Some Reminiscences of old Victoria

by Edgar Fawcett

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:

". . . Physicians were in vain;
Till Christ did please to give her ease, release from all her pain."

• 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.