51.2 | Summer 2018

British Columbia History

Discover British Columbia’s Past!

British Columbia History1 min read
Letters from Readers
Enjoyed your Spring Edition. My grandfather Iver Fougner was in the first graduating class of the Vancouver Normal School and became the first teacher in the Bella Coola valley. Have a photo somewhere of his first teacher’s desk, it was a huge block
British Columbia History2 min read
Recent History
It is interesting to me that the recent history is harder to find. For this issue, I scoured the local archives looking for an image of the Nalley’s plant to no avail. I also poked around looking for images of Nalley’s pickle jars in local collection
British Columbia History4 min readCooking, Food & Wine
Cucumbers, Potatoes, Chinese Market Gardens, and Nalley’s
In the spring of 1965, I became Plant Superintendent for the Pickle and Canning operation of Nalley’s Fine Foods, Vancouver, BC. I had graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1963 with a Bachelor of Science in Food Science and had been e
British Columbia History12 min read
Romantic and Racist Visions of British Columbia The Writing of Hilda Glynn-Ward
In the Victoria Daily Times of October 15, 1966, it was noted that a “well known” city writer had died in Madrid, Spain. In 1964 Mrs. Hilda Howard had left her Victoria residence at 217 Cook Street to live in England. In 1965 she moved again to Spain
British Columbia History4 min read
Endnotes
1. “Well Known City Writer Dies in Spain,” Victoria Daily Times, 15 October 1966, 30. 2. Caro Playfair, “Appreciates Work of B.C. Authoress,” The Daily Colonist, 10 February 1933, 4. 3. “Howard, Hilda (Glynn-Ward),” SFU Digitized Collections, Canada’
British Columbia History10 min read
Kaslo’s Not-so-Famous Six
The result of the Kaslo, BC municipal election was a foregone conclusion. Even before the polls closed on election day, Thursday, January 17, 1918, it was obvious that Kaslo (and possibly the province of British Columbia) would have its first female
British Columbia History8 min read
Unwanted, But Much Loved PRESERVING AND PRESENTING THE TILIKUM IN VICTORIA
Large artifacts that are important to our heritage pose unintended consequences for our communities. Whether they are aircraft, locomotives, boats or other large objects the big question always boils down to “who is going to look after them—and where
British Columbia History2 min read
Endnotes
1. Canvey Island is an Island of seven square miles (18 square kilometres) on the south coast of Essex in the Thames Estuary. The Island is below sea level with beaches to the south and a population of 45,000 living behind fourteen miles (22.4 kilome
British Columbia History5 min read
Vic High and Ice Hockey
In 1911 two ice hockey brothers originally from Montreal, Lester and Frank Patrick, moved to the BC coast with the dream of expanding professional ice hockey to Western Canada. The moderate west-coast climate demanded the creation of artificial ice r
British Columbia History1 min read
The Patrick Family
Known as the “Royal family of Hockey,” Lester and Frank Patrick began their hockey careers playing collegiately while attending McGill University in Montreal. Lester turned professional with the Montreal Wanderers and eventually was traded to the Ren
British Columbia History6 min read
My Mother, My Teacher THE FIRST WOSS SCHOOL
In 1953, when I was five years old, my parents moved the family from Vancouver to teach in an isolated logging camp on Vancouver Island. Named after the river near which the outpost sat, Woss lay deep in the north-central wilds, part of the Mount Wad
British Columbia History4 min read
Telling Our Stories
The wooden bridge at Dewdney greets me with a light thump as I motor eastward from Mission on Highway 7. Dairy farms and blueberry fields weave a captivating quilt on Nicomen Island leaving the urban world in my tail lights. Snow geese glide onto the
British Columbia History3 min read
DOCUMENTING A COMMUNITY The Surrey Leader Photograph Collection
It was a mid-March afternoon in 2017 when staff at the City of Surrey Archives learned of the imminent closure of the Surrey Leader and the potential acquisition of hundreds of thousands of photographs. The Surrey Leader was the main Surrey newspaper
British Columbia History9 min read
A Spring Bonanza
I have compiled a series of short snappers to showcase the bonanza of books that have come across my desk in recent months. From a couple of big, beautiful coffee table books, to a memoir of a lumberman and the chronicles of a union local, to a clutc
British Columbia History3 min read
F.W. Lee Painting Returns to Chilliwack
In 2018 I received a call from Beth McLean, an employee of the Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan. Beth had discovered an original F.W. Lee watercolour painting and she wanted to donate the artwork to our Archives. After donating the piece Beth kind
British Columbia History2 min read
History In Context
The community of Abbotsford was proud to host the Honourable Steven L. Point, then the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, as the chief guest to officially open the first Sikh Heritage Museum in British Columbia located in the ground floor of th

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