It’s the dog days of summer so please forgive me if I begin this week with a ramble; specifically, a quote from immortal Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery who obviously was a lady after my own heart:
“I am simply a book drunkard. Books have the same irresistible temptation for me that liquor has for its devotees. I cannot withstand them.”
Read MoreFurther to this week's Chronicle, the conclusion to the tragic story of 1920s Cowichan Lake school teacher Mabel Jones, this is the second time in 15 years that the Mill Bay Malahat Historical Society has chosen to bring history to life via the stage.
Read MoreAs I write this, B.C.’s greatest icon of the Cariboo gold rush era is in danger of destruction by a forest fire.
It was back in 1967, Canada’s Centennial, that this ‘ghost town’ was rescued from eventual oblivion and since has become one of the province’s greatest tourist attractions.
Who hasn’t visited Barkerville?
According to the Quesnel Cariboo Observer, the BC Wildfire Service “has had sprinklers installed on every building...as the area remains under an evacuation order on Tuesday. July 23...”
Read MoreAlthough it sometimes feels like it, I’m not the only author who celebrates British Columbia history. Obviously, as Chronicles readers are sure to be aware, there are others beating the drum of history.
However, a full-page story in this week’s Cowichan Valley Citizen is a happy reminder that, right here in my own backyard, a dedicated band of volunteers is hard at work promoting Vancouver Island’s colourful past.
Read MoreJohn Milton Bryant (1887-1913), who’s acknowledged as “one of the first American barnstormers,” had acquired his aviator’s license only six months before his death. An inset on his headstone in the Los Angeles Odd Fellows Cemetery reads:
In Memoriam
August 6, 1913 – The first fatal airplane accident in Canada occurred when John M. Bryant, husband of Alys (Tiny) Bryant, was killed in the crash of his plane at Victoria.
Read MoreFurther to today’s story on the collapse of the Second Narrows Bridge in June 1958....
History almost repeated itself in May 2006 when it took the combined efforts of seven tugboats to keep a freighter from crashing into the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing.
Read MoreFurther to today’s feature article on engineer extraordinaire Andrew Onderdonk, an attempt to answer: Hero or Heel?
Read MoreAs told in this week’s Chronicle, Stuart Henderson’s courtroom record was perhaps without equal: he lost just five cases of 50 over a half-century of defending clients accused of serious crimes, usually murder.
Read MoreLast week, I wrote that I’m not the only one who collects old photos. Al Maas had sent along a copy of a somewhat battered photo he’d bought at Whippletree Auction, years ago. “...It’s a local picture of rail workers? Bridge builders?”
Read MoreI’m not the only one who collects old photos. From Al Maas, this query:
Hey, Tom
Thanks for getting back to me, I'm hoping someone will be able to identify some of these people. I got the picture at the Whippletree Auction years ago, so am hoping it's a local picture of rail workers? bridge builders? Beams are quite long and may have been used for trestles etc? Hope you see something here that you might recognize.
Thanks, Al
Read MoreLast Sunday, for the second time in 30-odd years, I wandered about the base of the Bay Street bridge.
It will always be the Point Ellice bridge to me, the site of the worst streetcar disaster in Canadian, even North American history.
Read MoreThere were 12—12—pages in this week’s Times Colonist weekend magazine about a new film telling the story of the famous Cowichan sweater.
I have no problem with that—it’s a wonderful story of an Indigenous craft whose uniqueness has made it legendary.
Read MoreThere’s so much happening historically in the news lately that I can hardly keep up...
Shannon Panko’s petition (to be presented to the Legislature) to keep the No. 1077 in operation at Fort Steele Heritage Town continues. Originally a logging train on Vancouver Island, it has been lovingly restored and cared for since it was donated to the province.
Read MoreI’m sorry to say that I let last week’s Chronicle go to press without acknowledging this year’s Battle of the Atlantic Day...
On the first Sunday each May, “the Royal [Canadian] Navy family gathers to commemorate the Battle of the Atlantic – to honour the struggle, sacrifice, and loss, but also to celebrate the heroism and courage in the face of daunting obstacles: horrible weather and high seas, rough little ships and cramped quarters, and the ever-present threat of attack by submarines lurking below”.
Read MoreInstead of my usual catch-all of contemporary news with historical roots, a sidebar, so to speak, to this week’s post on once-infamous Ripple Rock.
Seymour Narrows and ‘Old Rip,’ as will be seen, were the most feared navigational hazards in British Columbia waters—indeed, on the entire Pacific Coast. For more than three-quarters of a century they posed a double threat, one visible, one unseen, to life and limb.
Read MoreThis week, the Chronicles begins a series of colourized postcards by the talented Nigel Robertson who performed his magic in converting our black and white masthead to vibrant full-colour.
Black and white, or sepia, postcards/photos are great—but seeing them in ‘Technicolor,’ so to speak, is better. It brings them to life. And Nigel does it well!
Read MoreWe made the cover!
The cover of the new Times Colonist vacation and visitor guide, GO, that is.
Read MoreThe recent three-part series on Klondike killer Joseph C. Claus drew some fascinating new information from subscriber Louise C. who has a family connection to the three Vipond brothers.
As readers will remember, they left Nanaimo in the spring of 1898 with Claus, Charles Hendrickson and James Burns, all out to make their fortunes in the Klondike gold rush. But, once on the trail, there was a falling-out, the Viponds going their own way.
Read MoreYes! It’s official!
The last airworthy Martin Mars water bomber is going to make one last flight, this one to the BC Aviation Museum in Sidney.
Read MoreThis photo of Duncan’s historic Keating Farm house, my neighbour to the west, is several years old now but the farm continues to be alive and well in the loving care of George and Rebecca Papadopoulos. The couple, who purchased this magnificent 27-acre property from The Land Conservancy and have restored the manor-like farmhouse and barn, celebrated their 10th anniversary there this past weekend with an Open House.
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