Victoria History

In honour of International Women’s Day on Friday March 8, it seems fitting to feature Victoria print maker Pat Martin Bates. An excerpt from Sensational Victoria: At 85, Pat Martin Bates is still strikingly beautiful. The day I visit her she has a scarf wrapped around her dark hair and she’s wearing a jacket full… Continue reading International Women’s Day: Meet Pat Martin Bates

Some of my favourite pictures in Sensational Victoria are the then and now ones in James Bay. There’s a fabulous archival shot of Carr House on Government Street taken in 1869 and a current photo that doesn’t look all that much different—143 years later. Another find is of the Queen Anne house on South Turner… Continue reading James Bay – Then and Now

Ever stood in front of an old house and wondered what went on inside those walls? Who lived there, how they lived their lives and what events happened behind the front door? I admit it’s a weird kind of voyeurism, but I’ve spent a lot of the last decade skulking around in people’s hedgerows asking… Continue reading House Stories

This photograph of the three little boys in their cowboy suits that appears on the cover of Sensational Victoria is one of my favourite pictures in the book. It’s not just because the little boy in the middle grew up to be David Foster, record producer, composer, songwriter and arranger—but because it’s such a great… Continue reading The House that Fostered David Foster

As a journalist it always fascinates me where my colleagues find their passions. For me it’s how people connect with their houses, for Tom Hawthorn it’s their deaths. And, while some of the people featured in Deadlines: obits of memorable British Columbians are well known, most often it’s the ordinary life that’s the quirkiest and… Continue reading Deadlines–obits of memorable British Columbians

On October 23, 1918– six years after the sinking of the Titanic—the SS Princess Sophia sailed out of Skagway, Alaska. Four hours later the ship slammed into a coastal reef killing all aboard. These men and women formed the backbone of the North and it was a devastating tragedy for the Pacific Northwest. More than… Continue reading The Sinking of the Princess Sophia

Five amazing women who put their stamp on BC in unique ways. There is more information about them in At Home with History, Sensational Victoria and Sensational Vancouver, and in the books listed below. Capi Blanchet (1891–1961)   Capi Blanchet was found dead in 1961, slumped over her typewriter while writing a sequel to The Curve of… Continue reading Five Amazing Women of BC

June 13, 2013: Update from Carole Witter: “Sadly we could not negotiate saving the house.  The owner was in such a rush to take it down and now the empty lot sits barren with no sign of any development.  Very disappointing. We did however manage to rescue much of the folk art which is now stored… Continue reading Saving the Swallowed Anchor

See the full story in Sensational Victoria: Bright lights, red lights, murders, ghosts and gardens The first time I call Susan Musgrave at her home in Haida Gwaii, she can’t talk because she’s cooking dinner for John Vaillant, author of The Golden Spruce. The second time I call, she’s busy vacuuming, but is kind enough… Continue reading The Poet and the Tree House

Louis the celebrity parrot inherited a three-storey mansion and managed to stave off development for 17 years, before the estate succumbed to “progress” and was bulldozed to make way for the Chateau Victoria Hotel in 1966.

Sylvia Holland was the first registered female architect in British Columbia. After her husband died, she took her two children and moved to Los Angeles where she worked for Universal Studios and later MGM as a background artist. Walt Disney hired her as one of his first women animators. See the full story in Sensational… Continue reading Sylvia Holland (1900-1974)

See the full story in Sensational Victoria: Bright lights, red lights, murders, ghosts and gardens When I was mapping out a walking tour of James Bay for Sensational Victoria not too long ago, I came across the Coach House, an early carriage-style residence tucked away at the point where Marifield Avenue runs into St. Andrews… Continue reading The Coach House

When Gwen Cash went to work for Walter Nichol at the Vancouver Daily Province in 1917, she was one of the first women general reporters in the country. From a story in Sensational Victoria: Bright lights, red lights, murders, ghosts and gardens Gwen meets Emily Carr: Gwen met Emily Carr when she was sent to Victoria… Continue reading Gwen Cash and the Trend House

Laura West was in her garden one day about two years ago when a family of strangers drove slowly past her house. They rolled down the car window, excused themselves for staring, and told her that their great grandparents had built her house in 1904.

Shahn Torontow has always loved Jonie Mitchell’s song “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” So when a parking lot became available on Steel Street in Victoria, he decided to put up his vision of paradise.

Mark Lindholm is the not so proud owner of the house across from his Westbay Marine Village in Esquimalt. He plans to develop the area into a mixed commercial and residential development and the house came with the land. It also came with a pirate on the roof, a crow’s nest by the front door, a ship’s cannon, anchor, Neptune, a mermaid and a stork made by the house’s owner John Keziere.

The Victoria Heritage Foundation lists over 150 buiildings on its heritage inventory for James Bay. Some day back to the 1860s.

Infighting at The Land Conservancy seems to have reached a crescendo this past week as present and former board members air out their differences in the media.