Kitabı oku: «Some Reminiscences of old Victoria», sayfa 8

• 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:

 
"Oft in the stilly night,
Ere slumber’s chain has bound me,
Fond memory brings the light
Of other days around me.
"When I remember all
The friends so linked together
I’ve seen around me fall,
Like leaves in wintry weather.
"I feel like one who treads alone
Some banquet hall deserted;
Whose lights are fled, whose garlands dead —
And all but he departed."
 

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."

One Sunday morning in 1862 or 1863, while Bishop Hills was preaching, a man walked into the church and cried out, "My Lord, the church is on fire!" Judge Pemberton, one of the officers of the church, with others got on to the ceiling through a manhole above the gallery, and walked on the rafters to where the fire was located. He missed his footing and came through the lath and plaster, but luckily did not fall to the floor below, but, like Mahomet’s coffin, hung suspended by his arms until rescued from above. The congregation were soon outside, and with willing help the fire was soon extinguished. The church was built and opened in August, 1856, under the supervision of Mr. William Leigh, who was in charge of Uplands Farm, Cadboro Bay, and was in the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Mr. Leigh was a man of very good attainments, being a good musician and contributing to the various entertainments of those days, when regular entertainments by professionals were few and far between. He subsequently was City Clerk, being the second to hold that position, after Mr. Nathaniel M. Hicks, who was appointed clerk on the city being incorporated. Mr. Hicks is buried in Quadra Street Cemetery, and his headstone is in evidence to-day as a mute appeal to our city fathers to put the place in order. I might say that Mr. Leigh was the father of a numerous family, but I believe, with the exception of a son, Ernest, who resides in San Francisco, and a granddaughter, Mrs. George Simpson, who resides here, all have passed away.

Victoria District church was destroyed by fire in 1869, one evening about 10 o’clock, the alarm being given by a Catholic priest on his way home, who with Mr. James Kennedy (who lived with me), was passing over the hill. Of the early pioneer clergy connected with the church, Mr. Cridge, the incumbent, was first; then Bishop Hills; the Rev. R. J. Dundas, afterward rector of St. John’s; Rev. Alexander C. Garrett, now Bishop of Dallas, Texas, and Rev. George Crickmer, who subsequently was sent to Langley or Yale.

The organ used up to 1861 or 1862 was situated in the gallery, and had three barrels, each of ten tunes, so that thirty tunes was the limit. Mr. Seeley, who owned the Australian House, which stood until lately at the north end of the Causeway, was an attendant at the church, and being an organ-builder undertook to improvise a keyboard attachment for this barrel organ. This keyboard was used on Sunday mornings and on special occasions by Mrs. Atwood (Mrs. T. Sidney Wilson of St. Charles Street.) At evening services the music was produced by the barrels, worked by a handle, and the writer on these occasions was the "organist." An amusing incident occurred one Sunday evening when I, forgetting the number of verses of a hymn to be sung, stopped playing, and the congregation commenced another verse. Seeing that I had made an error I began again two notes behind. This made confusion worse confounded, as may be supposed, but having commenced I continued to the end of the verse. This being the closing hymn, "Lord, Dismiss Us with Thy Blessing," I was not long in making my exit from the church, as I did not wish to meet Mr. Cridge or any of the church officers, being only a youth and anticipating censure, but I forget if I got it. About this time a committee of ladies of the church, among whom were Mrs. A. T. Bushby, mother of Mrs. W. P. Bullen, and Mrs. Good, her sister, both daughters of the Governor, Mrs. Senator Macdonald, and Mrs. Cridge collected a large sum of money and sent to England for a fine pipe organ which I suppose is the one in use to-day. The first organist of this organ was a Mr. Whittaker, and of the choir, as near as I can remember them, were the Misses Harriet and Annie Thorne, Mrs. T. Sidney Wilson, Mrs. Macdonald and her two sisters the Misses Reid, Dr. J. C. Davie, Alex. Davie, his brother, Mr. Willoughby, Robert Jenkinson, Albert F. Hicks, John Bagnall, my brother Rowland and myself. Mr. Walter Chambers, as a youth, was organ blower also about this time. The first sexton and verger was William Raby, and the next John Spelde, who had charge of the Quadra Street Cemetery, digging the graves and collecting the fees for the same.

I have spun this article out beyond what I intended, but I must be excused as I don’t know when I have said enough on pioneer days.