Some Reminiscences Of Old Victoria - free ebook by Edgar Fawcett

SOME REMINISCENCES OF OLD VICTORIA

BY EDGAR FAWCETT Toronto William Briggs 1912 Copyright, Canada, 1912, by EDGAR FAWCETT. TO Sir Richard McBride. K.C.M.G. PREMIER, NATIVE SON AND PIONEER THIS BOOK IS INSCRIBED BY HIS HUMBLE SERVANT THE AUTHOR....

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PREFACE

To My Readers:— A preface is, as I understand it, an explanation, and maybe an apology, for what follows. If such is the case, I must explain several things contained in these "Reminiscences of Old Victoria" and its pioneers. Had I not been laid aside with the typhoid some eight years ago, it is likely I should not have thought of writing down these early memories, but many know what convalescing after a sickness is—how one longs for something new, something to do. I was at this time at the seas

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CHAPTER I.

THE EXPERIENCES OF A BRITISH BOY IN SAN FRANCISCO IN THE EARLY FIFTIES. I shall commence by saying that I, with my father, mother, brother and sister, arrived in San Francisco in 1850, in the ship Victoria , from Australia, where I was born. From stress of weather we put into Honolulu to refit, and spent, I think, three weeks there, and as my mother was not in good health the change and rest on shore did her a deal of good. During our stay we became acquainted with a wealthy American sugar plant

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CHAPTER II.

THEATRICAL MEMORIES. In looking through a trunk of old letters and other odds and ends the other day, I came across what might be considered of some interest to some of our pioneers in the sixties. The find consisted of six playbills, or, as they could very well be considered, theatrical posters, from the size; but they were such as were then given to people as they passed the doorkeeper into the old Victoria Theatre on Government Street. They measure two feet long by ten inches wide, and are li

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CHAPTER III.

MY BOYHOOD DAYS IN VICTORIA. As I stated in my experiences in San Francisco in the early fifties, and in consequence of the loss of my father’s vessel near Alberni, we came north to Victoria after gold was discovered in British Columbia. We took passage in the steamer Northerner , which was filled with passengers and freight, and came via Portland, arriving in Esquimalt on the 11th day of February, 1859. I might state that all the ocean steamers docked at Esquimalt then, and the passengers were

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Public Departments of Vancouver Island for 1860.

Governor—James Douglas, C.B. Legislative Council—His Excellency the Governor, Hon. John Work, Hon. Roderick Finlayson, Hon. David Cameron, judge; Hon. Donald Fraser, clerk; Rev. Edward Cridge. House of Assembly—Members for Esquimalt—J. S. Helmcken, M.D., Speaker; Capt. Cooper, harbor master, and Capt. J. Gordon. Members for Victoria District—W. F. Tolmie, M.D.; A. D. Waddington, H. P. P. Crease, barrister; G. H. Carey, Attorney-General, B.C., and Selim Franklin. Saanich—C. Coles. Nanaimo—A. R. G

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ORGANIZATION OF COMPANIES.

Note.—Of these pioneer firemen of Victoria of this date, Sam Kelly is (1910) the only surviving member of the executive....

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H. M. S. Ships of the Pacific Station.

Rear-Admiral, Sir Thomas Maitland. Bacchante , 51 guns; Chameleon , 17 guns; Charybdis , 17 guns; Clio , 22 guns; Devastation , 6 guns; Forward , 3 guns; Grappler , 3 guns; Hecate , 6 guns; Mutine , 16 guns; Naiad , 6 guns; Nereus , 6 guns; Tartar , 20 guns; Termagant , 25 guns; Topaz , 51 guns; Tribune , 23 guns; Sutlej , 51 guns. Note.—One-third of these were on southern station. —Ex....

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Police Department.

It was customary for the "chain gang" to emerge every morning from a side gate of the jail yard on Bastion Street and march to Government Street to the music of their chains, with two guards in the rear with loaded shotguns. The gang often contained seamen from the ships at Esquimalt who were serving sentences, usually for desertion. This in course of time caused such indignation that the practice of putting men-of-warsmen in the chain gang was discontinued. The gang worked on the streets, on th

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CHAPTER V.

SOME RECOLLECTIONS OF VICTORIA BY ONE WHO WAS THERE IN THE SIXTIES. On Wharf Street, from the corner of Fort, looking north to the corner of Yates, the buildings looked pretty much the same as now, being all built of brick, with the exception of the wooden one to the south of Sutro’s wholesale tobacco warehouse on the corner of Yates and Wharf. This wooden building was a saloon, kept by one who formerly had been a prominent man politically, that is prior to 1859. I think this building can be ide

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CHAPTER VI.

A LITTLE MORE STREET HISTORY. I have before me an old photo, showing the corner of Government and Yates Streets, as also Yates Street to Wharf Street. It is so faded it is difficult to make out anything very distinctly. All the buildings look as if built of wood. We know there were three brick buildings then, which have been written of in my last article on "The First Victoria Directory." So I will here only mention the corner building, afterwards known as the Adelphi. Up to 1860 the treasury an

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CHAPTER VII.

THE VICTORIA GAZETTE, 1858. Through the kindness of a "fifty-eighter" I am enabled to give my readers, especially the old-timers, some extracts from this, the pioneer newspaper of Victoria, if not of British Columbia. To me, although only a "fifty-niner," and at the time a juvenile, these extracts are very interesting, for I remember nearly all the personages mentioned, and it is the incidents that these names are connected with that I mention. The editors announce in this, the first number, tha

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Killing of Capt. Jack.

Referring to Mr. Higgins’ most interesting account of the killing of the noted Indian chieftain, "Captain Jack," at the Victoria jail in the year 1860—the result of this shooting was to set the Indians over on the reserve wild with excitement, which condition was aided by a plentiful supply of infernal firewater obtained from the notorious wholesale joint at the end of the Johnson Street bridge. They immediately decided to start in their canoes up along the straits toward Saanich, calling at the

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The Pioneer Engines.

(By H. E. Levy.) "First in order comes the Union Hook and Ladder Company, a very swell affair, composed of the leading merchants of the city, sixty-five strong. They were first located on the present site of the Board of Trade building, then removing to Government Street to the spot on which now stands the new Promis building. Next came the Deluge Engine Company, No. 1, who ran a very cumbrous Hunneman tub, made in Boston, afterwards securing a Merryweather steam engine from England. This compan

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Story of the Scientific Expedition.

"The discovery of the mammoth to which the cable despatch on this page refers, was reported during the summer, and has excited the widest interest in scientific circles. "A very interesting account of the discovery by Dr. von Adelung, curator of the museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg, has just appeared in the Globus , a leading German scientific paper, of Brunswick. "From this account it appears that the mammoth was first reported by a Cossack named Jawlowsky. He found

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Mr. Norman’s Letter.

The following is a copy of Mr. Norman’s letter: "British Embassy, St. Petersburg, "Dec. 24, 1904. "Dear Sir,—Before leaving St. Petersburg, Mrs. Gough-Calthorpe, wife of our late naval attaché, asked me to send you some information about the stuffed mammoth which is in the Zoological Museum here, as you were interested in such things, and I promised to translate the passage in the catalogue which refers to the animal. "The revolution which has been raging here for the last few months has given m

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Translation from Catalogue.

"During the tertiary period elephants were very numerous and were distributed over Europe, Asia as far as the Arctic Ocean, North America and Africa. By the remains excavated, many species of extinct elephants are now distinguished, among which one, known under the name of Mammoth ( Elephas Primigenius ), existed in immense numbers in Europe and in Siberia as far as its most northern limits. In Siberia the frozen bodies of these animals have frequently been found well preserved, with the skin an

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Mrs. Edwin Donald.

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."—Timothy 4:7, 8. Never was there one to whom these words could be applied with greater truth than to the subject of this sketch. A faithful servant of her Lord, she was always ready to say a good word for Him, and took advantage of any and all opportunities to bring back to Him some friend whom she thought had become careless, thoughtless, or indifferent in His service. I am sure my old friend admonished me many a tim

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Hon. Wymond Hamley.

The late collector of customs, under whom I was privileged to serve from 1882 to 1900, was appointed by Sir Edward B. Lytton as collector of customs of New Westminster, and arrived by sailing vessel in 1859. After the union of the mainland and island in 1867, the collector, with his staff, came down to Victoria and established the customs house on Government Street in a wooden structure near the post-office of that day, and it was a very unpretentious affair. His staff of that time, and who were

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Hon. G. A. Walkem.

As a friend of over forty years, I should like to add a few lines to what has been said of the late Mr. Walkem. Some forty-two years ago I was going up Yates Street, past Wells Fargo’s bank and express, which then occupied the brick building on the south side just above the American Hotel and next Pierson’s tinware store. It was steamer day, and Yates Street was full of life, as it always was when the San Francisco steamer had just arrived with passengers, freight, mails and express. The latter

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The Jubilee of St. John’s.

Certain misleading remarks having been made at the jubilee of St. John’s with respect to Christ Church not having been consecrated for long after being built, and that it was a log building, etc., I, after getting facts from Bishop Cridge and an early resident who attended its opening, replied: " To the Editor of the Colonist : "In reviewing the rather interesting article in Sunday’s Colonist on the jubilee of St. John’s Church, which contained a deal I had already given some years ago, I noted

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Bishop Garrett.

In connection with the above I have received from Bishop Garrett, who was present on the occasion as Rev. A. C. Garrett, a very nice letter with his photo, which I think may be of interest to those who remember this eloquent divine of the pioneer days of Victoria, and who is to-day Bishop of Dallas, Texas: "Dallas, Texas, August 9th, 1906. "Dear Mr. Fawcett: "Your letter is here and has my most willing attention. I remember your father very well, and yourself, too. I also remember the iron churc

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CHAPTER XIV.

ITS DEPARTED GLORIES, OR ESQUIMALT, THEN AND NOW. The other day I had occasion to go through the town of Esquimalt, to the end of the principal street, which runs north and south. It was to the north end I went to take a boat to board the cable-ship Restorer to see my son off for Honolulu. I had not been on this spot, that I can remember, for thirty years, and I could not but stop and stare and wonder. Could this be the Esquimalt I used to know years ago? I could not but conjure up memories of t

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Roman Catholic Section.

There are very few of the monuments left standing here. Besides those naturally destroyed by time, many have been broken by stones into many pieces....

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Victoria’s First Cemetery.

The finding of the skeletons in the excavation of Johnson Street this week, recalls the last find nearby, a few years ago, in laying waterpipes on Douglas Street, and I find, in referring to an article I wrote five years ago on clippings from the Victoria Gazette , Victoria’s first newspaper, that "the Council have ordered the removal of the bodies from the cemetery on Johnson Street to the new cemetery on Quadra." I can well remember seeing this removal; the bones where the bodies were not enti

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Some Reminiscences.

On the 28th April, 1871, or forty-one years ago, a meeting was held in Smith’s Hall, which was situated in the building now occupied by Hall and Gospel on Government Street. The meeting was called to organize a society of the pioneers of British Columbia, and especially of Victoria. Among those present, and one who took a prominent part in its work, was William P. Sayward. By the death of this pioneer I am the sole remaining member of those who founded the society. By Mr. Sayward’s death this ci

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CHAPTER XVII.

VICTORIA DISTRICT CHURCH. I read with a great deal of pleasure the article on Christ Church by Canon Beanlands. These reminiscences of former days in Victoria have a charm for me that is not easy to describe. More particularly is this the case in the present instance, as my very earliest recollections of this fair city are connected with Victoria District Church. My mother was a devout church woman, and I attended her in her frequent and regular attendance. She encouraged me to join the choir as

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CHAPTER XVIII.

CHRISTMAS IN PIONEER DAYS. I have been requested to give my recollection of a Victoria Christmas in the good old days, as to how it was spent and conditions generally. In the first place, in speaking of "the good old days" of the sixties, I would not convey the impression that they were literally so good, for they were, so far as I can remember, some of the hardest that Victoria has seen. There is a something in recollections of the past that have been pleasant that is indescribable. It is easie

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CHAPTER XIX.

THE QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY FORTY YEARS AGO. The reproduction of an item in the Colonist of "Forty Years Ago," giving a list of the committee formed to prepare a programme for the celebration of the Queen’s Birthday, called my attention to the names of that committee. They are nearly all familiar. His Worship the Mayor, I think, was Mr. Harris, who was our first mayor; next follows Doctor Tolmie, chief factor of the Hudson’s Bay Company; Wm. J. Macdonald, now senator; Lumley Franklin, was a prominent c

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CHAPTER XX.

EVOLUTION OF THE VICTORIA POST-OFFICE. I have before me at the present moment the envelope of an old letter. It was received from England in 1863 by my father. The three stamps on it show a value of 34 cents—one shilling, one fourpence and one penny. It is only a single letter, and a small one at that. In fact, if it were any larger it would have had more postage on it. Just think of the difference between now and then. The first postmaster I remember in Victoria was J. D’ewes. Something went wr

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CHAPTER XXI.

FIFTY YEARS AGO. It is said, and I think truthfully, that youthful impressions are more lasting than any others. This is my own experience, for my mind is stored with early reminiscences. It is verified by no less a person than my dear old friend, Bishop Cridge, who told me quite recently that he well remembered an incident that occurred to him when he was between three and four years old—that of a regiment of soldiers passing through his native village, and of his following them quite a distanc

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An Incident of the Mystic Spring.

Sir,—In Thursday’s paper in the "Forty Years Ago" column I note the account given of the suicide of a young girl at Cadboro Bay. An interesting account is given in the "Mystic Spring" by my friend, Mr. Higgins. Poor girl! It was another case of unrequited affection. I knew Miss Booth well, being of my own age. We had met on many occasions at picnics and dances and at other festivities. On the memorable afternoon cited I saw her walking on the Cadboro Bay Road from town just ahead of me, and I hu

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CHAPTER XXIII.

THE LATE GOVERNOR JOHNSON. To the Editor,—As I sit writing, my eyes rest on the picture of the subject of these few remarks. This picture was sent to me with an autograph letter by Governor John Johnson, of Minnesota, four years ago, under these circumstances. In a magazine I was reading, as I lay in bed with typhoid fever, I came across an article written by a life-long friend of this good and great man. Of his early boyhood to the time when he was elected Governor of Minnesota, what an example

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CHAPTER XXIV.

A TRIP TO A CORAL ISLAND. The Ladrone Islands, which from time immemorial have belonged to Spain, now, as is well known, belong to the United States. There is a cable station on the chief island, Guam. The Ladrone Islands lie off the coast of the Philippines, and are about three thousand miles from the Hawaiian Islands in a west-southwest direction. The Island of Guam has about five thousand inhabitants, mostly Philipinos, natives, Chinese and Europeans. Guam, with its sandy beach, its cocoanut

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CHAPTER XXV.

A VICTORIAN’S VISIT TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. We left Victoria March 2nd via Seattle for San Francisco and Los Angeles by the good steamer Governor . We arrived at San Francisco Sunday, March 6th, after a rather rough trip, on which I did not miss a meal. After breakfast Mrs. F. and I, with three fellow-passengers, went to Sutro Heights and then to Golden Gate Park. The seals were still sleeping on the rocks or bobbing about in the water as of old. Sutro’s gardens were a disappointment, as they se

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CHAPTER XXVI.

AN HISTORIC STEAMER. The following interesting account of the historic steamer Beaver , the first to round the Horn into the Pacific, will be read by native sons as well as pioneers with renewed interest, as it is many years since this account was published. The Beaver lay off the old Customs House for a long time, until taken by the Admiralty for hydrographic work. When done with for that purpose she was sold for mercantile purposes again. For some years she was in charge of my old friend, Capt

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CHAPTER XXVII.

COLONEL WOLFENDEN—IN MEMORIAM. When I look back over my soldiering days the figure that I first remember is Colonel Wolfenden, then a sergeant in the volunteers, and I a full private. It was not, I think, until I was twenty years old and a member for two years, that I remember him, when he was elected captain from sergeant. I might say that the volunteers were a different organization from the militia. You enlisted for a term, the same as in the latter organization, and officers were elected fro

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"Did the Thoroughfare Once Run Through to The Harbor? A Question of Records.

"The question of whether or not View Street, which is now blocked by stores and office buildings at Broad Street, was ever open to traffic as a thoroughfare clear through, which theory D. W. Higgins, in an interview published in the Colonist last week denied, is causing considerable discussion among old-time residents. Yesterday Edgar Fawcett, who first broached the subject, gave the Colonist the following further argument on the question: "As my friend Mr. Higgins joins issue with me on my acco

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"Neither Bastion Nor View.

"To the Editor:—Having read with great interest Mr. Edgar Fawcett’s letter re the query as to the permanent term for the street now named as View and Bastion, may I make a suggestion that in the event of a re-naming that the thoroughfare be known as Fawcett Street? Many old residents are perpetuated in street names, and I feel sure, after the indefatigable efforts put forward by Mr. Fawcett in all issues connected with archaic research in Victoria and its immediate environs, that it would be a f

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"View or Bastion or Both?

"To the Editor:—In case the project for extending View Street through the burnt block is carried out, what name would be given the street when it connects with Bastion at the corner of Government? Although View Street as originally planned commenced at the waterfront where the Hudson’s Bay Company’s store stands, I think ‘Bastion’ a better name for the street, as it was the northern boundary for the fort, and, as is well known, Richardson’s cigar store stands on ground formerly occupied by the N

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"The Bridge to the Reserve.

"Sir:—There cannot be two opinions as to the utility of a bridge over the harbor from the bottom of Johnson Street. The first bridge crossing to the Songhees reserve at this point was built by Governor Douglas prior to 1860, it being an ordinary pile bridge such as graced, or disgraced, James Bay until the Causeway was built. The first bridge over to the reserve was part of the highway to Esquimalt, Craigflower, Metchosin and Sooke, and was very much in use in the olden days. "A continuous strea

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"Pioneer Pensioned by the Department—One of the Oldest Residents of the City.

"After twenty-nine years’ service in His Majesty’s customs as assistant appraiser in charge of the Postal Package and Express Office, Mr. Edgar Fawcett has just received word that he has been retired with a substantial pension. While glad to retire, Mr. Fawcett said he feels that he will miss the favor he has met with at the Customs House week by week for so many years. "Mr. Fawcett was presented with an address by the customs staff yesterday and a presentation was made of a leather chair and st

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"Application for Citizenship.

"We have copied the names and occupations of the persons who have made application to be admitted to the rights of British subjects within the past few days, and give them below. They foot up fifty-four in number—fifty-three are colored and one white. [*] Footnote: White. The names will be familiar to many of our old-timers, but, strange to say, of this list only seven families are represented to-day: That of F. Spotts, farmer; Nathan Pointer, M. W. Gibbs, William Grant, Samuel J. Booth, Paris C

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CHAPTER XXXI.

JOHN CHAPMAN DAVIE, M.D. Sincere will be the regret at the announcement of the death of the subject of this sketch. As I have known him since he arrived in the colony with his father (who was also John Chapman Davie), and his three brothers, William, Horace and Alexander, in 1862, it may not be inappropriate that I, one of his oldest friends, should tell what I know of him. Dr. Davie was born in Wells, Somersetshire, on the 22nd March, 1845, and was therefore sixty-six years of age. He, with his

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Craigflower School House.

With respect to what has appeared in the paper lately re "Craigflower School House," the following may be interesting: In early days (1856) Rev. Edward Cridge held services at stated times in the school house, and later on services were held regularly by the chaplains of H.M. ships stationed in Esquimalt harbor, and later on by Rev. (now Bishop) Garrett and Rev. C. T. Woods. I quote from Mr. Cridge’s diary, which is mentioned in his Christmas story of "Early Christmas in Victoria," that on Augus

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CHAPTER XXXIII.

VICTORIA’S FIRST Y.M.C.A. The Colonist has been handed the following self-explanatory matter, bearing upon the founding in this city of a branch of the Y.M.C.A., which is of especial interest: "Dingley Dell, September 29th, 1911. " R. B. McMicking, Esq., President Y.M.C.A. "Dear Sir,—In searching through the files of the Colonist of 1859 for items of forgotten lore that might be of interest to our early pioneers, I came across the enclosed interesting account of the forming of a branch of the Yo

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THE ROSTER OF THE "FIFTY-EIGHTERS" IN THE PROVINCE.

The following is a list of those who remain of the twenty thousand people who arrived in Victoria from San Francisco in 1858, the first year of the gold excitement: This list and statement has been compiled with the greatest care by the undersigned, who has lived in this city continuously since February 13th, 1859, when he arrived with his mother and three brothers on the steamer Northerner, from San Francisco, Cal., his father, Thomas Lea Fawcett, having arrived the previous year, July, 1858. S

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CHAPTER XXXV.

ROSTER OF THE FIFTY-EIGHTERS Being those remaining in 1908 of the 20,000 people who came to Victoria from California in the year 1858. Total, 45.—E. F. Before the year 1858, Victoria was a trading station or fort of the Hudson’s Bay Company. In that year the news that gold had been discovered on Fraser River had reached San Francisco. It was not long ere the news travelled all over California and craft of all kinds were soon on the berth for Victoria. The list of steamers alone is a long one, an

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CHAPTER XXXVI.

MORE LIGHT ON CLOSING OF VIEW STREET. I had intended to let "View Street" and its closing up in 1858 alone, being content that I had proved that it was understood in 1858 that it reached to Wharf Street, but I have since come upon some interesting evidence bearing upon it and so give it to those old timers whom I am sure will be interested. Firstly, there is to be seen plainly painted on a verandah on a building facing on what was then known as View Street, opposite the Hudson Bay Company’s stor

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CHAPTER XXXVII.

BISHOP CRIDGE’S CHRISTMAS STORY. Some years ago the Colonist requested several "old timers" to write for the Christmas number a description of Christmas as it was observed in the early days in this city. The following were those who wrote: The Venerable Bishop Cridge, Hon. Dr. Helmcken, Hon. D. W. Higgins, and the author of these reminiscences. I was so much interested myself in these stories (as I am in all Christmas stories), I decided, with the consent of the writers, to reproduce them in my

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Hudson Bay Days.

You ask me to give some information as to the observance of Christmas Day in the early days of the Colony, say fifty-five years ago. I may say at once that there were no set forms of celebration in those days, save that the chaplain, Rev. Mr. Staines, held divine service in the mess-room, a hall that served for baptisms, deaths and marriages, also balls and other recreation. At the same time Rev. Father Lamfpet, a missionary Catholic priest, assembled his flock in a shanty, built chiefly by hims

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CHAPTER XXXIX.

MY FIRST CHRISTMAS DINNER IN VICTORIA, 1860. "Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."—Matt. 7:7, 8. On the 22nd day of December, 1860, nearly fifty-three years ago, I sat in the editorial room of the Colonist office on Wharf Street, concocting a leading article. Mr. Amor De Cosmos, the able editor and owner, had contracted a severe

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Indian Burying Grounds.

Islands were favorite burying grounds among the Indians, probably from the protection the surrounding water furnished against the incursions of animals, and coffin islands may be found at different points around the coast. In Victoria harbor and the Arm both Coffin Island and Deadman’s Island were used for this purpose within the memory of such old-time residents as Mr. R. T. Williams and Mr. Edgar Fawcett. Mr. Williams, whose memory goes back to the fifties, when he went to school from a shack

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The Metropolitan Methodist Church.

To-day, February 13th, the Metropolitan Methodist Church celebrates the fifty-third anniversary of its foundation as a congregation. It was exactly fifty-three years ago yesterday that the first Methodist missionaries, sent out by the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Canada, then part of the English Wesleyan conference, landed in Victoria. They were Rev. Dr. Ephraim Evans, his wife and family; Rev. Arthur Browning, Rev. Ebenezer Robson and Rev. Edward White, who also brought his family, one of his l

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Laying Corner-Stone.

During the following August the corner-stone of the first Methodist church in Victoria was laid. The building was situated at the corner of Broad and Pandora Streets, and was afterwards known as the Pandora Street Methodist Church. The stone was laid by Governor Douglas, and the building was dedicated the following May. Its usefulness was considerably lessened, however, by the building of the Metropolitan Methodist Church in 1890, which claims the honor of being the mother church of Methodism in

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