“The Fenians!” Was the Cry

Victoria and lower Vancouver Island were in a state of emergency, 156 years ago.

Members of the Volunteer Rifle Corps and special constables patrolled city streets as British men-of-war stood at the alert in Esquimalt Harbour and cruised Juan de Fuca Strait.

All were on guard against a threatened invasion by the outlawed Irish nationalist Fenian Brotherhood.

If it all seems rather hysterical, a century and a-half later, there was no dismissing the Fenians as an empty threat at the time.

That’s next week in the Chronicles.

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PHOTO: The Fenians had already spilled blood in eastern Canada at the Battle of Ridgeway. —Wikipedia