William Wallace Gibson: ‘Birdman’ of Victoria

As did Alcatraz so too did Victoria have its “birdman.”

Whereas Robert Stroud, a twice convicted murderer, made himself famous through his studies of birds, William W. Gibson achieved immortality by being Victoria’s—Canada’s—Wright Brothers in one.

I was reminded of him by a recent small article in the Times Colonist: Three hectares of the Lansdowne Middle School are being sold for a new French language school.

The connection is this: Lansdowne Middle School and the acres and acres of flat land around it, now all developed as a commercial and residential neighbourhood, was the site of Victoria’s first airport.

But even before the airport, there was aviation activity there—George Gibson’s pioneer attempts to fly his own heavier-than-air, engine-powered aircraft.

‘Birdman’ was the name that doubters and detractors gave him, even laughingly flapping their arms when they met him in the streets.

But he persevered—as you’ll see in next week’s Chronicles.

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PHOTO: On Sept. 8, 1920, William Gibson flew the first Canadian-built airplane in all of Canada. His “Twin-plane” crashed during its second flight but Wallace survived.