Some Reminiscences of old Victoria

The Jubilee of St. John’s.

Certain misleading remarks having been made at the jubilee of St. John’s with respect to Christ Church not having been consecrated for long after being built, and that it was a log building, etc., I, after getting facts from Bishop Cridge and an early resident who attended its opening, replied:

"To the Editor of the Colonist:

"In reviewing the rather interesting article in Sunday’s Colonist on the jubilee of St. John’s Church, which contained a deal I had already given some years ago, I noted particularly the reference to the first Christ Church, and thought I could throw a little light on the matter, especially after a conversation with an early resident who attended the first service in the church in 1856. The original building that was destroyed by fire was named ‘Christ Church’ by Bishop Cridge, after Christ Church in London, of which he was incumbent up to the time of his leaving for Vancouver Island in 1855.

"After Mr. Cridge had been established here as resident minister and chaplain to Hudson’s Bay Company, Governor Douglas had Christ Church built for him, and when the congregation had increased, Mr. Cridge wrote to the Bishop of London, telling him that there were twenty candidates for confirmation, and asking him what he (Mr. Cridge) should do under the circumstances. In reply Mr. Cridge was advised to write to Bishop Scott of Oregon, asking him to come to Victoria and confirm them. This was done, and Bishop Scott came.

"Thus took place the first confirmation on Vancouver Island, and in this ‘unconsecrated church.’ The church is spoken of as being built of logs. This is not so, as it was a frame structure, weather-boarded on the outside, and lathed and plastered on the inside, with a stone foundation.

"The church had a low tower like a dove-cot with two bells. Altogether it was a pretty church. The building was put up by William Leigh, an official of the company, under the superintendency of Hon. J. D. Pemberton, who drew the plans and was architect. It was opened first for public worship in August, 1856, prior to which services were held in the fort. Later on, as the gold rush from California took place, and thousands came to Victoria, Mr. Cridge, being overworked, he (Mr. Cridge) wrote to England to the Church and School Society, asking for help. As a result of this appeal, St. John’s Church was sent out by Miss Burdett-Coutts.

"I might further state that the Catholic Church was established here prior to the arrival of Mr. Cridge, and for some time services under Bishop Demers were held in the bishop’s residence until a church was erected. This pioneer of Catholic churches is still in existence, having been moved from Humboldt Street south and east of St. Joseph’s Hospital to the rear of St. Ann’s Convent, being there encased in brick. As before stated, I was at the laying of the corner-stone of St. John’s Church in 1860, as also was Mr. Alexander Wilson, of Broad Street, and we both remember the occasion, especially the music by the fine band of H.M.S. Sutlej. I might here state that what I have said has been to throw a little more light on an interesting subject."

CHAPTER XIII.

THE IRON CHURCH AGAIN.

Miss Woods, daughter of the late Sheriff Woods, and niece of the late Archdeacon, has handed me the original notice in the handwriting of the late Rev. R. J. Dundas, first rector of St. John’s, of the laying of the corner-stone of the St. John’s Church, reading: "The corner-stone of St. John’s Church will be laid by His Excellency the Governor (James Douglas), on Friday, the 13th April, at 3 o’clock p.m., 1860." This makes it over forty-six years old. The ceremony was performed on a beautiful spring afternoon. A procession was formed at the residence of Captain Dodds (which, by the by, is still standing), and marched to the site of the church. The magnificent band of H.M.S. Sutlej (a line-of-battleship), furnished the music for the occasion. No flagship in later days has had such a band, for size or excellence. My memory in this particular has been refreshed by a fellow-pioneer in Mr. Alexander Wilson, who also attended the ceremony. I might state that the oldest church building at the present time is the Roman Catholic, which used to stand on Humboldt street, and was later removed to the rear of St. Ann’s Convent and built around with brick. This church antedates even St. John’s, as I can remember it in 1859. In connection with this old church I have heard some fine singing, when Father Brabant, of the West Coast, was connected with the church, who was a fine baritone; also Madame Beckingham, then a Miss Tissett, Mrs. Fellows and Charles Lombard. It was a musical treat indeed. There were other good singers there, but these were notable, and they are all alive to-day.

Bishop Garrett.

In connection with the above I have received from Bishop Garrett, who was present on the occasion as Rev. A. C. Garrett, a very nice letter with his photo, which I think may be of interest to those who remember this eloquent divine of the pioneer days of Victoria, and who is to-day Bishop of Dallas, Texas:

"Dallas, Texas, August 9th, 1906.

"Dear Mr. Fawcett:

"Your letter is here and has my most willing attention. I remember your father very well, and yourself, too. I also remember the iron church and the old cathedral on the hill very well. I also remember an incident which was amusing, in the iron church. Once the great archdeacon preached a flowery sermon in St. John’s in the morning. The evening sermon was preached by the Rev. C. T. Woods, who was out in the morning at a mission station. The archdeacon occupied a pew at the evening service. When the text was given out he pricked up his ears and sat up very straight. The opening sentence was the same as that of the morning; and so was the next and the next, even to the last! Some of those who had been present in the morning and had complimented the Ven. Archdeacon upon his eloquence, began to smile and nudged each other. At last the end came. The Ven. Archdeacon went into the vestry, where some of the morning flatterers were repeating their forenoon praises! At length they left, bursting with laughter. Then the archdeacon said: ‘I see that we two donkeys have been eating the same cabbage!’

"I remember also preaching in that church when the wind howled and rattled through the roof in such a way that nothing could be heard.

"Well, you are all greatly changed now—and so am I. Mrs. Garrett is still vigorous, and I am doing a full day’s work every day in the year.

"Affectionately yours,

"Alex. C. Garrett,

"Bishop of Dallas."

CHAPTER XIV.

ITS DEPARTED GLORIES, OR ESQUIMALT, THEN AND NOW.

The other day I had occasion to go through the town of Esquimalt, to the end of the principal street, which runs north and south. It was to the north end I went to take a boat to board the cable-ship Restorer to see my son off for Honolulu.

I had not been on this spot, that I can remember, for thirty years, and I could not but stop and stare and wonder. Could this be the Esquimalt I used to know years ago?

I could not but conjure up memories of the past, of Esquimalt’s departed greatness, bustle and busy life. In 1858, and before my time, this was the British Columbia headquarters of the San Francisco steamers, as well as the headquarters of the navy. Of the latter there were always three or four vessels with nearly always a flagship, and such a ship! It seemed like climbing up a hillside as you passed tier after tier of guns, and finally reached the upper deck.

The steamers running from San Francisco in those days were large also, so large that they could not come into Victoria harbor, and the Panama, I see by the Colonist of that date, brought 1,200 passengers on one trip.

Well, to proceed. As I walked down the street I turned from side to side, trying to remember who lived in that house, and who in that one, in the days that have gone by. Oh! what desolation! What ruin and decay! Only about every fourth house was occupied—the others given over to the dull echoes of the past. I looked in several windows and saw nothing but emptiness, dust and decay.

Of the notable houses and notable people who formed the population of this once important town, there were the residences of Fred. Williams, a prominent Mason and Speaker of the Legislature; William Arthur, William Sellick and John Howard, hotel and saloon-keepers; William Wilby, the mail carrier, with his numerous family; the Millingtons and the Dodds. Of John Howard I have already written in my description of an early-time Queen’s birthday celebration on Beacon Hill. John was a great horse fancier, and owned some winners, which were generally ridden by the Millington boys. John, with his friend, Thomas Harris (first mayor of Victoria), and Captain the Hon. Lascelles, R.N., were then kindred spirits, and many a day’s sport they afforded to the public of Victoria.

After reaching the end of the street and the landing, what did I see of the bustle, business and life of forty-nine years ago—a small forest of worm-eaten piles sticking up in the water in front of me. They were the remains of a large dock which had been covered with warehouses and offices connected with the shipping of the port. The late Thomas Trounce, of this city, owned the property and managed it. Imagine what the arrival of a large San Francisco steamer with 1,000 or 1,500 passengers and 1,000 tons of freight on this dock meant? All these passengers and all this freight were for Victoria. The freight was transferred to small steamers for this city, and also carted up by road.

We ourselves landed here from the steamer Northerner with six hundred others in February, 1859, and came around to Victoria in a small steamer and landed at the Hudson’s Bay Company’s wharf. There were several stages plying also, the fare being "only one dollar." The "’Squimalt" road of that day was not that of to-day. It branched off the present Esquimalt Road at Admiral’s Road and ran eastward parallel with the present road, climbing up a very steep grade before reaching Lampson Street, and then keeping on straight till reaching Craigflower Road. Then it branched into the present road again at Everett’s Exchange. This great change in ’Squimalt has not taken place in late years. The loss of the naval station lately does not seem to have made a deal of difference to its appearance. It dates back to the "wooden walls" of old England, and the appearance on the scene of the ironclad of later years. Whatever was the cause, the effect is there, and I suppose good reason could be found for the great change. Melancholy it was to me, who had seen the place full of life, jollity and laughter as bluejackets and scarlet-coated marines by scores landed with plenty of money in their pockets, and maybe three days to spend it in. They were soon on the road to Victoria, stopping at the wayside houses as they jogged along, singing and laughing like a lot of schoolboys let loose from school.

On one of these occasions a laughable incident occurred, as scores of these bluejackets and marines passed up Esquimalt Road. A squad or more might have been seen walking along, headed by a bluejacket playing a lively tune on a fife or tin whistle. One or two were dancing to the tune, when all at once the music stopped, as a halt was made, the command being "’Alt all ’ands!" They had come opposite a wayside house and the sign over the porch—saloon—had attracted their attention. One of the sailors had commenced to spell out the sign. "What’s this blooming sign say? A hess, and a hay and a hell and a double ho, and a hen—saloon! Why blast my blooming h’eyes, mates, it’s a blooming pub! All ’ands come in and take a drink," and you may be sure "all ’ands" forthwith filed into the saloon and "smiled," to use a Western phrase.

These good old days of ’Squimalt, I am afraid, are gone for ever with her prestige as a naval station taken from her. Shall we see her rise again as a commercial port, as a headquarters of the C.P.R.? Shall the echoes of commerce take the place of the echoes of Jack’s laughter and song? Let us hope so, and so end my little reminiscences of ’Squimalt’s early times.

Since writing this I have come across a cutting in my scrap book from the Colonist of May 17th, 1870, which gives the account of the arrival of the first and only flying squadron (under Admiral Hornby), which ever arrived here. By the by, we were promised flying squadrons in lieu of stationary squadrons on this station. When is the first to arrive? As there was a flagship here with two other vessels, at this time, my readers may imagine the number of men in Esquimalt harbor at that date; not less than three thousand five hundred, I am sure, and how lively this must have made Esquimalt and Victoria. The whole population, figuratively speaking, turned out to welcome these six vessels as they came in from Race Rocks under full sail. It was a beautiful sight. The Zealous (armor-plated), Admiral Farquhar, welcomed Admiral Hornby of the Liverpool, flagship of the flying squadron.

CHAPTER XV.

OLD QUADRA STREET CEMETERY.

—Thomas Gray.

I must first apologize for altering two words in this quotation from this most beautiful poem that caused the celebrated General Wolfe to say that he would rather be the author of it than have taken Quebec.

I am moved to write these lines by the fact that these bones require protecting from the vandalism of certain persons unknown, also I have been approached by pioneers several times to write about this desecration of the last resting-place of our pioneers.

It was in 1859 or early ’60 that the Quadra Street Cemetery was opened, all the bones from the cemetery on Johnson and Douglas Streets being exhumed and carried to Quadra Street in carts. I have stood several times and watched the operation of digging up and carting away of the remains from the first cemetery. It was situated on the corner of Johnson and Douglas Streets, the brick building on the south-west corner being built on the site, and it must have extended into the streets also, as some years later skeletons were found by workmen digging trenches for water pipes. There were many naval men buried there, and the dates on some of the headboards and stones in Quadra Street Cemetery show an earlier date than the opening of it, there being two burials from war vessels, one in 1846, H. M. S. Cormorant, and one in 1852. These early dates show that Her Majesty’s vessels were in Esquimalt at that time. Naval men and Hudson’s Bay Company’s employees were the large majority of those buried in the first cemetery. As a boy, I had a great weakness for funerals, and living only a block from Quadra Street, I attended scores in my day. I naturally liked the naval funerals best, for there were soldiers and sailors, and bands of music, with three volleys over the grave, so I missed few. The funerals came from Esquimalt, generally by water, in large boats propelled by oars, and landed at the Hudson’s Bay Company’s wharf.

By the inscriptions, a large majority were young men and sailors, and many were the result of accidents in Esquimalt harbor by drowning.

I well remember the funeral of Captain Bull, of H. M. surveying ship Plumper, who died at the age of twenty-seven years, the coffin being fastened to a gun carriage and pulled by bluejackets. The state of Victoria’s streets at that time was such that it required a deal of power to propel any vehicle, and especially was this the case with Quadra Street. I have often seen a funeral come to a dead standstill and the hearse dug out of the mud, as also teams loaded with stones for monuments in the cemetery.

We will suppose the hearse has been dug out, and in the cemetery near the grave, in many cases men might be seen bailing out the grave, one below and one on top; especially was this the case with the Roman Catholic ground. And I have known when it was necessary to hold the coffin down in the water with shovels or have a man get down and stand on the coffin until enough soil was thrown on it to keep it down. What must the friends have thought at this time, as the dirty water was forcing its way into the coffin? In the majority of burials there was no grave-case, which helped to make matters worse.

I have always paid periodical visits to this cemetery, the chief reason being that my mother was buried there when I was fifteen years old. She expressed a wish to be carried to her grave instead of being taken in a hearse, and it was the first instance I can remember in Victoria, although it may have been done earlier.

Both Bishops Cridge and Garrett, the clergymen who conducted the burial services over her, are alive to-day.

Some four years ago, I had a marble headstone put on her grave, which was enclosed with a fence, and last fall I saw it there although buried in weeds. A few weeks ago a lady friend asked me if my mother’s name was Jane; for that she had, in walking through the cemetery, come across a stone which must have been hers. I went up to investigate, and after some hours’ search found the stone, but the enclosure was gone, and I had a time locating the grave, to replace the stone. In compiling the information given in this article, I made many visits lately, and I can say that it is a disgrace to a civilized community to have the last resting-place of Victoria’s pioneers in such a condition—marble and sandstone monuments lying in all directions, broken either by falling over naturally, or with rocks by some vandal.

It is a mistake to suppose that there are few remaining relations of these long-buried dead. At least there are fifty per cent. of them represented by relations to-day, as I shall show later on, and I hope the state of affairs as here related, may cause them to move at once to right matters.

I might say that the individual plots were owned outright by the relations, and others, for they have certain title to them. Individual comments are made on all those that I know or knew of, and several large, heavy stones I could not lift to get inscriptions, as they lay on their face. In several cases wood headboards have outlived stone, the inscription on the former being more legible than the stone. The action of the elements in many cases has entirely erased some, especially from sandstone, although newer than the wood boards.

One of the inscriptions I have read many a time as being quaint, was so far as I can remember, thus:

• John S. Titcombe, pilot; monument erected by I. O. O. F.; died 1869, aged 41 years.
• Matthew Hollow, died Feb. 28, 1871, aged 39 years; erected by Victoria Lodge, I. O. O. F.
• Thos. Pritchard, died Oct. 31, 1883, aged 79; also Margaret his wife, died Dec. 3, 1871, 64 years. Note—This is the most pretentious monument in the cemetery. They leave grandchildren.
• James Orr, died 1871, aged 32 years; buried by St. Andrew’s Masons and I. O. O. F.
• Alice Heathcote, wife of J. W. Hutchinson, jailer; died March 30, 1868, aged 27 years.
• Margaret Langley, wife of Edward Langley; died 1866; leaves relatives.
• James McCulloch, engineer steamer Sir James Douglas; died April 2, 1870, aged 46; also Margaret, wife of above, died Dec. 3, 1871, aged 64 years; also Wm. M. Doran, mate of same ship, who was accidentally drowned in Victoria harbor, July 7, 1868, aged 45 years; erected by officers and men of steamer.
• Jessie Russell, wife of Robt. J. Russell (Russell’s Station); died Aug. 29, 1860, aged 42.
• John Wilkie, Wharf Street merchant; died April 28, 1871, aged 38 years.
• James Murray Reid (Reid & Macdonald), partner of Senator Macdonald, and father of Mrs. W. J. Macdonald.
• James Hepburn, died April 16, 1869; 58 years.
• Nathaniel Milby Hicks, clerk C. M. C., died Oct. 31, 1870, age 52. (Member of first municipal council Victoria city.)
• Capt. John W. Waitt, father of late M. W. Waitt; died 1870, aged 67.
• Frederick and Arthur—children of Mrs. J. W. Williams.
• Thos. Carter, of Hillside Farm, died 1869, aged 52 years; was husband of Mrs. C. Booth (and father of William Carter, provincial assessor’s office). Note—Mr. Carter contracted a bad cold in the cemetery at the funeral of a brother Mason, and was heard to remark in an undertone to a friend as he was looking down into the grave, "And who will be the next?" Strange to say, he himself was the next, for within ten days his brother Masons met there to bury him.
• Mrs. Harriet Jameson; died 1868, aged 18 years.
• John Work, Chief Factor of H. B. Co., died Dec. 22, 1861, aged 70; and his son, Henry, died June 19, 1856, aged 12 years. (John Work was well known to all old-timers.)
• Cecilia, wife of J. S. Helmcken, M.D., died Feb. 4, 1865, aged 30 years; also Douglas Claude, died Jan. 17, 1854, aged 3 months; Margaret Jane, died March —, 18 months; also Ogilvy Roderick, died March 5, 1 month—children of the above. (The wife of Dr. J. S. and mother of Dr. J. D. and H. D. Helmcken, and Mrs. — McTavish and Mrs. Higgins.)
• Martha Coles; died March 13, 1865, aged 30 years.
• Geo. Hooper; died March 15, 1865, aged 53 years.
• Jane Neely; died April 1, 1865, aged 28.
• Wm. Brooke Naylor; died Oct. 2, 1866, aged 42; sheriff of Vancouver Island. (Has a son here, Brooke Naylor.)
• Cecilia Cameron, wife of David Cameron, C. J. of colony; died Nov. 26, 1859; also David Cameron, C. J., died May 14, 1872, aged 68 years.
• Jno. Walton; died June 17, 1867, aged 55 years.
• Abner H. Francis; died — 25, 1872, aged 59 years.
• Chas W. Wallace, died March 13, 1865, aged 65; Jane Adison, died Feb. 5, 1854, aged 25 years; Kate, died July 11, 1869; Abby, died April 2, 1866; Edward, died Jan. 22, 1864; Charlie, died July 19, 1867—wife, children, father and sister of Charles W. Wallace (father of Mrs. E. E. Blackwood).
• Mary Kamopiopio, wife of Wm. R. Kaule Lelehe; died Dec. 20, 1865, age 16. (Native of Hawaii.)
• Henry Courtenay; born Oct. 27, 1869, died Sept. 14, 1871; 2 years. (Drowned at Burrard Inlet.)
• Helen Amelia Dallas; born Feb. 20, 1859, died Jan. 24, 1860. (Granddaughter of Sir James Douglas.)
• Barbara, wife of Thomas Mann; age 25 years.
• Mary F. Semple; died Oct. 4, 1866; 1 year 10 months.
• Wm. Honey; died Dec. 3, 1866, age 54 years.
• Caroline Harrey Ewing; died June 3, 1864, aged 45 years.
• Lucinda Mary, wife of Robert Grienslade; died Dec. 6, 1868, age 18 years.
• Harriet, wife of Thomas James; died Oct. 19, 1868, aged 18 years.
• James Wilson Trahey; died Dec. 2, 1868; 38 years.
• Isaac Cameron; died Feb. 6, 1870; 29 years.
• John B. McClearn; died Jan. 29, 1870, age 42.
• Andrew Phillips; died Jan. 24, 1870, age 10 years.
• Bridget, wife of Timothy Roberts; died Nov. 7, 1872, age 40 years.
• John Bowes Thompson; died Aug. 6, 1870, age 49.
• Hy. Francis Lee; died June 22, 1872, age 36 years.
• Charlotte Dandridge; died March 7, 1863, age 70 years.
• B. A. Wolsey. (Erected by her father.)
• Hugh Cavin Walker; died May 16, 1868, age 26 years.
• Freddy, child of J. W. and M. A. Williams; died March 31, 1870, age 4 years.
• Wm. Emery; died May 2, 1871, age 33 years.
• C. A. Schmid; died Nov. 29, 1871, age 48 years.
• Charlotte, wife of John Holden; died March, 1863, age 28 years.

Naval Corner.

• Monument erected to officers and men of H. M. S. Satellite—Daniel Evans, John Stanton, James Butland, John Willmore, Richard Stone, all drowned June 6, 1860; Wm. Brewer, died 1856; John Blackler, died 1859; Wm. Kett, died 1859; Richard Brown, died 1857; William Stout, died 1858; William Bell, died 1858; George Kembery, died 1860.
• Monument to men of H. M. S. Sutlej—George Lush, John Guff, Edward Tiller, Joseph Neckless, died 1863 and 1864.
• Monument to Benjamin Topp, H. M. S. Cormorant; died Oct. 22, 1846, age 40.
• John Miller, H. M. S. Thetis, drowned in Esquimalt harbor June 3, 1852, age 22; W. R. Plummer, H. M. S. Thetis, age 23; James Smith, H. M. S. Thetis, age 31; Charles Parsons, H. M. S. Thetis, age 35—all drowned between Esquimalt and Victoria harbors, Aug. 22, 1852. Note—This headboard is wood, and although nearly 50 years old, is in splendid preservation, painted white with black letters, which stand out as plain as the day they were put on.
• Monument to men of H. M. S. Plumper—James D. Trewin, died June 12, 1858, age 32 years; George Williams, Feb. 4, 1858, age 37 years.
• Monument to William Johnson, H. M. S. Hecate; died Jan. 3, 1862.
• Monument to men of H. M. S. Sutlej; died 1864 and 1866—Thomas Depnall, John Reese, George Crute, William Douglas, Albert Gilbert, Alexander Borthwick.
• Monument to men of H. M. S. Tribune, 1865.
• Chief Engineer of H. M. S. Sparrowhawk; died 1866.
• Paymaster of H. M. S. Devastation; died 1864.
• Engineer of H. M. S. Topaz; died 1861.
• Commander Robson, of H. M. Gunboat Forward; died 1861, from effects of fall from his horse.
• Engineer Charlton; died 1861. (Accidentally shot himself.)
• Captain John A. Bull, master of H. M. surveying vessel Plumper; died —, 1860, age 27 years.
• Granite monument to Edwin Evans, only son of Rev. E. Evans, D.D., age 20 years.
  I have already given an account of this young man’s death and burial in one of my former reminiscences; how he was drowned off Beacon Hill one December day. He undressed and swam out after a duck he had shot, got caught in the kelp and was drowned, his poor father walking up and down the beach all that night, calling "Edwin! Edwin! My son!" He was buried in a snowstorm, and great sympathy was shown by the public, by the crowds which filled the cemetery that day. Dr. Evans was Methodist minister when the church was built that is now being demolished.
• Monument to Frederick Pemberton, Edward Scott, Eber and Grace, the four children of Bishop Cridge, who all died within two months, from diphtheria, in 1864–5; also his sister, Miss Cridge.
• Jane, aged 47, wife of Thomas Lea Fawcett, and mother of Rowland, Edgar and Arthur Fawcett, the latter of London, Eng.; died January, 1864.
• Thomas H. Botterell; died 1866, age 27 years.
• Eliza A., daughter of George and Isabella Simpson; died 1872, aged 16 years 8 months (sister of George Simpson, H. M. customs.)
• James Murray Yale, chief trader, H. B. Co.; died May 7, 1871, age 71 years.
• Charlotte B., wife of Joseph Corin; died July 12, 1863, age 24 years. (She was the wife of partner of Charles Hayward.)
• Elizabeth Caroline, wife of Edward G. Alston; died January, 1865, age 27 years. (Mr. Alston was registrar-general.)
• Charlotte, wife of John Dutnall (John Dutnall was sexton of Christ Church, and formerly in charge of one of the H. B. Co.’s farms. Has a brother at Albert Head, farming.)
• Antonia Hernandez; died March 22, 1862, age 32 years.
• Henry Proctor Seelie, of London, England; died July 23, 1864, age 24 years.
• Cecil, fourth son of G. T. Gordon; died April 20, 1861, age 5 years 4 months.
• Anna Maria, widow of the late William Yardly; died March 5, 1864, age 59 years. (Mother of Mrs. Hy. Wootton.)
• Samuel Hocking; died Sept. 15, 1862, age 37 years 8 months.
• Louis Richards, native of Cornwall; died Oct. 21, 1872, age 21 years.
• James Brown, of Kingston, Canada; died Feb. 9, 1873, age 37 years.
• Alexander Deans; died October, 1858, age 17 months.
• Mary Jane Deans; died July 8, 1868, age 5 years.
• John Spence; died Sept. 29, 1865, age 67 years.
• Mrs. Johnson, wife of J. H. Johnson, engineer H. B. Co. steamer Beaver; died Dec. 22, 1858. (Johnson Street named after him.)
• George Leggatt—headstone is illegible.
• Barbara, wife of Thomas Mann; age 25 years.
• John Miles; died January, 1861; age 35 years.
• William Wallis; died Jan. 3, 1862.
• Ann Sayward; died August 17, 1870, age 46 years. (Mother of Walter Chambers and Joseph Sayward.)
• James Chambers; died Dec. 7, 1859 (father of Walter Chambers), age 38 years.
• Joseph Austen; died July 2, 1871, age 89 years. (A pioneer of 1858, and also of San Francisco, where he was a prominent member of the "vigilance committee." When he was made a judge, sentenced men to death during the stirring times of the early fifties in that city.)
• John Parks; died June 6, 1862, age 27 years.
• Millicent Page, wife of William Page; died Feb. 19, 1864, age 55 years.
• Kenneth Nicholson; died Nov. 10, 1863, aged 35.
• John Sparks, killed by explosion on steamer Cariboo, Aug. 2, 1861, age 28 years.
• John Murray; died May 6, 1872, age 44 years.
• William Henry Downes; died June 17, 1872, age 47 years.
• Thomas, son of W. H. and A. J. Huxtable; died Feb. 8, 1869, age 4 years 9 months.
• Anne, wife of Joseph H. Brown; died Aug. 16, 1871, age 31 years.
• Jos. H. Brown; died July, 1869, age 39 years.
• William and Edith, two children of William B. and Eliza Townsend; died in 1868 and 1871. (William B. Townsend was mayor of Westminster.)
• Hannah, second daughter of John and Christiana Kinsman; died Feb. 26, 1865, age 7 years. (Daughter of the late Alderman Kinsman.)
• Agnes Laumeisler; died Sept. 4, 1861, age 36 years.
• Cecil Montague, second son of W. A. G. Young; died June 22, 1865, age 5 years. (Mr. Young was colonial secretary in 1865.)

Roman Catholic Section.

There are very few of the monuments left standing here. Besides those naturally destroyed by time, many have been broken by stones into many pieces.

• Carroll monument.—This, the second largest and costliest in the cemetery, has been very badly used, but it is also one of the oldest. Erected by Ellen Carroll, in memory of her beloved husband, John D. Carroll, died July 11, 1862, age 38; also in memory of her beloved babes, George Washington, born Feb. 22, 1860, died same day; John Thomas, born July 26, died same day; Mary Margaret, born Sept. 29, 1862, and died same day. (Who could blame this bereaved wife and mother if she didn’t long remain a widow?)
• Sosthenes Driard, a native of France, born 1819, died Feb. 15, 1873. (This marble stone was in several pieces, and difficult to read, but I persevered, as he was so well-known a man in early days, as mine host of the Colonial Hotel and afterwards of the Driard House.)
• Marie Manciet; died Oct. —, 1868, age 21 years.
• Mary Hall; died May 31, 1860, age 40 years. (This headboard is one of the best preserved in the cemetery; the black letters stand out as clear and bright as if just executed, but the white paint has nearly disappeared.)
• W. L. Williams; died Dec. 17, 1862, age 20 years.
• Jane Forbes; died July 22, 1859, age 26 years.
• John Clarke; died Dec. 27, 1860, age 31 years.
• James Farrelly; died Jan. —, 1866, age 28 years.
• Maria Ragazzoni; died —, 1864.
• Marie Newburger, died —, 1861, age 12 years.
• Dr. N. M. Clerjon; died Feb. 25, 1861; age 53 years.
• To the memory of my darling little Eva, who died July 14, 1863, age 7 years and 5 months; also her infant brother, age 3 days. J. S. Drummond (on a large flat stone.)
• Charles H. Blenkinsop, H. B. Co.; died March 22, 1864.
• Sacred to the memory of John Wood, from his wife—1864. Note—This is one of the best preserved headstones and enclosures in the cemetery, the latter being of iron, and 43 years old. My friend, Mr. Higgins, in his book "The Mystic Spring," gives the story of this clever actor, and his wife also, so I will not enlarge on it.
• John Sparks, age 28 years; killed by the explosion of steamer Cariboo, Aug. 2, 1861.
• Smith Baird Jamieson, killed by the explosion of steamer Yale—April, 1861; Archibald Jamieson, and James Baird Jamieson, killed by the explosion of steamer Cariboo in Victoria harbor, Aug. 2, 1861, three brothers, sons of Robert Jamieson, Brodick, Isle of Arran, Scotland.—I refer my readers to Mr. Higgins’ book for the story of these brothers also. I remember the morning of the explosion of the Cariboo. It woke up the whole town. I think her bones lie in the mud alongside Turpel’s ways in Songhees reserve.
• William Alexander Mouat, chief trader H. B. Co.; died April 11, 1871, aged 50 years; also Clarissa Elizabeth, daughter of the above, age 8 years. (Father of Mrs. Richard Jones.)
• Eleanor M. Johnston; died Feb. 27, 1872.
• Elizabeth A. Kennedy; born at Fort Simpson, Nov. 1835, died at Fort Victoria, February, 1850; also Dr. John Kennedy, chief trader, H. B. Co., died 1859, age 52 years; also Fanny Kennedy, age 25 years; James B. Ogilvy, died Dec. 23, 1860, aged 5 years; John D. B. Ogilvy, Victoria Lodge, No. 783, F. & A. M., age 30 years; died May 12, 1865. (Father, mother, daughter and nephew, and Dr. Kennedy had two sons, one master of the Colonial school in 1859, and one clerk in H. B. Co.’s store.)
• William Wright; died July —, 1870, age 53 years.
• John Hender Wood, master of ship Ellen; died May 12, 1868, age 41 years.
• George H. Booth; died Sept. 1, 1867, age 1 year 8 months. (Wood headboard is in good state of preservation.)
• Henry Francis Lee; died June 22, 1872, age 36 years.
• Mary Ann Dougherty; died Sept. 5, 1863.
• Paul Medana; died Nov. 14, 1868.
• James Webster; died Sept. 15, 1862, age 37 years 8 months.
• Millicent Page, wife of Wm. Page; died Feb. 19, 1864, age 55 years.
• Kenneth Nicholson; died Nov. 10, 1863, age 35 years.
• Charles Dodd (Chief Factor H. B. Co.); died June 2, 1860, age 52 years.
• Eleanor M. Johnston; died June 2, 1860.

Victoria’s First Cemetery.

The finding of the skeletons in the excavation of Johnson Street this week, recalls the last find nearby, a few years ago, in laying waterpipes on Douglas Street, and I find, in referring to an article I wrote five years ago on clippings from the Victoria Gazette, Victoria’s first newspaper, that "the Council have ordered the removal of the bodies from the cemetery on Johnson Street to the new cemetery on Quadra." I can well remember seeing this removal; the bones where the bodies were not entire being thrown into carts, and taken to the Quadra Street Cemetery. I might state that with the exception of a few Hudson’s Bay Company’s employees, those buried there were men from Her Majesty’s fleet at Esquimalt. This may seem a long time ago for vessels of war to be at Esquimalt, but by the tombstones in Quadra Street Cemetery, I find there were some of the seamen from H. M. S. Cormorant buried in 1846. One of these was Benjamin Topp, and also John Miller, of H. M. S. Thetis, who were drowned in Esquimalt harbor; also W. R. Plummer, James Smith, and Charles Parsons, all drowned between Esquimalt and Victoria, August 22, 1852; also James D. Trewin and George Williams, February 4th, 1858. These were all removed to Quadra Street the following year.

CHAPTER XVI.

PIONEER SOCIETY’S BANQUET.

Some Reminiscences.

On the 28th April, 1871, or forty-one years ago, a meeting was held in Smith’s Hall, which was situated in the building now occupied by Hall and Gospel on Government Street. The meeting was called to organize a society of the pioneers of British Columbia, and especially of Victoria. Among those present, and one who took a prominent part in its work, was William P. Sayward. By the death of this pioneer I am the sole remaining member of those who founded the society. By Mr. Sayward’s death this city and province loses a man whom any city would be proud of. Knowing him as I had from boyhood, I can speak feelingly. He was one of the kindest-hearted men, a man who had no enemies that I ever heard of, but hosts of friends. Who ever went to him for charity and was refused? Who ever asked forgiveness of a debt and was repulsed? Although he was victimized many times, in his case virtue was its own reward. From small beginnings, when the lumber business was first started on Humboldt Street, on the shores of James Bay, to the present time, the Sayward business has gone on prospering, having been built on a firm foundation by a kindly and honest man, who in February, 1905, passed from our sight to a better life. The society elected as its first officers the following: President, John Dickson; vice-president, Jules Rueff; treasurer, E. Grancini; secretary, Edgar Fawcett; directors, W. P. Sayward, H. E. Wilby, Alexander Young, and Sosthenes Driard. Long may the society continue. Mr. Sayward’s son, Joseph, has since his father’s death disposed of the business, of which he became the owner, to a large corporation, and has retired from business, one of our wealthy men.

Nothing better illustrates what I feel to-day, as the last of the charter members who met together at Smith’s Hall, on Government Street, over Hall & Gospel’s office, on the 28th April, 1871, than the following lines from my favorite poet, Thomas Moore:

I have applied this to my visit to Smith’s Hall, of which I shall tell you. Since the death of my old friend, William P. Sayward, some months ago, I have reflected often on the fact that I was the last of that little band. The other night I woke up, and remained awake for some time; and my thoughts wandered to pioneer days, and from that to the gathering of pioneers this year, which, I understood, was to be a more extended gathering than usual. I thought I should like to be there for the sake of old times, but could not make up my mind to brave the disagreeable weather at this time of year.

After considering the matter, I decided to write, if I did not go; and, further, I decided to pay a visit to Smith’s Hall first. So next morning I called on Mr. Kinsman, who kindly showed me upstairs, and over the old place. I might well say, "the old place," for it looked old and deserted, like the banquet hall spoken of by Moore.

With my mind’s eye I pictured the scene of thirty-five years ago—I was at the hall early, being enthusiastic on the subject, and noted each well-known face as the guests came up the stairs and took their seats, until about forty had collected.

There was Thomas Harris, who had been the first mayor of the city. He was very stout, and complained of the exertion in climbing up the stairs, which was passed off as a joke, of course.

There was Major McDonell, a retired army officer; Robert H. Austen, a pioneer of San Francisco, whose uncle, Judge Austen (an early resident), had been a prominent member of the "vigilance committee" of San Francisco in the early fifties, when men were tried by that committee, condemned to death, and hanged, as I myself was a witness to on two occasions.

There was William P. Sayward, the father of Joseph Sayward, and one of the best men Victoria ever produced; Patrick McTiernan, a well-known business man; Captain Gardner, one of Victoria’s pilots; Henry E. Wilby, father of the Messrs. Wilby of Douglas Street, who was Portuguese Consul, and a resident of Esquimalt; Jules Rueff and E. Grancini, both Wharf Street merchants; Andrew C. Elliott, a barrister, and afterwards premier of the province; Honore Passerard, a Frenchman and property holder of Johnson Street; Robert Ridley, who claimed he was the original "Old Bob Ridley" who crossed the plains to San Francisco in ’49; Felix Leslonis, the Hudson’s Bay Company’s cooper, who was a Frenchman, and used to sing a song called "Beau Nicolas" at charity concerts, and usually brought down the house.

There was S. Driard, another Frenchman, and proprietor of the Driard House, and who being, like Mayor Harris, very corpulent and asthmatic, complained, like him, of the "upper room"; James Wilcox, the proprietor of Royal Hotel, now proved to have been the "second" brick hotel built in Victoria; William Spence, a contractor, and after whom Spence’s Rock was named; John Dickson, the tinsmith and hardware man of Yates Street—a quiet, goodhearted man, an American; James Lowe, a Wharf Street merchant, of Lowe Bros.; Frank Campbell, of "Campbell’s Corner"—genial, goodhearted Frank, a man without an enemy; Thomas L. Stahlschmidt, of Henderson & Burnaby, Wharf Street merchants, and father of Mr. Stahlschmidt, of R. Ward & Co.

There were Robert Burnaby, already mentioned; J. B. Timmerman, accountant and real estate agent, a Frenchman; Benjamin P. Griffin, mine host of the Boomerang, who had been a friend of my father’s in Sydney, Australia, and was accountant in a bank there; and lastly, your humble servant, who was secretary of the meeting. There were others present, but they did not see fit to become members, among them being Ben Griffin.

As I said before, they passed in review before me as I stood there thinking; and to-day I think no one lives to tell the tale of that gathering.

I am fully in accord with the suggestion that there be a reunion of all pioneers of early Victoria; but I think it should be in the summer, when as many as possible could be there, and it might be made very interesting by a recital of the personal recollections of those present. I should like to hear Mr. Higgins, for I am sure he has not yet told all he knows of the early history of Victoria.

CHAPTER XVII.

VICTORIA DISTRICT CHURCH.

I read with a great deal of pleasure the article on Christ Church by Canon Beanlands. These reminiscences of former days in Victoria have a charm for me that is not easy to describe. More particularly is this the case in the present instance, as my very earliest recollections of this fair city are connected with Victoria District Church. My mother was a devout church woman, and I attended her in her frequent and regular attendance. She encouraged me to join the choir as a boy in 1861 and taught me music, and my first position in the church in connection with its musical services was as organ blower. I afterwards took my seat with the adults, singing treble, then alto and tenor, and I have now the treble score of several anthems copied by myself at that time.

I shall now describe the church as I remember it in 1859 and 1862. The inside was an oblong square. The entrance was at the south-west corner, and there was a gallery across the west end, where the old organ and the choir were then situated. Under this gallery were pews, one of which was occupied by our family. The vestry was at the south-west corner, and had entrance from under the gallery as well as from outside. The inside of the building was lathed and plastered. There was a low tower at the south-west corner, dovecote shaped, where the pigeons made their nests and brought forth their young. There were two bells in the tower, one larger than the other, which when rung sounded ding-dong, ding-dong three times a day, morning, afternoon and evening of Sunday, and also Wednesday evenings. A plan shows a square contrivance opposite the entrance. This was Governor Douglas’ pew, and was occupied by the Governor and his family regularly each Sunday morning. He walked down the aisle in his uniform in the most dignified manner, and led the congregation in the responses in an audible voice. By the plan an organ and choir are shown in the gallery as well as one in the chancel, but the dates 1859 and 1862 explain that in 1862 there was a new organ, and the old one removed, and the gallery done away with. It was in this gallery my services commenced as organ blower, and the only one I can now remember as singing in the choir at that early date was John Butts, a young man lately from Australia. He had a nice tenor voice, and was very regular in attendance for some time, until he fell from grace. He was the town crier afterwards and a noted character. Mr. Higgins speaks of him in the "Mystic Spring."