On the cover - UBC Library Home · On the cover: The well dressed working woman of the Depression era wore this costume in theorchards and berry patches of ... the inventory of Rands

On the cover:

The well dressed working woman of the Depression era wore this costume in the orchards and berry patches of theOkanagan and the fish canneries on the Coast. Ivan Sayers, curator, Vancouver Museum, obtained the overalls fromthe inventory of Rands Drygoods, which operated stores in Summerland and Pentidon in the 1920s. This model tookpart in the fashion show Sayers presented for the B.C. Historical Federation in May 1986. See also pp. 19-20.

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BRITISH COLUMBIAVolume 19 No. 4

1986

HISTORICAL NEWS

FeaturesWilliam Burns, Principal - Vancouver Normal School 1 901-1 920

by R.E. Burns 5

Vancouver - Reconstruction 9

Young Vancouver Seen By the Eyes of Youthby Ethel Wilson 14

News from the Branches 14a-14d

The B.C. Marine Storyby David R. Conn 15

Kitsilano Street Namesby Peggy lmredy and Elizabeth Walker 17

News and NotesBritish Columbia Historical Federation Conference 1986

by Naomi Miller 19

Honorary President Dr. William Kaye Lamb, OC, FRSCby G.S. Andrews 21

Recording the Voices of False Creek and the Fairview Slopesby Elizabeth B. Walker 22

Mary Orr of Summerland, 1985 National Award Winner 23

Elizabeth Norcross: Born with a Sense of History 24

Jewish Historical Society of B.C 25

BookshelfWriting Competition 26

Second-class mail registration number 4447.

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Page 4 British Columbia Historical News

R.E. Burns

William Burns, Principal -VancouverNormal School 1901 - 1920

The story of the development of the educationalsystem in British Columbia, as in most facets ofhistory, is the story of men whose dedication andintellect were up to the task they had undertaken.William Burns was one of these men.

In 1872 the Public School Act had decreed thatall teachers must be certified as to their competence.1 Since the shortage of qualified teacherswas of such proportions, this regulation wasquickly overlooked in favor of allowing native orresident British Columbians, whatever theireducational background, to sit “challenge”examinations or to attend teachers’ institutionsperiodically. Successive superintendents of education and their senior staff stressed the need for aTeachers’ College or Normal School.2 Thus, in1890, when the Provincial Legislature passed a billthat a University of British Columbia should beestablished, a section of that bill specified thatthere be a Normal School incorporated into theUniversity. Two factors delayed action in thisregard. Firstly, the Department of Educationshowed considerable reluctance to give upcontrol of the training of Teachers (when and if atraining facility became a fact) and secondly,sectional rivalry for the location of the universitymade it politically unwise to do anything definitive. The government thereupon formed aCouncil of Public Instruction charged with settingup a Normal School, responsible to the Department of Education. No further action was taken.

By this time, British Columbia held the singularhonor of being the only Canadian provincewithout a Normal SchooI. It was becoming less

and less possible to entice qualitied personnelfrom other provinces and too few British Columbians could afford to leave the province fortraining, particularly with the wage scale forteachers being as low as it was. Thus, as the level ofcompetence of teachers deteriorated, educatorsand interested members of the public feltthat thefuture of the province would be damaged by thelow quality of the educational system. The presstook up the cause and the Legislature authorizedSuperintendent Alexander Robinson to establisha Provincial Normal School. The governmentdecided to place the facility in Vancouver and theschool opened on January 9, 1901 in the Vancouver High School. Robinson planned that he,himself, would supervise the operation with theaid of Inspector Wilson, while continuing on asSuperintendent. It became immediately obviousthat this was impractical and Inspector WilliamBurns was brought in from Nelson to take overthe position as Principal of the Normal School.

William Burns was a relative newcomer toBritish Columbia, and only slightly less so toCanada. His background, like many other successful immigrants, was one of frustration anddiscouragement, overridden by strength ofcharacter and determination. He had beeninspector of schools in the province since 1892.

Entrance for the first class in the school wasdetermined either by examination or by thepossession of at least a third-class certificate. Theexaminations were held in Vancouver, Victoria,Kamloops and Nelson. Actually, admission to thisclass was decided upon by the Normal Schoolfaculty. “No previous professional training or

British Columbia Historical News Page 5

non-professional standing was demanded at thisfirst session, but at the next session an examination was held for any candidates for admissionwho were not in possession of some educationalcertificate of qualification.”

By 1902 the allotted space in the VancouverHigh School was found to be inadequate and theNormal School was given rooms in Lord RobertsSchool, where a Model School was formed forpractice teaching. In 1905 a new High School,later to be known as King Edward High School,was completed and rooms were made available init for Normal School use. A year later anothermove was made, this time into the new ModelSchool nearby in Fairview. At the same timeconstruction was begun on the permanentNormal School adjacent to it, at the corner ofCambie and Twelfth Avenues. The latter, built offine granite and “rising from the mud ... was a bitof old Oxford set down in Fairview”6, an architectural gem, and perhaps more importantly, a showplace for Vancouver. Burns laid the cornerstonein 1908.

During the early days of the school, Burns hadtaught psychology, literature and nature study,while his associate David Blair taught theoreticaland practical drawing and criticized the classes ininstruction of drawing. His other associate J. D.Buchanan taught teaching methods and withBurns, supervised and criticized practical teaching.7 In short order expansion of the curriculumwas possible. In 1904 Burns became increasinglyaware, to his dismay, that the students he wasreceiving were all too frequently unpreparedwhen they arrived from High School. Many“were unenlightened in subjects they wererequired to teach - some having failed their HighSchool course, others having actually passed withhigh standing.”8 He and his staff persevered and,in time the course of teaching became stabilized.Their program drew on the pioneer works onteaching along with the many psychological,sociological and historical works availabIe.

In addition to running the educational aspectsof the school, Burns soon found that he wasrequired to manage all the ancillary matters thatgo along wIth any institution. He was soon dealingwith a multitude of matters ranging from vandalism at one end of the scale, to staff selection andrecruiting, to general public relations and morespecific articulation with the Vancouver schoolsand the public education system as a whole. “Thesuperintendent and his inspectors, ministers andtheir deputies, merchants, faculty, parents,

engineers, contractors, architects, telephone andtransport executives alike received his missives.”loIn addition he was required to ‘run’ the physicalplant of the new Normal School building, in itselfa full time task.

Added to these tangible administrative worrieswere those concerning the young (and as Burnsbelieved) impressionable young women studentswho arrived to become his responsibility. “Allthings to all people, he appeared ‘wrapped up’ inthe institution.”ll He made sure that his pupils notonly knew the required number of facts to teachbut he required them to be able to present thesefacts in a logical way and to derive conclusionsfrom them so that their students would understand. He also insisted that they avoid colloquialspeech, spell correctly, write legibly, avoidclassroom digressions, be encouraging and keepgood order. He demanded of his instructors inthe Normal School that they be very precise intheir teaching of the future teachers and remember that their students would very likely beteaching in rural schools as general practitioners,not specialists.1His aim, in sum, was the “strengthenirig and development of the child”.15

During this period he found time to write thechapter “The History of the Educational System inB. C.” for Howay and Scholefield in the extensivework British Columbia - From Earliest Times to thePresent. His contribution was complete andinformative with no trace of personal bias.

Rivalry between the Island and the Mainlandfound the Vancouver School a ready target.12Increasing pressure from Victoria led to theconstruction in due course, of a fine NormalSchool on the slopes of Mount Tolmie. It wasundoubtedly a justified addition to the system,but its presence led to complications for Burns.13

A major problem arose after 1914, when thenew Victoria Normal School was getting wellunder way. A rivalry between the Victoria Schooland the Vancouver one became apparent butthere was considerable co-operation betwenthese organizations as well. The greatest problems that Burns had to cope with emanated fromSuperintendent Robinson. He began to make analmost interminable number of exceptions to theregulations governing the requirements foradmission to the Normal Schools and, in addition,would over-rule regulations which determinedwhich Normal School a student from a particularregion must attend. To make matters worse, hewould insist on Burns making a decision and


sending him, at once, the reasons tor ruling andthen over-rule him. The situation was frustratingfor Burns and, to a lesser degree Mc[.aurin, ofVictoria.17

In addition the Victoria Normal School waswatching the Vancouver one for evidence ofmore favorable treatment. So too did Vancouverwatch Victoria. Victoria had facilities for teachingHome Economics, which Burns felt Vancouverneeded as well. Vancouver had a Model School ofits own and Victoria had none, until it was able touse George Jay School for that purpose. Vancouver had a stenographer librarian, Victoria did not,and so forth. In the touchy realm of salariesVancouver had an edge on Victoria which led toan agitation for equalization, in itself not unreasonable, but necessitating a great deal of correspondence.18These details seem petty, today, butthe sum total was to add to the strain imposed byan already onerous task.

Through the years enrollment had increased.Burns’ duties as a teacher as well as an administrator continued throughout, although for a fewyears before the World War, they had beenreduced. From fifty-four students in 1901, whenonly one session was taught, the enrollmentincreased sufficiently to allow the introduction oftwo sessions a year. The first was held in the fallterm when those wishing to qualify to teach wereenrolled, the second group, in the spring term,was (or those advancing their levels of qualification. By 1909, with the new Normal Schoolbuilding in operation, the problem of overcrowding, which had increased each year, was relievedfor a few years. But by 1912, it became severeagain --- 160 were enrolled in the primary and 168in the advanced dasses. The Model School couldnot provide the needed practice teaching spaceand Cecil Rhodes Primary School, also in Fair-view, was utilized. Each year enrollment increased about 10 percent, and by 1915 Burns hadwelcomed the opening of the Victoria NormalSchool, looking for it to relieve the pressure on hisschool. He had recently added a more sophisticated Nature course, Physical Education and a St.John’s Ambulance first aid course to the curriculum.

At this point, as with all other activities, theWorld War intervened to unravel the orderlyconduct of the affairs of the school. A significantnumber of students and instructors left for theServices, resulting in a marked increase in theresponsibilities of those remaining, includingBurns who was now 72 years of age. Nonethe

less, he added a medical examination for all newenrollees as a requirement, to weed out the unfitand advise the normal. By 1917, though enrollment totalled 270 in all and staff shortages wereacute, he instituted evening classes in HomeNursing and First Aid. Once again he was teachingregular courses in Psychology, Pedagogy, School[aw and Arithmetic.19

In 1918, with 222 students in the primary groupand 209 in the advanced, the School was laid low,along with the general population, by theinfluenza epidemic. The Normal School, likeother institutions, was closed for five weeks andboth staff and students devoted their time tovolunteer work.

In 1920 S.J. Willis succeeded Alexander Robinson as Superintendent of Education. Once morean old problem arose, that of the Departmentgiving special dispensation to some students toenter the Normal School without first passing theJunior Matriculation examinations. Burns oncemore expressed his displeasure and urged thatsuch a practice cease, largely because it wasimpossible for a student to work toward bothexaminations at the same time and do justice toeither.

Finally, that same year, 1920, after a debilitatingillness, William Burns resigned. He was succeeded by his Assistant D.M. Robinson, and forthe remainder of the advanced student term hegave a lecture each week, following which he leftto enjoy his retirement at the age of 78.

Following the death of Helen, his wife, in 1900,Burns lived much of the time with his son Ronaldand his daughter-in-law Eveline. The latter hadbeen one of his earliest Normal School pupils. Hisinfluence on their three children was immense.Initially they lived on Harwood Street in the WestEnd, then on Eighth Avenue in Fairview and after1921 on Angus Drive in second Shaughnessy, thatarea having just been opened by the C.P.R.

In 1924 he received the medal for GoodCitizenship for that year, awarded by the NativeSons of British Columbia, and he wrote “.. . thishonour was conferred upon me—one which Iesteem the highest I have received.”20 At thepresentation he told of the difficulties whichconfronted pupils of former times, of the mannerin which local prejudice and ingrained ideas ofthe uselessness of more than a primary educationhad to be overcome.... He concluded by suggesting that the Native Sons should make it theirspecial work to study and seek to improve theeducational opportunities of the younger gener


ation of the native born.21 The ceremonies atBrockton Point were conveniently held on aSchool Sports Day, and were remarkable in that alarge number of ladies from the young andattractive to those considerably more maturewere noted to be enthusiastically cheering theold gentleman at every possible opportunity.

In retirement he had time to indulge himself inhis deep interest, the Masonic Order, to which hehad belonged since 1904, and in which he hadadvanced to the highest levels of the Scottish Rite.His time was spent in serving as Secretary of theMount Hermon Lodge and the writer wasprivileged to be his chief stamp-licker eachmonth, when he sent out notices.

He was a little man, probably scarcely over fivefeet five inches in height. But that was the onlylittleness there was about him. As was characteristic of men of his stature he was a fearless andpersistent fighter for things in which he believed,and his beliefs were strong and against thosewhich he opposed. He was aggressive but neveran aggressor. He understood children and trustedthem; they, in turn, trusted him. He was aperfectionist to whom, when I was a freshman inHigh School, I could take my problems in Latinand Mathematics; but so great was his enthusiasmfor teaching that I admit to soon being reluctantto ask a question, for one of utmost simplicitycould lead to an hour’s lecture.

But there was a gentleness in him that made usvery close. He would ‘cover’ for me when hebecame aware, directly or indirectly, of someboyish indiscretion, and ask nothing in return.Most of all he understood the wonderment of atwelve year old. I remember vividly, to this day,his going into the garden with me, one summernight, and, as we sat on the lawn, pointing out theconstellations of the heavens, their distances,their movements and their relationship to us andthe overwhelming vastness of it and I rememberthe feeling of awe, wonder and curiosity itengendered in me; and there was a ring ofamazement in his own voice almost as though hetoo had just discovered this marvel of creation wehad before us.

Footnotes

1.John Calam, “Teaching the Teachers: Establishment and Early Years of the B.C. Provincial Normal Schools.” in B.C. Studies, LXI,(Spring 1984), 30. Calam’s most completearticle proved a key source for this essay.

2. Normal School—”One that conforms not tothe standard but that teaches the ‘norms’ orrules of teaching.” j.D. Shipley, Dictionary ofWord Origins (Totowa, N.J., U.S.A.: Rotownand Allanheld, 1982), p. 244.

3. Calam, Teaching the Teachers, p. 31.4. Ibid., p. 32.5. William Burns, “The Necessity for Teacher

Training”, Queen’s Quarterly, XVII (October, 1909), 115.

6. Vancouver Province, September 26, 1908,from Calam p. 38.

7. Calam, “Teaching the Teachers’ p. 33.8. Public Schools, Annual Report, 1909, p. A.57.9. William C. Bagley, Classroom Management.

Its Principles and Techniques. (London:MacMillan, 1907), is a good example.

10. Ibid., p. 40.11. Ibid.12. Calam, “Teaching the Teachers”. p. 38.13. Ibid.14. Ibid. p. 41.15.Ibid. p.42.16. William Burns, “The Educational System of

British Columbia;’ in British Columbia, F.W.Howay and E.O.S. Scholefield (Vancouver,B.C., S.J. Clarke, 1914), p. 623.

17. Calam, “Teaching the Teachers”. p. 46.18. Ibid. p. 50.19. Public Schools, Annual Report, 1916, p. D.47.20. B.F.J. p. 29.21. Vancouver Province 1924.

The author is the grandson of William Burns, anda member of the Victoria Branch of BCHF.


VANCOUVER - RECONSTRUCTION

The following excerpts from the 1887 B.C. Directory, from the Public Schools Report in the 1886 AnnualReport, and from the Superintendent of Education correspondence, 1886-1887 lend insights into themanner in which Vancouver was rebuilt following the disastrous fire in June 1886. All excerpts are reprintedwith permission of the Provincial Archives, British Columbia.

A Description of Vancouver from the B.C.Directory, 1887I shall now give a brief sketch of the progress ofVancouver since it became conspicuous to theworld as an important commercial centre.Vancouver began to attract the attention of thepublic in the early months of last year. Theagreement between the Government of BritishColumbia and the railway company, and thetransfer of the lands as a subsidy having beencompleted and Vancouver fixed as the terminus,people began to flock in, and soon after, a townsprang into existence and building was proceeded with, with the greatest energy. Application was made to the Provincial Government inJanuary for incorporation, a bill for which waseventually passed after considerable oppositionand assented to by the Lieut. Governor on April6th of last year, and Vancouver became the fourthcity in British Columbia, soon to rise to the first,and the metropolis of the Pacific coast ofAmerica. A mayor and ten aldermen were electedin May, and extensive improvements were underconsideration, when unfortunately, on the 13thof June, the fire fiend ravaged the city, leavingone or two buildings where hundreds had stood,and rendering many penniless who were incomfortable circumstances and doing a thrivingbusiness.

On the morning of the 14th June the scenepresented to the eyes of the citizens was adesolate one, one which would have made anyother people but Vancouverites desert it. But thecitizens were equal to the task, failure never onceentered their heads, they set to work with adetermination to succeed and they did. The city

council never for an instant remained idle.Scarcely had the fierce flames ended their work ofdesolation, when they were at work sympathizing, encouraging and trying to help everybody.They despatched messages to all parts of theDominion for help to the suffering ones, whichwere nobly responded to, and but for that helpVancouver would not have been the place it istoday. Reassured by the encouraging reportswhich came pouring in day by day, strength wasadded to the arms of the citizens and they workedas never men worked before. On the morning ofthe 15th June numerous tents and small huts wereto be seen dotting the townsite, which gave to itthe appearance of a military encampment.Everybody was in good humour, losses wereforgotten, the hopeful future dispelled all otherthoughts from their minds. It was a grotesquescene never to be forgotten by those whoparticipated in it. The noise of the hammer washeard above all other sounds, as busy hands piledon the boards in the work of re-building. TheC.P.R. hotel was the first to appear above theruins, and smaller buildings arose as if by magic inscattered profusion around it. In a week hotelswere occupied, stores opened and doing business as usual, although confined to considerablysmaller premises. Cordova Street soon began toassume a business like aspect, store after store wasput up and opened, and in two weeks the wholespace from Carrall to Abbott streets was occupiedby buildings, though of a primitive style theyanswered the purpose until better could be built.In the meantime the city council had discussed


ways and means for the planking of the principalstreets, and soon afterwards the planking ofWater Street was commenced. Once commenced they kept it going, there being plenty ofwilling hands to do the work. Cordova, Carrall,Hastings, Cambie, Powell, and Oppenheimerstreets and Westminster Avenue followed inquick succession.

Within six months, over five hundred buildingswere erected, many of them substantial two andthree story frame blocks, and a large number ofthem built of brick. Such is the confidence in thefuture importance of the city, that over $1,000,000has been expended on building alone since the13th of June last, and the large number ofstructures, both brick and frame, large and smallat present in course of erection, is only a forecastof what we may expect during the present year.Vancouver today can boast of having several first-class hotels with every accommodation for thecomfort of the traveller, stores which would docredit to any of the larger cities in the east, andbuildings which will compare favorably withthose of a city three times its size.

Though delayed in the work of completing therailway to its natural terminus, the CanadianPacific Railway Company have not been idle.They have been actively engaged with a staff ofover two hundred men, clearing their land,grading streets, building wharves, and makingevery preparation for the immense volume oftrade which will pass over their line during thepresent year. They have in course of erection alarge hotel, which when completed will rivalanything of the kind on the continent. Theground is being prepared for a large passengerdepot, and also for round-houses, workshops,workmen’s houses, freight sheds and warehouses. Steamers are being built to ply betweenthis port and Australia, China, Japan, San Francisco, South America and the channel ports,which will make it the commercial centre of thePacific.

These influences in themselves are sufficient tocause a large city to spring up, but when we lookaround and take into consideration the incalculable forest, mineral, agricultural and marinewealth, with which it is surrounded, the possibilities of its future cannot be over-estimated. Whensaw mills are established and the lumber tradefully developed, our mineral resources utilized,and our great coal fields being wrought, iron oremined, smelted and manufactured into all kindsof machinery, tools, etc., our copper minesopened and the wealth drawn from them, ourgold and silver mines pouring out their millions, a

system of fishing stations established along ourcoasts, and piscatorial wealth drawn from thebosom of the ocean, Vancouver will havebecome the metropolis of the west, the Londonof the Pacific.

Let us now dwell for a little on Vancouver’sconnection with the world. From Liverpool toHalifax, the distance is 2,480 miles, traversed in 6½days, Halifax to Vancouver a little over 3,000 miles,traversed in 5½ days, Vancouver to Melbourne7,500 miles, traversed in about 21 days, making atotal travelling time between Liverpool andMelbourne, via Halifax, C.P.R. and Vancouver of34 days, while the contract mail time from Londonto Melbourne is 44 days, beingasaving of ten daysby the Canadian route. Again, the distance fromVancouver to Hong Kong is about 6,000 miles,traversed in about 16 days, making the totaltravelling time between Liverpool and HongKong 29 days, while the contract mail time fromLondon is 33 days, a saving by the Canadian routeof 4 days. The distance from Vancouver toYokohama, Japan, 4,380 miles can be traversed inten days, making the travelling time from Liverpool 23 days; while by the Suez Canal the contractmail time is 35 days, a saving by the Canadianroute of 12 days. With such overwhelming odds inits favor the C.P.R. cannot fail to become the mailroute between the United Kingdom and thesecountries, in fact a subsidy has already beengranted by the Imperial Government for thispurpose, which will naturally attract commercefrom the old and less expeditious channels.

The geographical position ot Vancouver s alsoan important point in its favour, and is remarkablefor its similar situation in relation to America, asLondon the great emporium of Europe is to thatContinent. The Province of British Columbia jutsout from North-West America as Great Britainfrom Europe, and our City is situated in much thesame position in British Columbia as London is inGreat Britain. The comparatively favorabledistances across the Pacific to Japan, China andAustralia, compare with the same favourabledistances from Europe across the Atlantic toAmerica. The direction of the trade winds tend tothis point, the open harbours also which indentthe coast are havens of refuge for the stormbeaten ship. It is also worthy of note that thecoasts of the mainland of British Columbia andthe islands are indented with numerous longinlets, bays and coves, similar to the coasts ofNorway, the west of Scotland and Ireland; Irelandand the Hebrides of Scotland, comparing withVancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte


Islands of British Columbia. The following extractfrom a speech made by the Earl of Dufferin whilein the province, describes the coast line veryclearly.

“Such a spectacle as its coast line presents is notto be paralleled by any country in the world. Dayafter day for a whole week, in a vessel of nearly2,000 tons, we threaded an interminable labyrinthof watery lanes and reaches that wound endlesslyin and out of a network of islands, promontories,and peninsulas for thousands of miles, unruffledby the slightest swell from the adjoining ocean,and presenting at every turn an ever shiftingcombination of rock, verdure, forest, glacier andsnow-capped mountain of unrivalled grandeurand beauty. When it is remembered that thiswonderful system of navigation, equally welladapted to the largest line of battleship and thefrailest canoe, fringes the entire seaboard of your

Clearing land, etc., including C.P.R. . $Grading and Planking streetsMills and Wharves

BUILDING

Total improvements $1,085,000Assessed value of Real Estate 2,664,274

Personal Property .. 108,305

$3,857,579

province and communicates at points, sometimesmore than a hundred miles from the coast, with amultitude of valleys stretching eastward into theinterior ‘“hile at the same time it is furnished withinnumerable harbours on eitherhand, one is lostin admiration at the facilities for inter-communication which are thus provided for the futureinhabitants of this wonderful region.”

Equal effects are produced from similar causesunder like conditions, and the analogy betweenLondon the metropolis of Europe and Vancouver,is so nearly perfect that a similar effect is likely toresult. As London owes its growth to the development of the natural resources of the country ofwhich it is the gateway.

The following review of the improvementsmade in the city since the 13th June will give anidea of its remarkable progress since that date:

Corporation Accounts from date ofincorporation (6th April), 1886, to

31st December last.

RECEIPTS:

By Dray Licenses $ 115.50Feed and Sale Stables andLivery Stables 36.00Billards and Pool, Auctioneers 90.00Shooting Galleries and Theatre 21.00Victualling houses 31.50Liquor Licenses 4,880.00Permits granted previous to1st july, 1886 965.00Police Court fines 1,036.50Government grant forPowell Street 1,000.00Bills discounted 13,907.00Water Street debentures andinterest 4,552.28

$26,634.78

Cordova StreetHastings “

Granville “

Pender, Seymour and Richard streetsWater StreetAlexander StreetPowell “

Carrall StreetWestminster AvenueDupont StreetMiscellaneous streets, (20)

250,00075,00085,000

$125,000100,000100,00050,00090,00025,00025,00050,00025,00010,00075,000


PUBLIC SCHOOLS REPORT 1886

(1 RANVILLE.

Teacher, J. W. Palmer until Sept. 1586 present teacher, J. W. Robinson.Salary, $60 per monthExamined, April 13th, 1886; present, 27 boys, 26 girls; total, 53.Inspected April 14th, 1886 ; present, 26 boys, 25 girls; total, 51.Enrolled during the year, 51 boys, 54 girls ; total, 105.Average monthly attendance, 59.Average actual daily attendance, 44.65.Expenditure, $760,Cost of each pupil on enrolment, $7.24.Cost of each pupil on average attendance, $17.02.

During the year the enrolment increased from 58 in the previous year to 105, and theaverage attendance from 29.16 to 44.65.

This very considerable increase in the number of children attending the school is attributable to the large addition to the populatiou of the district, ôaused by the construction ofextensive railway works in the vicinity.

As the name of the town of Granville was changed by Legislative enactment to Vancouvera correspondiig change has been made in the name of this district, which will hereafter beknown as Vancouver School District.”

The disstt’ons conflagration that occurred on June 13th, 1886, necessitated the immediateclosing of the school, which was not re-opened until November.

A building which will afford suitable accommodation will be ready for occupancy afterthe Christmas holidays. With the New Year the school will open in this building under thecharge of a principal and ao assistant teacher.

From the attendance thus fat’ reported there is every prospect that it win he foundnecessary in the near future to supply additional assistance.

If trustees and parents take that interest in the matter of education which its importancedemands, there can he no doubt that the record of the school will in a very short time comparefavorably with that of any graded school in sister cities.

LE1TERS TO S.D. POPE, SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATIONFROM D. BECKINSALE, SECRETARY, BOARD OF SCHOOLTRUSTEES, VANCOUVER

know when the new schoolhouse will be readyfor the reception of pupils.

I am informed by Mr. Hamilton, the CPRassistant land commissioner that the lots are nowready for building on, which were reserved forthat purpose. The railway will run through thesteps of the schoolhouse which is besides entirelyinadequate to accommodate the number ofchildren attending. I beg to draw your attentiontherefore to the urgent necessity of building anew schoolhouse as soon as possible...

PuBLIc ScHoo1s REPORT. 188(

646/86

VancouverJuly 28, 1886Dear Sir:

I have had within the last two weeks severalapplications for the assistant teacher’s position inthe Vancouver Public School. I have informedthem all that there is no accommodation for anew teacher in our schoolhouse and that I do not


706/86

VancouverAugust 5, 1886Dear Sir:

Referring to your communication of the 31strespecting the appointment of an assistantteacher and the providing of a new schoolbuilding; with regard to the letter I have to informyou that Mr. Alexander, the Manager of theHastings Saw Mill Company, whose property thepresent school building is, has taken possession ofthe building and refuses to allow it to be used as apublic school.

As regards “the expenditure above appointment for incidental expenses during the pastschool year”; the additional expenditure of $3 orthereabouts was authorized by you for thepurpose of providing desks and chairs from theextra sum of $20 granted for the erection of aschool shed, which was considered by theTrustees unnecessary; it was in consequence ofmy securing permission from you that I drew onthe incidental expenses account for the paymentof the above sum, assuming that it would be inaccordance with promise refunded at the end ofthe school year from the special grant. I may addthat I have made no charge for expenses incurredin maintaining correspondence as Secretary andTreasurer to the Board of Trustees.

Awaiting your reply.

730/86

VancouverAugust 13, 1886Dear Sir:

In answer to yours of the 10 inst. I beg to say thatno building in any degree suitable for a schoolcan be rented except at a very high rent. Itappears to the Board that the best course to takewill be to build a temporary building at the rear ofthe lot reserved for school purposes, suchbuilding to be of rough boards and battens, theestimates for such building of the followingdimensions 60 ft. by 20 ft. by 10 ft. high, with arough door. Three windows on either side of thelength and one at each end; eight in all rangeabout $250 to $275. My personal opinion is that itwould be best to place such a building on theexact site of the future and to finish it with or insuch rustic as may be deemed advisable afterwards.

The Board feel that to notify the school teacherthat his services will no longer be required wouldbe harsh treatment of him taking into consideration the fact that as the school session has begunhe probably would be unable to secure anyappointment to any other school. I must therefore await your further instructions on this matter.

115/18877th February 1887Dear Sir:

I beg to inform you that the above school wasopened in the new building on January 24th andafter the scholars had been duly arranged in theirrespective classes, the school was dismissed untilthe 26 January on account of the varnish on theforms and desks being scarcely dry and the wallsstill wet; fires had however been constantly keptin until midnight for the week preceding theopening of the school, and were continued untilthe 26 January, which enabled the Trustees toopen the school on the above date, the wallsbeing sufficiently dry for the purpose, the hardfinish being about seven feet from the ground.

In accordance with your instructions of January15, I got from Messrs. Vair and Miller of this town apair of capacious and handsome stoves, capableof burning either wood or coal at $16 each, whichgive every satisfaction.

There is no table for the assistant teacher; it is awant much felt by her. Would you kindly give thenecessary order for me to procure one, a drawerin it is a necessity.

I beg to acknowledge with thanks the receipt ofthe Annual Report of the School of the Provincefor the past year.

These letters were selected by Frances Cundry,Head, Manuscript Division, Provincial Archives ofBritish Columbia.


Ethel Wilson

YOUNG VANCOUVER SEEN BY THE EYES OFYOUTHMy mother died in South Africa when I was ababy. My father died in England when I was six orseven. I came in about 1895 with my grandmother, her sister, and daughter, to join her threesons—J.F. (who years later became mayor ofVancouver), W.H., and Philip Malkin who werenow established in business in the new little townof Vancouver. We did not know the history of thename Vancouver. Few people did, at that time—or few people cared.

As the train moved in to the station, I saw—withan urgency that has remained in my heart eversince—the mountains, the sparsely mannedharbour, the sailing ships, some steamers thathad—I suppose, lately—begun to enter theharbour. We arrived at the station and weregreeted warmly by my uncles. Vancouver soonbegan to take the shape and the form of home. Ihave to tell a little of my own life in order topresent the new sights seen by the inexperiencedeyes of youth.

As I see, now, while being driven aroundStanley Park, the majesty and beauty of that areaof great (or once great) trees which must becherished, of the harbour of Vancouver—changed in its aspect from the silent calm sea ofearly days, the mountains glorious and almostunchanged; the signs of Indian life as in a village,across the harbour, I see that a certain serenity hasgone (as everywhere in our world), and everywhere are the signs that link us, by sight andmotion, with the world beyond us. The little townof Vancouver has changed in a lifetime to a greatcity, and has assumed an interpretive voice as apart of the great world. There were few people inthe streets, a crowd (as we know it now) wasunknown. My uncles’ business on Water Streetwas a token of future life in a city. The twin spiresof the little Indian church graced the northernshore. In Vancouver the churches of the townseemed to be confined to Homer and Richardsand Georgia Streets, then. What we have now fora long time known as the West End was wooded, aspreading forest broken by wooden houses inbeing, houses in course of building. Vancouver

began to grow to the east, west, north and south,to land and to water—both salt and fresh, sea orriver, on nearly every side.

There were public schools of fair size in the city.I do not remember bookshops at that time.Before long the Carnegie Library was establishedwith much acclaim. We were still surrounded bybeauty, and in our house we read and read.

I attended a small private school, later known asCrofton House. I was—at first—one of less than adozen pupils. Games were few, and happy, andunorganized. The atmosphere of England, ourformer home, was with us, and so was the loveand surprise of our new country. Life was a gameand we enjoyed it.

There was music in the homes of Vancouver.Evenings were not complete without song, orpiano, or violin, not music of grand quality, but ofthe essence of pleasure. But there was an amazingamount of music—concerts, opera, all held in thesmall Opera House on Granville Street. Music wasfree and full, visual “art” conformed to tradition.We had no Art Gallery then—but people hadopinions. The art of “painting” was only occasional, and peculiar—on china, for example.

There was little crime in the city, and that waschiefly confined to the waterfront. As I walked toand from school (thirty-five blocks a day), I passedthe chain gang clearing land for building lots onDavie and Jervis Streets. The men of the chaingang were shackled. There were driven to work ina wagon with a team of horses and were guardedby keepers who cradled guns in their arms intraditional style. I was always a little afraid and didnot turn to look at the chain gang although Iwanted to explore their faces, and understandwhy this had come about. One of the mostnotable figures of my youth in the West End wasthe fine negro Joe Fortes at English Bay. He taughtnearly all the boys and girls to swim. I can stIll hearJoe Fortes saying in his rotund rich voice, “Jump! Itell you, jump! If you don’t jump off of that raft, I’llthrow you in!”

So we jumped. Joe was an heroic figure.

Page 14British Columbia Historical News

News From The Branches

East KootenayHistorical Association

The outstanding event of the year and one in whichwe take special pride, was the re-opening of thehistoric St. Eugene Mission Church, six miles north ofCranbrook, on June 9, 1985. This is the church that isdescribed in the award-winning book Early Indian

Village Churches, by John Veilette and Gary White(1977) as “the finest late Victorian wooden churchremaining in British Columbia”. A small committeefrom our association had assisted the St. Mary’s IndianBand with the financial negotiations for the project,

so all our members were invited to the ceremoniesand the luncheon. The funding for the renovationcame from Federal, Provincial and private sourcesand resulted in the restoration of this superb buildingwhich had been constructed by Father Coccola in thelate 1890s. When visitors from our Federation’sbranches come to the Cranbrook area, they mustattempt to see St. Eugene with its priceless paintedwindows and delicate design which make it the finestlate Victorian wooden church remaining in BritishColumbia.

Our Annual Meeting was held as usual in April atKimberley. Summer outings began in April with a tripto Fisherville and a clean-up of the Ft. SteeleCemetery. In May we went up the Bull River and backto the first power plant which had supplied power toHosmer, Cranbrook, Moyie, and Ft. Steele.Devastating forest fires cancelled our July hike toArmstrong Bay over the Old Indian Trail. In Augustour members were joined by a group from Montanain visiting the ancient coke ovens at Morrissey. Ourfall dinner meeting in October at Cranbrook washighlighted by archaeologist Wayne Choquettespeaking on “The Prehistoric Kootenays”.

A new program of public lectures in the wintermonths was initiated by Naomi Miller, our VicePresident. The first in November at Cranbrook was agreat success with Ian Jack, Naturalist from KootenayNational Park as speaker. We are waiting expectantlyfor the second lecture in Kimberley in February on“The Story of the Kootenay People” by ShelaghDehart, a grand-daughter of Chief Kinbasket.

Netta CansnerCorresponding Secretary

Sidney & NorthSaanich HistoricalSociety

Last summer the Sidney & North Saanich Historical

Society ventured into the realm of putting on a

heritage house tour as part of a program arranged for

special guests. This winter we commence acting as the

Heritage Advisory Committee for the District of

North Saanich.B. PeirsonSecretary

—.‘

,,

St Eugene Mission Church by R E Carson .

British Columbia Historical News Page 14a

Qualicum BeachHistorical andMuseum Society

The first meeting of the Society took place on June 21,1980. After the election of officers about 30 membersof the newly-formed Society walked to thePowerhouse, an old brick building close to theRailway Station that would be our future museum.

Now, six years later, the old Heritage Building hasbeen cleaned and painted inside by volunteermembers. A small generator, similar to the original,has been purchased and brought over from themainland to be the first exhibit.

A great many artifacts have been collected anddonated to the Society, which now numbers morethan 80 members. Elizabeth Little, who held the firstorganizational meeting, is one of our hard-workingdirectors; she has organised a group to interview old-timers in order to collect accounts of early QualicumBeach. Our enthusiastic president, Cora Skipsey, withthe help of the other directors, arranges interestingmonthly meetings. To raise funds, garage sales and araffle have been held and a bingo and fashion show isplanned. Government funding is also beingnegotiated.

Last summer an old steam locomotive was movedto the railway spur beside the station as an addition toour exhibits. This was the result largely of the work ofdirector, Stuart Anderson. Now a group of railwaybuffs, members of the Society, are preparing to cleanthe locomotive and build a shelter for it. We arehiping the bingo will bring in funds for this work.

By the summer of 1986, with the co-operation of allmembers, Qualicum Beach should have the Museumopen for the public.

K. Phyllis James

Trail Historical Society

open meeting where members talk about old timesthat they remember in this area. In June we have afield trip to a museum or place of specific interest inthis area.

In May we will be joint hosts with the RosslandMuseum for a meeting of the Regional DistrictMuseums & Societies. The guests will tour a plant inthe Cominco.

Margaret PowellSecretary/Treasurer

Ladysmith NewHorizons HistoricalSociety

This society has been chiefly occupied with assisting,in as many ways as possible, the compiling andprinting of Ladysmith’s Colourful History. The workwas under the direction of Mrs. Viola Johnson-Cull,our president, to complete the local history she hadearlier gathered in Chronicles of Ladysmith andDistrict, published in 1980.

Although the Historical Society has tried to be ofspecial assistance to our 85-year-old writer, theproject has in fact, been a community effort, both inmaterials and finances. The O.A.P.O. #9 gave solidfinancial backing to the project.

Our membership is not large, nineteen members,four of whom can no longer attend meetings.However dues are collected and the members enjoyreceiving the B.C. Historical News.

Alberni DistrictHistorical Society

Frances Halsall

The Trail Historical Society holds monthly meetingson the second Monday evening of each month at 7:30P.M. The museum is on Spokane Street, directlybehind the Trail City Hall.

We have guest speakers at each meeting who alsoshow slides of their topic. Countries covered,Australia-New Zealand, South America, Sri Lanka,Egypt, Israel. During the first part of 1986 the speakerswill cover mostly local history. In May we have an

The Alberni District Historical Society has recentlyaccepted responsibility for the business records of theR.B. McLean Lumber Co. This collection covers 50years of sawmilling and logging operations in theAlberni Valley with some activity on the east side ofthe Island. The Alberni Valley Museum and theWestern Vancouver Island Industrial Heritage Societyare presently making the Sawmill itself and itsindustrial equipment part of their conservation

Page 14b British Columbia Historical News

efforts. There are few records concerning sawmillingthat are quite as comprehensive as the McLeancollection.

We also have available 79 years of newspaperrecords on microfilm, together with carefullydocumented archival records of the community’sactivities over 125 years. f researchers and writersneed factual information about the Alberni District,please visit us. You can read our papers and talk topersons who have deep roots in the community. Toooften articles appear without the necessary background homework. Why not be authentic as well asinteresting?

We make it a practice to pass on to the appropriatecommunity any material that rightly belongs to them.We would welcome reciprocal action from otherSocieties who have information about the AlberniDistrict. If actual archival material cannot be sentthena list of their holdings would be included in our Index.

We have fourteen volunteers in the “Workshop”drawn from our membership. Our collection ishoused in the Alberni Valley Museum.

Valemont HistoricSociety

Our Society held its first meeting in Sept. 1980 andover the next two years carried out the followingprojects: we built a Tourist Information Booth,restored a grave marker and tidied up the Tete JauneCemetery, made plans to publish a history ofValemount and surrounding areas and beganinterviewing local people for the book. We also madeour first move to save the Valemount train station byhaving a municipal bylaw registered that woulddesignate the station a Heritage site.

In the following years we raised money to augmenta New Horizon’s grant for our history by holding avariety of events. These included hosting the VintageCar Club of Canada, holding a multi-visual show andrunning a community auction with donated itemsand volunteer workers. On June 4, 1984 we held aworkbee to sort out the best, for our purpose, of the3,000 photographs we had collected for the book. Sixmonths later the book, Yellowhead Pass and ItsPeople, arrived from the printers and on Jan. 10, 1986a ceremonial lunch was held to mark the finalpayment to the bank of the loan we had taken out tocover the expense of finishing and launching ourbook.

Our latest project is the setting upof archives. Help,in the form of a three day training workshop onarchival organisation, has been offered to us by

Denise McCuIlum ot the Fraser Fort Ceorge KegionalMuseum. We also plan to begin our long postponedproject of establishing a local museum.

Copies of our book are available for $42.50 prepaid. For more information about this book andothers on our list write Valemount Historic Society,Box 850, Valemount, B.C. VOE 270.

Leonard Lea FrazerPresident

Okanagan Historical SocietyThe Okanagan Historical Society is pleased toannounce that it’s 49th Annual Report of Okanagan History is now available. The price is $8.00 +

$1.55 for handling.This Society has been in existence since 1925

and over the years has produced 49 books basedon the History of the Okanagan Valley. Articles inthe 49 Reports relate to Native Studies, Industrial,Commercial and Agriculture Development,Transportation and Biographical memoirs ofsettlers. At least 2000 copies of each annual issueare printed.

Recent Awards include the 1982 Award ofMerit for more than 50 years of publishingOkanagan History, presented by the AmericanAssociation for State and Local History; and the1985 Award for significant contribution to theconservation of British Columbia’s heritage,presented by the Heritage Society of BritishColumbia.

Copies of the following earlier reports are stillavailable:

#48 (1984), #47 (1983) $7.00 each#46 (1982), #45 (1981), #44 (1980), #43 (1979), #41(1977), #40 (1976) $5.00 eachReprints of #12 (1948) and #11 (1945)$5.00 eachAll other issues from #1 to #39 are completely

sold out and have become collector’s items,selling at many times the original price. Often anarticle printed will produce follow-up articlesthus stressing the need for continuity of collectingthe books.

The Reports provide a comprehensive historyof the entire Okanagan and its adjacent areas andwould be a worthwhile addition to any bookcollection or library. A complete Index of Reportsis presently being prepared for printing anddistribution in the not too distant future.

Send orders (plus $1.55 for postage andhandling) to the Treasurer, Box 313, Vernon, B.C.V1T 6M3.

British Columbia Historical News Page 14c

New Westminster HistoricCentre & MuseumA recent, major addition to the New WestminsterMuseum is a mural, four feet by eight feet,commissioned by the museum to commemorateNew Westminster’s 125th Anniversary in 1984-85.Two local, talented young people, Lesley Conwayand Lucy Dickinson, students at New WestminsterSecondary School completed the mural overthree school semesters, under thedirection of Artteacher Lloyd Timm.

advantage of the opportunity to sit and gaze uponthe early history of the Royal City ... andappreciate an example of excellence by a coupleof talented New Westminster artists.

The New Westminster Museum, located behind Irving House Historic Centre at 302 RoyalAvenue in New Westminster, is open on summerhours, Tuesday - Sunday, 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.,beginning May 1. Please phone 521 -7656 for moreinformation.

The artists have used New Westminster’soriginal street grid to unify twenty-five historicalscenes and personalities from the Royal City’spast. Such individuals as Governoriames Douglas,Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie, Colonel RichardClement Moody and Captain William Irving, andsuch buildings as the Customs House, LandRegistry, Holy Trinity Church, Irving House, andmuch, much more, make the enjoyment andunderstanding of our history much easier.

The mural has been installed as an integral partof the small theatre area in the museum, which isregularly used to show slide programs on ourlocal history to visitors, especially school groups.Interpretive discussions on New Westminster’shistory can be conducted, using the mural’simages as focal points. A key to the mural isavailable for visitors, and many people have taken

C

Don’t Forget!Subscribe now if you’re notreceiving the News regularly.

Page 14dBrush Columbia Historical News

I do not remember innumerable associationsfor local aid and improvement, for games and forother pleasures such as now crowd our newspapers and our lives. Perhaps they were there. Ofpolitics I knew nothing.

When I went shopping with my aunt onCordova Street I saw beautiful ladies in black,usually travelling in pairs. Their skirts were longand would have trailed (given a chance) but wereheld up by aid of an elegantly crooked elbow,their cheeks were very pink, their eyes were large,and lingered as they looked, soft and hard withexperience.

“Oh Aunty Belle!” I used to say, “do look atthat lovely lady! Who is she?” I was ratherashamed that my aunt did not know any of theselovely ladies nor did she seem to wish to knowthem. She snubbed me for my curiosity and thuswas my burning innocence continued.

Picnics became popular. There was NorthVancouver across the Inlet, to which my unclesrowed. There was a beach, later known as JerichoBeach, where loggers of a logging companynamed Jerry & Co. were working. For theadventurous there was the North Arm of the Inlet.Owing to the absence of engines and thepresence of muscle, we were rowed everywhere.Later, Bowen Island was delightfully discovered.More than once I have met whales at closequarters. We were surrounded by beauty and thepleasures of nature. Everyone but my grandmother had a bicycle. My great aunt did not rideher bicycle; she preferred to walk it about andtalk to people for her favourite occupation. Manyfamilies who had recently come from Englandemployed a cook, usually Chinese. Our cookpursued the same orthodox pattern as we did. Heloved my grandmother devotedly, and willingly“came in”, as required, for Family Prayer whichmy grandmother conducted twice daily. “Cards”were unknown in our house, but many of ourfriends played cards. I don’t know why “cards”were taboo, but they were.

I relate these times, you see, as they presentedthemselves to a schoolgirl. The town changed to acity, land and water changed, the schoolgirlchanged. And now, the city of Vancouver showsanother face, looking east, west, and north in ourbeloved country of Canada, and far, far beyondby land and sea.

There was a simplicity in life then which itwould be folly to regret now.This unpublished manuscript has been madeavailable by permission of Special CollectionsDivision, University of British Columbia Library.

David R. Conn

The B.C.

Marine Story

At the end of February, 1986, the province’s oldestprivate shipyard was scheduled to be closed. B.C.Marine Shipbuilders Ltd. survived the greatDepression and numerous other slumps, only tosuccumb to the current prolonged recession.

The yard’s story began in 1892, when the Sullenfamily formed the Esquimalt Marine Railway Co.and built a marine railway to service Victoria’sgrowing coastal trade. The railway allowed shipsto be hauled out of the water for inspection,repairs, cleaning and painting more easily thandrydocking.

Six years later, the family reorganized as B.C.Railways Co., and built another facility at Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet. The Klondike gold rushhad consolidated the port’s position as a majorPacific terminus. A steam-powered Crandallcradle was installed on inclined rails at the presentlocation, the north foot of Victoria Drive. Thesupervisor of the new yard was engineer GeorgeBushby, grandson of Sir James Douglas.

In 1902, W.F. Bullen went to Britain and boughtmachine shop and boilermaking equipment forboth shipyards. The Esquimalt yard began building ships, notably the CPR vessels PrincessBeatrice (1903), Princess Royal (1907), Nanoose(1908), and Princess Maquinna (1912).

At the beginning of 1914, the Esquimalt yardwas bought by Yarrows Ltd., the British navalspecialist shipbuilders. Alfred Yarrow, patriarch ofthe company and inventor of the standard water-tube boiler, organized the transaction personally.The Vancouver yard was sold to Bushby and othermanagers, who carried on the company name.

During the great shipbuilding boom of 1916-1920, B.C. Marine Ltd. confined itself to artilleryshell manufacture, ship repair and fitting out


work. Meanwhile, other yards in the provincebuilt scores of deep sea freighters and auxiliaryschooners for the Allied merchant fleets. B.C.Marine was upgraded with a new machine shopand an extension to the ship cradle, and by 1918the company advertised the marine railway at a1700 ton capacity, along with fully equippedshops, two floating derricks, a steam tug, scows,divers, and the largest steam hammer in theprovince. That year George Bushby retired, andnew owner/managers Innes Hopkins, J.K.McKenzie and C.J. Isted took over operations.

When the war orders ceased, the shipyard,renamed B.C. Marine Engineering and Shipbuilding Co., survived the recession. While bigwartime shipbuilders were closing their doors,B.C. Marine shipwrights built the second Capilano for Union Steamship Co. (1920), and the LadyKindersley, an Arctic schooner, for the Hudson’sBay Company (1921).

The company built a wharf extension in 1927and by 1929 the yard had a second marine railwayon the east side of the property. The yard carriedon through the Depression by providing provenrepair and maintenance work at reasonableprices and cultivating steady customers such asUnion Steamship. Like other operations at thattime, tradesmen stayed at the yard without paybetween jobs until times eventually got better.

During World War II, B.C. Marine once againexpanded modestly while supplying equipment,repairs and refit work for others. The yardspecialized in fitting gun emplacements andsimilar wartime conversion work on existingships.

In the post-war period, Union Steamship camethrough with a contract for the refitting of sixcoastal vessels. In 1956, the yard was bought bySenator S. McKeen, Fred Brown, and F.R. Graham. In 1963, the first steel-hulled boat was built,the first new construction in forty years. She wasthe 65 ft. tug Georgia Straits. B.C. Marine went onto build two sister ships for Straits Towing. Thesethree powerful “hot rods” changed the nature ofcoastal towing in British Columbia.

In 1965, Straits Towing bought up B.C. Marine,and the yard’s service priority became maintenance of the Strait’s fleet of coastal tugs andbarges. A building program was carried on toconvert the fleet to steel hulls, with the yardbuilding at least one tug per year. When Straitsand River Towing amalgamated in 1970 to formBritish Columbia’s second largest towing corn-

pany, the enlarged fleet kept the yard busy almostconstantly on company work.

The 1970s saw B.C. Marine continuing to bebusy as a Rivtow Straits subsidiary, building tugs,boom boats, fishboats, a ferry, and variousshallow-draft tugs for assembly at Hay River,N.W.T., for use on the Mackenzie River. Much ofthis building was done in the east yard, east of theNo. 2 marine railway. At this time, the companyconsistently employed 150 to 200 men.

The Rivtow Straits fleet peaked at 75 tugs and175 barges in 1980. Then recession idled much ofthe company’s capacity, and maintenance workwas curtailed. Lacking modern equipment, B.C.Marine was unable to win regular outsidecontracts to supplement its company work.

When B.C. Marine closes, Rivtow Straitsintends to do fleet maintenance work at thecompany dock and at other subsidiaries, contracting out work on the largest tugs and barges.New construction will be handled by the WestCoast Manly subsidiary.

With its original shop buildings and steam-powered ship cradle, B.C. Marine is a direct linkto the pioneer days of shipping. Every BritishColumbia coastal vessel of this century hasprobably been up on its ways at some time forrepair or maintenance work. The demise of B.C.Marine points up the fact that this pioneer stageof shipping is over.

David Conn is a writer and researcher in arch itectural and marine design. This article was originallypublished in Harbour and Shipping.

Back Issues of the News

Back issues of the News can be ordered at $3.50each plus postage from the Editor.

Page 16British Columbia Historical News

Peggy Imredy and Elizabeth Walker

KITSILANO STREET NAMES

Tree streets were named by Lachlan AlexanderHamilton when he surveyed the C.P.R. land grantin 1886; he used the ‘modern’ system of numbersfor the avenues. As South Vancouver and PointGrey were surveyed and settled, the avenuenumbers were extended south, east and west toencompass the city. The streets west of the C.P.R.boundary had been surveyed, on paper, in 1885when the Government Reserve land was readiedfor sale at auction. At that time the streets werenamed for men famous in Canadian and BritishColumbia history. After the settlement of thiswestern area it was seen that there was considerable duplication of names. It was at an afternoontea that Miss Dora Bulwer made the suggestionthat the duplicated names should be renamed tocommemorate famous British victories:

ALMA:(formerly Campbell of unknown origin)Name was changed in 1907. Alma is thename of a river in the Russian Ukraine wherethe first battle of the Allies (Britain, Franceand Turkey) fought the Russians in theCrimea, a peninsula in the Black Sea, onSeptember 20, 1854.

BALACLAVA:(formerly Richards, for B.C.’s second Lieutenant-Governor the Honourable AlbertNorton Richards) Balaclava, a village on theBlack Sea, was made famous by Tennyson’s“Charge of the Light Brigade”, the poemwhich described an incident in the CrimeanWar.

BAYSWATER:This short street is within the boundaries ofDistrict Lot 192; it is outside both the C.P.R.land grant and the Government Reserve, Itwas probably named for the several smallstreams entering English Bay. The originalname London, was for a small stream in arural area called Bayard’s Water.

BLENHEIM:(formerly Cornwall, for the Hon. ClementFrancis Cornwall, British Columbia’s Lieutenant-Governor from 1881-1887) the namecelebrates the victory at a battle fought bythe British and the Austrians against theFrench and Bavarians near Blenheim, Bavaria, August 13, 1704. Robert Southey’sfamous poem, “The Battle of Blenheim”gave to English literature the oft-quotedlines:

“But what good came of it at last,”Quoth little Peterkin,“Why that I cannot tell,” said he,“But ‘twas a famous victory.”

BROADWAY:(formerly 9th Avenue) The name waschanged through a bylaw in 1909. It was feltthe fame of Broadway in New York wouldpass on to Vancouver!

BURRARD:(formerly Cedar) When Burrard Bridge wasbuilt in 1933 it connected downtown withwhat was then Cedar Street. The part thatremained is now above Burrard Street at16th. Burrard Street, which took its namefrom the Inlet, in its turn had been named byCaptain Vancouver for his friend whosename was at that time Sir Harry Burrard.

CAMERON:(formerly Front) a short street running eastfrom the north end of Alma. It was named in1911 for John Angus Cameron, a surveyor inPoint Grey.

CARNARVON:Named in 1886 after the Earl of Carnarvon.As British Secretary of State for the Colonies,he introduced the British North America Actto the House of Commons in 1867. In 1874 helaid the basis for the settlement of thedispute between British Columbia andCanada over the construction of the C.P.R.


COLLINGWOOD:Its origin is in dispute. It is thought to benamed in honour of the town where Surveyor L.A. Hamilton’s parents lived. Hisfather was the first mayor of Collingwood,Ontario, and also its postmaster for aboutthirty years. Hamilton was born in Penetangguishene, less than 50 km from Coiling-wood.

CORNWALL:Named for the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York—later King George V andQueen Mary; they visited Vancouver in1901.

CREELMAN:Named for Adam Rutherford Creelman,born in Richibucto, New Brunswick; he wasa lawyer and a director of the C.P.R.

DUN BAR:Origin unknown; this street was not namedfor the real estate developer who came toVancouver three years after the street hadbeen named.

GREER:(formerly Short Street) A small block north ofCornwall between Cypress and Chestnut. Itis the lone reminder of Samuel Greer whoowned property at the beach before theC.P.R. expropriated the land. KitsilanoBeach was known as Greer’s Beach until 1905when the tramline came to the beach.

MACDONALD:(sometimes spelled McDonald) named in1886 for Sir John A. Macdonald, first primeminister of Canada, 1867-1873. He served asecond term from 1878-1891.

MACKENZIE:(sometimes spelled McKenzie) named forAlexander Mackenzie, second prime minister of Canada 1873-1878.

McNICOLL:Named for David McNicoIl, born in Arboath, Scotland, 1852. He came to Canada in1874; was a vice-president of the C.P.R.

OGDEN:Named for Isaac Governeur Ogden. Born inNew York 1844. He started work in a bankthen moved as an accountant to the C.P.R.He was a vice-president in charge of finance.

POINT GREY ROAD:(formerly Victoria Road named for theVancouver Island City) The name waschanged in 1907. This road starts at the northend of Balsam Street and then takes over

from Cornwall at Trafalgar. It jogs south tofollow the shore line until the road ends westof Alma. Named for the separate communityof Point Grey which joined Vancouver in1928 and which in turn was named forCaptain George Grey, a friend of CaptainVancouver.

STEPHENS:(formerly Stephen) Named for Sir GeorgeStephen, first president of the C.P.R. 1881-1888. In 1891 he became Baron MountStephen.

TRAFALGAR:(formerly Boundary when this Street was thewestern boundary of the C.P.R. land grant)The name was changed to Trafalgar in 1907.It honours Lord Nelson and his defeat of theFrench and the Spanish fleets at the battle ofTrafalgar on October 21, 1805.

TRUTCH:Named for Sir William Joseph Trutch whocame to British Columbia from the UnitedStates in 1859 and worked here as a surveyor.When the Royal Engineers were disbandedin 1864, Trutch was appointed Surveyor-General of British Columbia. He left thisposition for a career in politics, and was oneof the chief negotiators for the union ofBritish Columbia with Canada. He wasappointed British Columbia’s first Lieutenant-Governor in 1871.

WATERLOO:(formerly Lansdowne for the GovernorGeneral of Canada 1883-1888) It was renamed to commemorate the decisive battleof the Napoleonic Wars, which was foughtin June 1815 near the Belgium village ofWaterloo where Napoleon had rallied hisforces after his escape from Elba. The Allieswere under the command of the Duke ofWellington. Shortly after this battle Napoleon signed a second abdication and wassent to the island of St. Helena.

WHYTE:Named for William Mehven Whyte. In 1886he was superintendent of the C.P.R.’swestern division with headquarters in Winnipeg. In 1897 he was made a manager and in1910 a vice-president.

YORK:See CORNWALL.


F • •. •. . . . . . . . . • :.:..............., • • • •:.: :.:.:.; .•.• . • • • ,••• •.•*•. • •‘ •.• •. ••. .•.•.•

British ColumbiaHistorical FederationConference 1986The B.C. Historical Federation Conference washeld May 8-10 at Gage Towers, University ofBritish Columbia, hosted by the VancouverHistorical Society.

Thursday evening Ivan Sayers presented afashion show covering the one hundred years ofVancouver’s existence. The history of fashion wasexplained and displayed with many touches ofhumor.

Friday morning Maria Tippett spoke on “TheDevelopment of Culture in B.C. 1886-1936”.“Culture” is a word which covered many pleasantcommunity activities in the youthful city ofVancouver. Leonard McCann gave a slide presentation on “Shipwrecks off the Coast of BritishColumbia”. The afternoon panel on AntiquarianBooksellers was followed by a short talk on “FireInsurance Plans of B.C.” The evening concludedwith a most interesting repertoire of scarcelyknown British Columbia folk songs by Phil andHilda Thomas.

The Annual General Meeting allowed time forreports from all branches. A motion to return tocompulsory subscription was narrowly defeated.In its place a motion to raise membership fees by$1.00 and subscription cost to members by $1.00was discussed and accepted. Helen Akriggproposed a motion to seek funding to provide amonetary prize to future winners of the HistoricalWriting Competition. Carried. Dorothy Crosby ofMission invited all members to attend the nextconvention in Mission on May 14-16, 1987. A jointAlberta-British Columbia Historical Conferencewill be held in Banff, May 5-8, 1988.

Dr. W. Kaye Lamb was appointed HonoraryPresident for the coming year. Col. GerryAndrews and Dr. Lamb shared honors at the headtable. Dr. Lamb observed that exactly fifty yearsago, he was elected President of the BritishColumbia Historical Association.

Writing competition prize winners present atthe banquet were John Norris of New Denver,who received the Lieutenant-Governor’s Medalfor his book Old Silverton, and Helen Kuhn of

Quesnel representing the Old Age PensionersOrganization - Branch #77. The O.A.P.O. #77Book Committee produced the best anthologyfor 1985 - A Tribute to the Past. The winner of theBest Article of 1985 in the B.C. Historical Newsmagazine, Patrick Regan of Saanich, was unfortunately too ill to accept his Certificate of Merit.Also absent was Richard Mackie of FulfordHarbour, who won a Certificate of Merit for hisbiography Hamilton Mack Laing: Hunter-Naturalist.

Dr. Charles Humphries was a most entertainingafter-dinner speaker with the topic—”Plain Folksin World War I.” Members joined in “A Toast toVancouver”, on this its 100th Anniversary.

—Naomi Miller

Helen Kuhn with President Naomi Miller

Naomi Miller, Leonard McCann, Dr. CharlesHumphries, Dr. Kaye Lamb and Peggy Imredy

British Columbia Historical NewsPagel9

1oodward’ Dr. Lamb, John Norris, and Gerry Andrews

Anne Yandle and Irene

Ivan Sayers and model Phil and Hilda Thomas


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HONORARY PRESIDENTDr. William Kaye Lamb, OC,FRSC

A highlight of the 1986 13CHF Convention at UBCwas the installation of Dr. W. Kaye Lamb as ournew Honorary President. At the Banquet he wasably introduced, in person, by our new ExecutivePresident Naomi Miller. His gracious acceptanceof this honour was acclaimed with jubilantunanimity.

Certainly no other living person is more closelyand eminently identified with the aim and objectsof our Federation. He is a native son of BritishColumbia. His formal education was obtained atNew Westminster, UBC, Sorbonne and London.He was Provincial Archivist and Librarian 1934-1940, Librarian at UBC 1940-1948, DominionArchivist 1948-1969 and (the first) NationalLibrarian, Canada, 1953-1969. He has vigorouslycontinued his research and creative writing sinceretiring to Vancouver. In addition to Dr. Lamb’smany historical publications, he has edited thefollowing major works:

1957 Sixteen Years in Indian CountryThe lournals of Daniel William Harmon.1960 The Letters and journals of Simon Fraser,1806-1808.1970 The journals and Letters of Sir AlexanderMackenzie.1984 George Vancouver - A Voyage ofDiscovery to the North Pacific Ocean, 1791-1795, in 4 volumes.The “Honour Roll 1923-1985” on page 21 of the

B.C. Historical News, Vol. 18 No. 3, 1985, is sadlyincomplete. Among other deficiencies it does notinclude W. Kaye Lamb as Executive President ofthe (then) B.C. Historical Association for 1936-37.Dr. Lamb founded the prestigious B.C. HistoricalQuarterly with Vol. 1 No. 1 in January 1937, forwhich he served as Editor till October 1946 (Vol.10 No. 4) when he was succeeded by Willard E.Ireland until the Quarterly’s sad demise October1958 (Vol. 21 No. 4). A perusal of the Quarterly’sCumulative Index (Camosun College 1977)reveals no less than twenty-five articles by W.K’ye Lamb and an equal number of book reviewsby him.

Kipling’s classic dictum “(If you can) ... talk withkings nor lose the common touch..” is surelyexemplified by Dr. Lamb. He consistently manifests a warm rapport with so-called ordinaryfolk—juniors in various hierarchies, backwoods-men, surveyors and ilk. On visits to BritishColumbia from the exalted sanctuaries of Ottawa,Dr. Lamb habitually took time to fraternize withold friends regardless of rank or status. The lateW.A. (Billy) Newcombe was one. Kaye oftencontrived to visit at Billy’s bachelor retreat in theold Newcombe home on Dallas Road. Frank C.Swannell, BCLS, DLS, the celebrated exploratorysurveyor of British Columbia’s vast hinterlandpreferred to deposit his unique diaries with Dr.Lamb in Ottawa rather than with the ProvincialArchives in Victoria. On my official visits toOttawa, Dr. Lamb always had time to see me, andoften took me to lunch at the exclusive Rideau

W Kaye Lamb

British Columbia Historical NewsPage 21

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Club. He still keeps in touch with those whosurvive of his old staff in the Provincial Archivesand Library, who retain their loyal affection forhim.

When the “umpteenth” revision of my MetisOutpost manuscript was in hand, I had to thinkabout its “Foreword”, preferably to be done by alongtime friend, knowledgeable of the subject,and with luck, a celebrated authority. Dr. Lambwas the ideal choice. Would he do it? Hisresponse speaks for itself and his identity with thebook in this way surely elevates it from the mire ofmediocrity.

Dr. Lamb has been invested with many honourswhich, no doubt, he fully appreciates, butappears to carry with buoyant equanimity.Among them may be mentioned Officer in theOrder of Canada, Fellow of the Royal Society ofCanada, LL.D., and Honorary President of theChamplain Society. We can be sure that he valueshighly the recognition recently bestowed on himby our Federation. His acceptance of it certainlyadds lustre to the Federation’s image as it doesalso to that of its immediate past HonoraryPresident.

—C. Smedley Andrews

Elizabeth B. Walker

Recording theVoices of FalseCreek and theFairview Slopes

In 1983 some members of the Vancouver HistoricalSociety decided to undertake an oral history projectas a contribution to the 1986 centennial of theincorporation of Vancouver. They were concernedthat, over the years, a great many memories of the

social and cultural life of the various areas otVancouver were being lost and that little had beendone to collect these memories on tape. Because theythought the recorded tapes could serve as a model forother groups planning similar centennial projects,they decided also to produce a small brochure, givingsome guidelines based on their own experience.

With these goals set, an oral history committee wasformed with members Irene Howard, Alice Niwinski,Nancy Stuart-Stubbs and Elizabeth Walker (Chairman). Workshops on oral history procedures hadpreviously been held with the idea of havinginterested members form a corps of trained volunteers who could undertake such a project. However,this approach proved impractical. Members andfriends of the Society simply did not have time for alarge-scale project. Further, they discovered that it isno simple matter to conduct a skillful interview; someeven found the experience not to their liking.Eventually, the Committee decided to hire a professional interviewer who would work according toguidelines set by the committee, which would supplyhistorical and background information on the chosengeographical area of False Creek and the FairviewSlopes.

Why did the committee choose the area of FalseCreek and the Fairview Slopes? Because its membersknew that the Fairview Slopes was one of the earliestresidential areas of Vancouver. Below it, on the shoresof False Creek, some of the major industries of the citysuch as sawmilling, shipbuilding, shipping andmanufacturing had developed in the late 1890s andcontinued to exist there until the 1970s. Then theindustry disappeared or was expropriated andreplaced by apartment complexes, low-cost housingprojects and sophisticated condominiums for theurban elite. On the Fairview Slopes the early single-family homes had also been replaced by apartmenthouses. So here was an area that had drasticallychanged within a decade, and was slated for furtherdramatic changes with the development of the Expo‘86 site on the north side of the Creek. The time wasripe to capture, in their own words, the memories ofthe people who had made and experienced thehistory of that locale.

At this point the committee had to raise money topay the salary of a professional interviewer. It sentletters outlining its proposals and asking for financialsupport from various foundations and from companies that had had a long association with the area. Itobtained over $4,000 from two Leon and TheaKoerner Foundation grants and donations from fourcompanies and thirty-nine members of our society.After $2,000 had been subscribed, the committeedecided to proceed with the first phase of its project,in the belief that once the project was underway therewould be increased interest in it and that more fundswould be forthcoming. Such indeed was the case.Nor did it take as long to obtain funds for the second

British Columbia Historical NewsPage 22

phase. Our interviewer for the first phase, which wasconcerned mainly with the industries of False Creekand Granville Island, was Mary Burns, who hasproduced films for the National Film Board. NadineAsante, the author of The History of Terrace, who hasworked for the C.B.C. was hired for the second phase.Her interviews covered aspects of life on the FairviewSlopes.

A wealth of information on a wide range ot topicswas recorded on forty tapes; these included accountsof the rivetting gangs at West Coast Shipbuilders inW.W. II, log piracy in False Creek, the hippiecommunity along 7th Avenue in the 1960s, andservicing passenger trains at the C.P.R. False Creekyards. Not only did we record many diverse occupations but often we came close to the heart of events.The voice of Dennis Farian, fireman on the fireboatJ.H. Carlisle rose in excitement as he recalled the B.C.Forest Products fire in 1949 when “No. 4’s Companyhad come in from 6th Avenue and they had run alltheir hoses through but they got trapped between thefire and the water and they couldn’t get back. So wehad to immediately get all of No. 4’s Company...aboard the Carlisle and back away.” In his Italianaccent Domenico Gallello, former tender on theKitsilano trestle, expresses the immigrant’s emotionwhen he asserts, “I never move, if you give me amillion dollars. No. Never.” Dorothy Romalis, atenant in one of the new apartment blocks on FalseCreek flats, and the last person interviewed in theseries, wondered about the impact of Expo ‘86 andthought that the aesthetic value of False Creek couldbe saved “...because if it’s built along the water andthe tall buildings across the water won’t impinge onus very much...but if they’re 40 storeys high, thenthey’ll do something to the mountains....” All thesefeelings and attitudes are the stuff of oral history.

An informal ceremony was held on February 23,1986, when the forty tapes were presented to theSpecial Collection Division, University of BritishColumbia Library, where they will be available foreveryone to use. The brochure, A Very PracticalGuide to the Pursuit and Enjoyment of Oral History,has been printed and will be deposited in all librariesin the Vancouver area. To other historical societiesconsidering an oral history project we say, “Goahead! You will find it a rewarding experience.”

Elizabeth Walker is a former president of theVancouver Historical Society, and Chairman of theFalse Creek Aural History Project.

The American Association for State and LocalHistory, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee,singled out Mary Gartrell Orr for one of twoawards that came to B.C. last year, the other goingto jack Rippengale of Victoria. It is a veryprestigious award, since the American Association for State and Local History has 6500 membersand has been internationally renowned for itswork since 1944.

A national selection committee, composed ofleaders in the history profession, reviewed 138nominations. The awards were conferred at theAASLH annual meeting in Topeka, Kansas onSeptember 9, 1985. Twenty-three Awards of Meritand seventy-one Certificates of Commendationwere given.

Mrs. Orr’s nomination was proposed by theAASLH Awards Committee for British Columbiaand supported by colleagues, members andorganizations around the Province, in recognition for doing so much to preserve and promotethe history of the Province. The Awards Committee consisted of Dr. Patricia Roy, Dr. DanGallacher and Gregory Evans of Victoria.

•ê ••.ê.•.+ • •. •• • • • • •

Mary Orr of Summerland 1985National Award Winner


L

OBITUARY:

Elizabeth Norcross: Born witha Sense of HistoryElizabeth Blanche Norcross was born on Vancouver Island just before the first World War, thedaughter and grand-daughter of pioneers in theCowichan Valley. For her, the preservation andrecording of history was more than inbred. It wasa responsibility which she felt very stronglyabout—almost a duty which she was given to passon to others.

Elizabeth had had an interesting life, living,working and travelling in many parts of Canadaand in England. She entered U.B.C. as a maturestudent, taking her degree and accumulating agreat deal of historical research. As a result of herstudies, she put together her first book The WarmLand, and this was soon followed by Frontiers ofVancouver Island, written with Doris FarmerTonkin.

For a while in the ‘70s her writing was put to oneside while she spearheaded Nanaimo’s heritagemovement. It is largely due to her persistence thatpeople became interested in preserving parts ofthe old downtown. The revitalization we havetoday is built on a foundation which mightotherwise have fallen before the bulldozer.

Realizing the interest and wealth of materialstored in archives, Elizabeth co-ordinated theNanaimo Historical Society’s book NanaimoRetrospective, editing the selection of topicswhich documents the broad social fabric ofNanaimo’s first century. Later she would also editthe papers from the symposium The Companyonthe Coast, the story of the Hudson’s Bay Companyon the west coast of Canada.

Although her style of writing makes for easyreading, there is serious research behind it. InPioneers Every One Elizabeth told the stories ofsixteen very different women, from 1542 to thepresent day, and from all walks of life: explorers,politicians, women in arts and communityservice. She was very aware of the important rolewomen played in Canada, stressing that althoughmen may have explored Canada it was thewomen who settled it. Without them there couldhave been no permanent settlement.

It was Nanaimo’s loss when she moved back toDuncan in 1983, taking with her a partly completed manuscript on Mary Ellen Smith, MLA, thefirst woman Cabinet Minister in the BritishEmpire. Her latest endeavour, as part of a group of“Pioneer Researchers”, was the compilation of abook on the pioneer women of the CowichanValley. These two books have still to be completed and published.

Elizabeth had a way of exciting those whoworked on a project with her, instilling in themher own enthusiasm. She gave generously of hertime to help others in a variety of ways. In a talk onMary Ellen Smith she called her “the RightWoman, in the Right Place at the Right Time”.Much the same could be said of ElizabethBlanche Norcross.

She has left a legacy of writing which is valuableto the researcher, and which she liked to feel wasa “good read” for anyone. She and we can feelproud of what she has achieved, and we shall missthe dedication of one of Vancouver Island’s ownhistorical writers.

Thinking of Publishing?

—Pamela Mar

A seminar on publishing local history, given byHelen Akrigg, may be arranged for yourhistorical society. Please contact Leonard G.McCann, #2, 1430 Maple Street, Vancouvei,V6J 3R9.


.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ._. . . . .

Jewish HistoricalSociety of B.C.

Historical Society Project

...goes ahead with the confirmation of $4,000.00 ingrants from the Ministry of Multiculturism, Dept. ofSecretary of State, Ottawa.

Our Centennial Project, “Jewish Vancouver” is acomprehensive Video Presentation that will be usedby schools, organizations, churches, meetings,displays, to show and tell of the Jewish presence inVancouver this past 100 years.

Chairman of this project is our Vice-President,Irene Dodek.The Jewish Historical Society of B.C. has established anoffice in the Jewish Community Centre, thanks to agrant from Canada Employment and Immigration.The address is 950 W. 41st Avenue, Vancouver,B.C. V5Z 2N7.

Under the direction of Barbara Hollenberg, M.L.S.,with 2 assistants, the major project at the outset will beto catalogue the Leonard Frank Collection.

The grant covers 30 weeks and we hope means willbe found to continue the work.

Pioneer InterviewsOver the years, the Society has interviewed, by tape,over 110 pioneers in the Vancouver area.

These tapes are lodged in Victoria, the B.C.Provincial Archives Sound and Moving Image Div.under the direction of Mr. Derek Reimer. Theseinterviews are transferred to permanent long-lifetape, and made available to researchers and public inthe B.C. Archives.

Mrs. Irene Dodek has been directing this part of thesociety’s work, and recently she has had the services ofVice-President Morris Saltzman.

Manitoba Award

Cyril Leonoff, Founding President and Archivist ofJewish Historical Society of B.C., has been honouredby the Manitoba Historical Society, being awardedthe 1985 Margaret McWilliams Medal. This medal waspresented to Mr. Leonoff at a special dinner at theFort Garry Hotel, Winnipeg, Saturday, January 18th.

His story, “The Jewish Farmers of Western Canada”,won first prize in the Adult Essay category.

Mr. Leonoff was invited to deliver a paper, “TheCentennial of Jewish Life in Vancouver, 1886-1986”, toa meeting of the Jewish Historical Society of WesternCanada, June 8th in Winnipeg.

JOINT CONFERENCE OFTHE CANADIAN NAUTICAL

RESEARCH SOCIETY ANDTHE BRITISH COLUMBIA

UNDERWATERARCHAEOLOGICAL

SOCIETYJuly 22-27, 1986

Hosted by the Galiano Historical and CulturalSociety. For more information contact P.O. Box10, Galiano, B.C. VON 1PO.

WORLD SHIP SOCIETYMARINE TRANSPORTATION

HISTORY SYMPOSIUMJuly 27-28, 1986

The Symposium will be held in the Auditorium ofthe Vancouver Museum and Planetarium, 1100Chestnut Street, by the World Ship Society, underthe sponsorship of Canadian National, and withthe endorsement of Expo 86.

The aim of the Symposium is to provide nativeVancouverites and visitors alike with a fascinatingand informative overview of British Columbia’s—and particularly Vancouver’s—maritime historyand heritage.

Proceeds from the Symposium will go towardsthe preservation and restoration of the WorldShip Society negative collection, a collectionwhich chronicles some forty years of merchantship movements in and out of the Port ofVancouver.

For registration write P.O. Box 3096, Vancouver,B.C. V6B 3X6.


BookshelfVANCOUVER’S PAST: THIRTY-TWO READY-TO-MAIL BEAUTIFULLY REPRODUCED ANTIQUEPICTURE POSTCARDS. Fred Thirkell. Vancouver:Gordon Soules (1986) n.p., illus., $5.95

Vancouver’s centennial in 1986 is responsiblefor a spate of publications on the city’s historyranging from the scholarly to the mundane. Oneof the most visually evocative of earlier times mustcertainly be this labour of love by Fred Thirkell,featuring 32 reproductions of early-centurypostcards chosen from among his unique collection of the same. Included are not only such well-known scenes as the busy corner of Hastings andCambie, neat rows of West End homes, and thebathing pavilion on English Bay but also numerous less familiar views: tourists aboard a B.C.Electric open-air observation car, a snowywinter’s day in Stanley Park, a busy game oflacrosse. Each card is usefully accompanied by ashort vignette describing the same.

—jean Barman

Jean Barman is co-editor of Vancouver’s Past:Essays on Social History (1986).

THE HERITAGE OF THEVICTORIA JEWISH CEMETERYThe Heritage of the VictoriaJewish CemeteryA new 8 page booklet has just been releasedtelling the story of the Victoria Jewish Cemetery,the first such west of Ontario.

This land was acquired by Jewish businessmenin 1859 and the Cemetery was dedicated onFebruary 5th, 1860.

This interesting booklet tells the whole storyand also contains much relevant material. It wasprepared by Ben Levinson and Allan Klenman ofthe Society, and may be obtained from theSociety’s office.

Book editor is Anne Yandle. Books and reviewarticles should be sent directly to her do:P.O. Box 35326, Station E,Vancouver, B.C. V6M 4G5

Writing Competition

The British Columbia Historical Federation invitessubmission of books or articles for the fourth annualcompetition for writers of British Columbia History.

Any book with historical content published in 1985is eligible. Whether the work was prepared as a thesisor a community project, for an industry or anorganization, or just for the pleasure of sharing apioneer’s reminiscences, it is considered history aslong as names, dates and locations are included.Stories told in the vernacular are acceptable whenindicated as quotations of a story teller. Writers areadvised that judges are looking for fresh presentationof historical information with relevant maps and/orpictures. A Table of Contents and an adequate Indexare a must for the book to be of value as a historicalreference. A Bibliography is also desirable. Proofreading should be thorough to eliminate typographical and spelling errors.

Book contest deadline is January 31, 1987.

There will also be a prize for the writer of the besthistorical article published in the British ColumbiaHistorical News quarterly magazine. Written lengthshould be no more than 2,500 words, substantiatedwith footnotes if possible, and accompanied byphotographs if available. Deadlines for the quarterlyissues are September 1, December 1, March 1, andJune 1.

Submit your book or article with your name,address, and telephone number to:

British Columbia Historical Federationc/o Mrs. Naomi MillerBox 105Wasa, B.C. VOB 2K0Please include the selling price of the book and an

address from where it may be purchased.Winners will be invited to the British Columbia

Historical Federation Convention in Mission in May,1987.


THE BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL FEDERATION

Honorary Patron: His Honour, the Honourable Robert G. Rogers,Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia

Honorary President: Dr. W. Kaye Lamb

OfficersPresident: Naomi Miller, Box 105, Wasa VOB 2K0

422-3594 (res.)

1st Vice President: John D. Spittle, 1241 Mount Crown Rd., North Vancouver V7R 1R9988-4565 (res.)

Secretary: T. Don Sale, 262 Juniper St., Nanaimo V9S 1X4753-2067 (res.)

Recording Secretary: Margaret Stoneberg, P.O. Box 687, Princeton vox iwo295-3362 (res.)

Treasurer: i. Rhys Richardson, 2875 W. 29th, Vancouver V6L 1Y2733-1897 (res.)

Members-at-Large: Myrtle Haslam, 1875 Wessex Road, Cowichan Bay VOR 1NO748-8397 (res.)

Mary G. Orr, R.R. #1, Butler St., Summerland VOH 1ZO

Past-President: Leonard G. McCann, #2-1430 Maple St., Vancouver V6J 3R9736-4431 (bus.)

Robert Tyrrell, 3824B Cadboro Bay Rd., Victoria V8P 5E6

Chairmen of Committees:Seminars: Leonard G. McCann

Historic Trails: John D. Spittle

B.C. Historical News Ruth Barnett, 680 Pinecrest Rd., Campbell River V9W 3P3Policy Committee: 287-8097 (res.)

Lieutenant-Governor’sAward Committee: Naomi Miller

Publications Assistance Helen Akrigg, 4633 W. 8th Ave., Vancouver V6R 2A6Committee (notinvolved 228-8606 (res.)with B.C. HistoricalNews): Loans are available for publication,

Please submit manuscripts to Helen Akrigg.

JOINWhy not join the British Columbia HistoricalFederation and receive the British ColumbiaHistorical News regularly?

The BCHF is composed of member societiesin all parts of the province. By joining your localsociety you receive not only a subscription toBritish Columbia Historical News, but theopportunity to participate in a program of talksand field trips, and to meet others interested inBritish Columbia’s history and the BCHF’sannual convention.

For information, contact your local society(address on the inside front cover). ... No localsociety in your area? Perhaps you might thinkof forming one. For information contact thesecretary of the BCHF (address inside backcover).

Documents

On the cover - UBC Library Home · On the cover: The well dressed working woman of the Depression era wore this costume in theorchards and berry patches of ... the inventory of Rands