J.H.S. Matson

By now it should be apparent to readers that history is all about research via old newspapers, archives, libraries, government agencies, genealogy, surfing online, correspondence, interviews, etc., etc.

Happily for me, thanks to the wonders of the internet and the wealth of information I’ve amassed in my own archives over my career, I can do much of this in the comfort of my own library, at my computer with a cup of coffee beside me and filing cabinets within easy reach.

What a change from the early days when, to write a magazine or newspaper article, let alone a book, meant Mohammed having to go to the Mountain every time. Every blue moon, however, even with the conveniences cited above, it gets even better—the Mountain comes to Mohammed.

By which I mean that a story, fully researched, comes to me.

Such is this week’s tale by Robin Garratt of England. In 2010, by which time he and his wife were in their 70s, they visited the Cowichan Valley for two weeks. Robin wanted to learn more about his maternal grandfather’s brief employment at Hill Farm in Cobble Hill just prior to the First World War.

Its owner, J.H.S. Matson, is a story in himself.

Dave and Beth Keith, proprietors of Sahtlam Lodge B&B, very kindly passed the Garratts on to me and Robin shared with me the part of his family history that pertains to his grandfather’s sojourn at what’s now the Braithwaite farm at 1200 Fisher Road.

Next week I share this enjoyable story of a young English dairyman who brought his family halfway round the world to outpost Cobble Hill (they couldn’t even find it on a map) with Chronicles readers.

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