Craigflower School House.
With respect to what has appeared in the paper lately re "Craigflower School House," the following may be interesting:
In early days (1856) Rev. Edward Cridge held services at stated times in the school house, and later on services were held regularly by the chaplains of H.M. ships stationed in Esquimalt harbor, and later on by Rev. (now Bishop) Garrett and Rev. C. T. Woods.
I quote from Mr. Cridge’s diary, which is mentioned in his Christmas story of "Early Christmas in Victoria," that on August 24th, 1856, he held a religious service in the school house with Mr. Cook, the gunner, and Mr. Price, midshipman of H. M. S. Trincomalee.
In the Victoria Gazette of August, 1858, Rev. Edward Cridge, acting for the Governor, examined the pupils and presented the prizes to the following: Jessie McKenzie, William Lidgate, Christine Veitch and Dorothea McKenzie.
The first master of the school was J. Grant; the second Claypole, and afterwards Pottinger, Newbury and Pope.
With respect to the building itself, I might say that it was built under the direction of Mr. McKenzie, of Craigflower. The lumber used in its construction was manufactured from fir trees on the ground in a mill built by mechanics sent out from England.
The residence of the late Mr. McKenzie, which stands to the west of the Craigflower bridge, was also built of lumber sawn in this mill, and not of redwood imported from California, as stated lately. There are several men and women living to-day who attended this school in the early sixties.
