*British Columbia Chronicles special bonus section for Members Only.*
Readers are forgiven if they’ve come to think of me as an unabashed union supporter based upon Chronicles that have been sympathetic to the struggles of the labourers of old. Such as the Vancouver Island coal miners and the unemployed (many of them veterans) who staged the occupation of the Vancouver post office then the great Trek to Ottawa in the depth of the 1930’s Great Depression.
Read MoreIn my recent series on the Leech River gold rush I made several references to Vancouver Island colonial governor Arthur Edward Kennedy.
Read MoreAs His Majesty’s Ship Nabob this small aircraft carrier—Canada’s ‘first’ flattop—has gone down in naval history for surviving a torpedo in August 1944 during an attack on the German battleship Tirpitz.
To the amazement of many, and thanks to the heroism of her crew, she made it safely back to port.
Read MoreThe B.C. Aviation Museum has scored another great acquisition, the latest being a CF104 Starfighter from the Cold War era. This supersonic jet goes down in aviation history as being the first aircraft to break Mach 2—twice the speed of sound.
Read More(Conclusion)
It’s hard to believe now, so many years and worldly experiences later, that I once was young and innocent.
I actually believed those photos I saw in the travel magazines, National Geographic, books and on TV: photos of abandoned buildings standing tall, proud and intact.
Read MoreFor some, July 1st was a day for reflection.
As the Cumberland Museum and Archives pointed out in a news release, July 1, 2023 marked “the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Immigration Act, a policy that banned Chinese immigration from 1923 to 1947.
Read More(Part 4)
It’s ironic, really. Today, 159 years after the discovery of gold in the Sooke and Leech rivers, almost every foot of the Leech and its tributaries continue to be staked and worked.
Read MoreOne of the Cowichan Valley’s best known former Paldi residents, Harjinder Kaur Doman, widow of the late lumber baron Herb Doman, died June 3rd. Husband Herb Doman, of course, made his mark as the founder and owner of one of the largest forestry companies in the province—a long way from delivering firewood in Paldi in his early years.
Read More(Part 3)
As we’ve seen, there were 1000’s of would-be miners in British Columbia in mid-1864; men and women who’d arrived too late to stake rich claims on the Fraser River or in the creeks of Cariboo.
Read MoreFor quite some time now it has been apparent to me that the internet address, www.CowichanChronicles.com, is too geocentric. The digital world is just that—global.
Too, as readers must realize by now, the Chronicles isn’t purely about the Cowichan Valley. Generally, I tell a story about the Cowichan area about one in five-six weeks. This became the pattern over 23 years in the Cowichan Valley Citizen which, for 20 of those years, appeared twice weekly.
Read More(Part 2)
Last week I set the stage for the Leech River gold rush which, ever so briefly, beginning in July 1864, kindled hopes of a new El Dorado right here on Vancouver Island.
Alas, a new Cariboo bonanza it wasn’t but, while it lasted, it certainly was exciting!
Read MoreWhen is a heritage home or building not a heritage home or heritage building?
Why, when they get in the way of development, of course.
Read MoreGold!
There’s no other word in the English language quite like it.
We of the nuclear and digital age can’t really grasp the full depth and meaning of the word that once held humankind in its thrall. That’s because we take it for granted that most men and women, at least those of us in the western world, are for the most part the masters of our own destinies.
The world is our oyster, right?
Read MoreI begin with the sad news that the poster we placed in memory of Molly Justice who was murdered in January 1943 has been removed by persons, and for reasons, unknown.
Read MoreThere was a time in the age of wooden ships and iron men when a ship’s captain was God, answerable only to his conscience—if he had one.
Read MoreOne of my Achilles Heels is organization. Almost a lifetime of files, photos, books etc., etc., have become an ongoing challenge to keep properly sorted. You know, a place for everything and everything in its place.
Read More(Conclusion)
Two weeks ago, I introduced you to N.P. Nathan Dougan, Cobble Hill and area’s foremost historian, and his son, Bob, who carried the torch until his death in the 1990’s.
Read MoreWe begin this week’s editorial on a happy note, a press release from the Cowichan Valley Museum:
Together We Did It! Duncan Train Station, Winner of the National Trust for Canada’s Next Great Save. Update!
Read More(First of two parts)
Over the past two weeks, I introduced you to N.P. Nathan Dougan, Cobble Hill and area’s foremost historian, and his son, Bob, who carried the torch until his own death in the 1990’s.
Read MoreFrom this month’s Cowichan Historical Society newsletter:
May is B.C. Mining Month - The Britannica Mine Museum is commemorating “100 Years of Mill 3” in a feature exhibit that will run until November 5, 2023.
Read More
