, Canada, Victoria

In the 1920′s and 30′s, Victoria’s Gorge Waterway was the place to be in the summer. Along with swimming and boating, one of the most popular attractions at was what was then B.C. Electric Gorge Park and is now Kinsmen Park, was the Japanese Tea Gardens. The Garden was built in 1907 by Isaburo Kishida, [...]

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Victoria's First Boxing Match

June 30th, 2010 · No Comments · Vancouver Island, Victoria

In 1866, after a considerable amount of cloak and dagger secrecy, and pointed hinting from the Daily Colonist newspaper, Victoria held its first boxing match. According to Islander author J.K Nesbitt, the exact reasons for the clandestine nature of the match are unknown. However, he suggests that perhaps the civic luminaries of the day did [...]

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The Union Club of British Columbia Pillar of Victoria High Society

May 26th, 2010 · No Comments · British Columbia, Vancouver Island, Victoria

The Union Club in Victoria is situated on Gordon street in the heart of downtown Victoria. Renowned for its strict and stuffy quintessentially British conservative convictions, the club’s membership has traditionally been the domain of only the most well heeled, gentle men of the community. The following is an excerpt from the official history of [...]

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