There are 350,000 place names on Canadian maps, 50,000 of them in British Columbia. Of the 1000’s that identify our Pacific Coastline, most—indeed, almost all—were coined by officers of the Royal Navy.
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It was said of the Eliza Anderson that “no steamboat ever went slower and made money faster”.
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I’ve always been a tree-hugger and have long been critical of the way forestry has been and is practised in British Columbia. But I’m also fascinated by logging history, and I make no apology for that, either.
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The story of Doris Gravlin has travelled world-wide over the years, mostly thanks to the internet and an almost insatiable interest in the supernatural.
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In my day, I doubt there was a teenager growing up in Victoria who hadn’t heard of Doris Gravlin.
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Human error. It has always been with us, always will be. For the 19 miners of the Pacific Coast Coal Mine on the morning of Feb. 9, 1915, someone’s carelessness cost them their lives.
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Of all the coal mining disasters in Vancouver Island’s history that of the Pacific Coast Coal Mine in South Wellington stands out on two counts.
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Of all the coal mining disasters in Vancouver Island’s history that of the PCCM in South Wellington stands out on two counts.
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This year’s Extension Miners Memorial service, Ladysmith’s annual tribute to the 32 miners who lost their lives in a tragic explosion on Oct. 5, 1909, was held last week in front of the Metal Collage on the corner of First Avenue and Gatacre Street.
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As you may have seen in the news, and in last week’s Chronicle, North Cowichan Municipality is looking to expand Mountain View Cemetery into an adjoining forest of mature fir and maple trees—proving that even dead people come first.
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From the craggy shores of Isle Arran they came, five brothers seeking their fortunes in the New World.
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I’ve long joked that I’ve sunk more ships than Lord Nelson—in print. And I owe that dubious claim, in part, to a lady who, long ago, did me a small favour.
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As entertainment convener for the Cowichan Historical Society, I’d just announced that the next month’s speaker would be John Adams of the Old Cemeteries Society, Victoria
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One of his best stories is that of Anna Ullman, a young woman who set out to hike the Yukon Telegraph line from Hazelton to Telegraph Creek in 1932.
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Ozzie Hutchings, machinist by trade, historian and clock repairman by choice, was a born storyteller as you’ll see in this week’s Chronicles with his blood chilling story…
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I recently reported that a new book has been released across the line in Washington. Byron Riblet: Forgotten Engineering Genius by Ty A. Brown is the second book written in recent years of the man
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Romantic though it may seem to some today, Victoria’s famous sealing industry was a brutal business.
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Based primarily on Carlton Stone’s Hillcrest: A History of Vancouver Island’s Hillcrest Lumber Company by Duncan author/historian Ian MacInnes. This is the conclusion of two parts.
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Even today, 72 years after his death, Carlton Stone is a legend in the Cowichan Valley.
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Prospector, packer and painted lady; merchant, gambler and thief; they all called rip-roaring Fort Yale home at the height of the Fraser River and Cariboo gold rushes.
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