Accession Number | Interviewer | ||
Date | Location | ||
Media | cassette tape | Audio CD | mp3 √ |
ID | 106 | Topic | 52 min. |
106_Dorothy-James.mp3
otter.ai
20.01.2023
no
Unknown Speaker 0:00
So you were living where in Victoria and or Vancouver? Oh, the Department of Agriculture was there.
Unknown Speaker 0:06
Well, dad's heart was there he was Mr. Cunningham was he was a member of Parliament at that time. And he was an old friend of the family. And dad was down in. We were in California. And he had been he had a, an orchard approve an apricot orchard down in Santa Clara Valley. And he gone to Stanford and got his
Unknown Speaker 0:41
but he was a Canadian. While he was
Unknown Speaker 0:43
in the he was he, oh, he came out. And as a young man went to the Turner Valley, oh, and had a ranch there with money and Mary's mother. He sold it because mother was one of these petite people who wouldn't take kindly to an Indian come to the door at any point. So they were married, and they went to California. And that's Oh, I see. And then Mr. Cunningham sent for Dad to come up and join the Department of Agriculture. Because of his knowledge, he'd been trained in he'd gone to Stanford. And
Unknown Speaker 1:43
so he was the he was Mr. Coming into the system. And right, and then he was with the department until he died. Oh, retired. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 1:57
What was his field or?
Unknown Speaker 1:59
Well, he it was at that time, he was entomologist, plant pathologist. Anything, they all have general knowledge that he had to have, and he was known as the Chief Inspector of imports and exports. And Vancouver was a small portion. Oh, yeah. And so then as the Department grew that was all divided up in my head. And, and Mr. James was in Victoria. And he had had already cultural training in England. And so he was put on as a fruit inspector, because that was the time they were they were orchards. All in Vancouver. And then the so that was how I met Jack. Oh. When we married after the war, Oh, yes. 22.
Unknown Speaker 3:30
Then they were, they went from the James went from they went to Parker a to James Island. And he was with me that's
Unknown Speaker 3:44
named after you.
Unknown Speaker 3:46
It was the the was St. James club in Victoria. Bought this island and had it as M they turned it into an island farm. And Jack's father was responsible for math and getting organizing and they had quite a few
Unknown Speaker 4:28
must have did they will ring the orchard or
Unknown Speaker 4:31
an orchard and then they shed they grew strawberries. I have a lot of pictures. Well,
Unknown Speaker 4:39
was Norman Wilson over there at one time? Did he work over
Unknown Speaker 4:42
there? Not that I know of.
Unknown Speaker 4:45
No. I heard that they at one time he was there.
Unknown Speaker 4:48
What he made the mannequin, but I don't know what because that was we used to go and visit during summertime.
Unknown Speaker 4:57
Oh, what a lovely place.
Unknown Speaker 5:00
And then in it was taken over by the CIO
Unknown Speaker 5:08
during the war during the war.
Unknown Speaker 5:11
And the J is a James moved about parkerized
Unknown Speaker 5:16
What did he go on? Was his job as a government or did he
Unknown Speaker 5:19
know he was a dad used to get him to go on on the judging
Unknown Speaker 5:30
oh yeah sort of on contract
Unknown Speaker 5:35
Well, nobody was judging the fairs
Unknown Speaker 5:46
so you didn't actually yourself live at Barnes pray because they left the year you were married?
Unknown Speaker 5:51
Yes. Yes, they they sold Minecraft
Unknown Speaker 6:02
in 1917
Unknown Speaker 6:03
Did they find they were just too far from the markets or Well, at that time,
Unknown Speaker 6:07
it was during the war. And Jack was in the Navy. And the episode and Fred cut into the Arnold Arboretum for training. And so they had started the nursery and and see, Roy and so then the they want they had to have space. So at that time, Norman Wilson rented.
Unknown Speaker 6:48
Was he still he still is still actively farming it at that time, though. Was he was Norman still actively farming the BB a
Unknown Speaker 6:56
Norman during the war? I don't know exactly what I know. They were living at Welborn. And then
Unknown Speaker 7:08
so there probably weren't any animals. At Barnes we buy them. He might have just been
Unknown Speaker 7:14
cows and sheep. Sheep, but no, I think they would. Did they belong to the Jamie? Oh, I see whatever. And
Unknown Speaker 7:37
then he asked for it back and 22 Did he Yes.
Unknown Speaker 7:41
22. So then they and the water was a problem there.
Unknown Speaker 7:48
Well, I see. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 7:50
And so then they went out and rented the Fernwood farm from Mr. Lang
Unknown Speaker 7:57
or did they have lots of water there? Or did they have salt water they had salt
Unknown Speaker 8:02
well, and but they did dry farming. It was the horses never stopped pulling machines recovering and keeping a dust small. Yeah, yeah. So then, in 1930, they had they had become quite a big seat business. We had a big mail order and they they wanted more land and more arable land. And so they they bought the the cornfield farm
Unknown Speaker 8:54
I met one of the core fields here last year.
Unknown Speaker 8:55
Oh, one.
Unknown Speaker 8:59
I can't remember her name. They were all friends, the big halls and they came over to see Betty and being home. And of course, I grew up my uncle worked for cornfields in Courtney because one of the boys had a gas station up there for years. So of course my parents both came from Dunkin but they My grandfather was there when the gyms were there but my mother's family had left. They left tonight but 1916
Unknown Speaker 9:35
So how are they were? How long were they at the lions property? 22
Unknown Speaker 9:42
in 19 3008 years, so yes. They went over the moving truck went over on the first theory from from corporate sports bait. Oh through them.
Unknown Speaker 10:06
So where were you living?
Unknown Speaker 10:07
Which house were you in? Well, we, we built a bungalow on the Molang farm for ourselves.
Unknown Speaker 10:15
Is it still there? I think I think it is. That would be the heart of my property now. Yeah, yes.
Unknown Speaker 10:21
I don't know. But they've done away with that. And then we just have the two girls they're about
Unknown Speaker 10:32
to marry. Were they born at the hospital? They were born at the old hospital. Yeah. No, that's where I used to work. Who was your doctor was a doctor southern? Oh, yeah. She was wonderful. I had quite a chat with Jill Milner about her the other day because Mrs. Milner not Mrs. Hardy Jones mother. Yes. I knew her. And while she they went to school together, yes. And then she came over and lived for three years was Dr. Snow. Oh,
Unknown Speaker 11:03
yeah. I remember her without
Unknown Speaker 11:04
this other one. Well, do you remember Dr. Sutherlands? Husband or
Unknown Speaker 11:08
was he? Yes, very much. Oh, because he used to drive her everywhere. Oh, did he? Yeah. He was a very handsome.
Unknown Speaker 11:17
Well, he was never well was he died of TB. No.
Unknown Speaker 11:22
But he looked healthy. And I love dogs. A lot of people didn't like she was so abrupt.
Unknown Speaker 11:32
Well, I think a lot of it had to do with their deafness. Mabel Yes,
Unknown Speaker 11:35
she was, but she was very kind. And Mary had whooping cough, which developed to pneumonia. And I had to nurse her through that. And I had Dar Salam got me to keep a record of her coughing and what she would eat and then even she got to the point where she couldn't eat because she just caught everything.
Unknown Speaker 12:08
That's right this so out to start.
Unknown Speaker 12:11
So I would feed her just by spoonfuls. And it was in midwinter, and they the snow was high and the dogs used to come out but she said she never expected Mary to pull through
Unknown Speaker 12:40
so often starve to death in those days. Yeah, eat no.
Unknown Speaker 12:46
Mr. Director at the time, it was
Unknown Speaker 12:56
it might have been flintham. Clinton.
Unknown Speaker 13:00
Yes, he had. He said, You know, I have goats. And perhaps she could keep some goat milk down because they had it's a small curd. And so he kept kept us supplied with goat's milk. And from then on, I give her a teaspoon at a time. And if there was a turning point, isn't that wonderful? But I I don't know where I kept this record. There. foolscap sheets. And there's there's a an item mom as
Unknown Speaker 13:41
well some mothers used to send them to the hospital because they'd get so exhausted. The mothers would have two other children to look after, but we'd be up all night with these children. Yeah, tragic disease. People now don't realize what a tragic disease it could be dreadful. Just watch some stranded I got
Unknown Speaker 13:58
it. My son never had that. And I got there and I was nursing her I have a temperature of 104
Unknown Speaker 14:08
Was she your only child at the time?
Unknown Speaker 14:10
either? Oh, that was just she was just about what she was just starting to walk or get to was if I could stop and she did. She hooked a couple of times and that was it. She was always such a healthy person
Unknown Speaker 14:31
well, that was lucky. But you did go to hospital you didn't have the babies at home.
Unknown Speaker 14:39
No one was impossible. You stayed there two weeks. Oh, and and I remember that
Unknown Speaker 14:49
was a matron then. You remember Miss Ross or miss Simpson Mauer.
Unknown Speaker 14:57
Officer For the first time
Unknown Speaker 15:08
it changes hands a great deal in the 20s
Unknown Speaker 15:12
Yes. Oh, I forgot
Unknown Speaker 15:22
Miss Bennis was a nurse that
Unknown Speaker 15:24
oh, she had the hospital. Yes. I've often I want to find out her sister. I guess it's their sister. Mrs. Justice in Victoria. Oh, yeah, I mean, justice. Yeah. Was she her sister are nice.
Unknown Speaker 15:38
I don't know. I know that. I know. I remember meeting
Unknown Speaker 15:41
DC ones. Yeah. But she would I don't know where DC trained. Whether it was don't St. Joe's or
Unknown Speaker 15:51
well with Margaret No, Mark Cunningham. No.
Unknown Speaker 15:54
Margaret might marry England.
Unknown Speaker 15:56
Or America. Yeah, very, very scenario with property. And funnily enough, going, going to Toronto one year on the scene CNR. There was a woman and her son onboard, and we got talking and
Unknown Speaker 16:29
say where we've come from? And she said, Why come I came from salt? I was. Her name was Benesse. Oh, for goodness sake. And I was telling Margaret about after it and apparently was a cousin.
Unknown Speaker 16:43
Oh, yeah. There was also this is bad as adopted a child. And Mrs. Stevens who had the boarding houses at the Cunninghams her and she she had up to the sister. The mother died and left two little girls. And one of them was adopted by Mrs. baddest. And the other button is the Stevens. Eva Jenkins. What's the name? And she was the mother of Jimmy Stevens Listen, Ganges. Now. You know, Jimmy students
Unknown Speaker 17:20
know. I'm Justin. I came across a notebook I kept to that trick. And I was just reading it the other day, it's quite fresh in my mind.
Unknown Speaker 17:42
Yes, I won't waste any more time when you when you were at Dunkin or the cornfields. Did you ever meet the Simpsons? The Simpsons who had the Alpine nursery, couch and week? All Yes, we were up there. Oh, are you?
Unknown Speaker 17:58
Yes, please. We remember spending a day there. See
Unknown Speaker 18:04
my parents bought that nursery? Oh, and then took it up to up islands. Royston? Yes. No. That was a fascinating Yes. Unfortunately, somebody just did a history of Duncan and they left her out. Just too bad.
Unknown Speaker 18:20
Well, when the Norcross was, Norcross made it history. She never mentioned the Jamie.
Unknown Speaker 18:30
Did this memories never lost or the James and that one. Came out at the Green Book. It came out about four years ago. What was a good title? Memories never lost?
Unknown Speaker 18:44
No, I don't I don't know that. I'm sure I'll read it was the author. Well,
Unknown Speaker 18:50
it was a group that edited the Historical Society. But do you remember Jack and Shirley green? Who lived here? No. You wouldn't have known them when they were no one. Mr. Bast and the Anglican minister who was here really in the early days before you came? Yeah, that was surely his father.
Unknown Speaker 19:08
Oh, no.
Unknown Speaker 19:12
You're lovely person. They lived here after the war for about 10 years.
Unknown Speaker 19:18
Well, have they been back here recently?
Unknown Speaker 19:21
Probably he comes to the Historical Society occasionally because his grandfather was a surveyor that did a lot of assaults bring in the 1870s That's Jack because they're an old dunkel family. Yeah, so I'll check. They were very instrumental in that book. It might have been before that time, it may be only went up to the First World War. I can't remember
Unknown Speaker 19:54
what it was 1930 and then there were the years old When left during war
Unknown Speaker 20:05
Well, they probably couldn't get help.
Unknown Speaker 20:06
Well, they had the whole book appeals took it after Jack join, tried to join up again. And the he did get in he'd been in the Navy before but he was too old.
Unknown Speaker 20:31
So, he did get into the motor boat section of the Air Force. And then he had a breakdown, I knew he was heading for this because he was he was a workaholic he had an awful breakdown after he was when he got into the Air Force. So he was sitting with us and then he went by this time he had been sales for the for the firm. And then the with the war and that kind of thing everyone you know, upset so backfields bought it so Jack worked with Buck appeals. And he was putting on like, for them to grow seeds for the British Ministry of Food. And so this is when we moved to west bound Vancouver with a headquarters but the whole province was his third home because he had to find they had these huge contracts. Yeah, from Britain. And the working with Washington was well they got these contracts all over the province wherever and so it meant we were we and we had to drive most days. No the roads, anything but they were trails, particularly that Fraser Canyon. And so the whole of the went up to the caribou and in the Okanagan, the Kootenays so we got to know the province pretty well be fun. And so at the end of the war they wanted him to
Unknown Speaker 22:59
BC festival marketing in Kelowna wanted him to join them as their agriculturist so that's what we did. We were there until we had to give up through our health
Unknown Speaker 23:17
you remember you telling me one time that you really hated to come back to Saltspring had you not had a happy time here
Unknown Speaker 23:26
Saltspring was so different. Yeah, you know, conditions were different. And there were a lot of people who were intolerant and unless you were spoke with this dreadful English accent which
Unknown Speaker 23:54
they hear sound like my mother in
Unknown Speaker 23:56
law. They lived in England, or you know, they were their parents were born out here, but they still awful accent and now after you living Vancouver life, have you? I looked back it was pretty gay in another sense of word.
Unknown Speaker 24:31
Well, the Wilsons included.
Unknown Speaker 24:34
And so and then when I was tied down we had the when Jack and I were first married, we were in the major Turner's place.
Unknown Speaker 24:49
Oh, where are you? Yes. Well, we're with the Turner's
Unknown Speaker 24:53
and they had they had a reason we took it all because And the Turner's were up in the Windermere oh four they had the Amish in charge of a resort or something or other up there. And so Mrs. We saw along the Turner's before five so they thought that this would be a good place for a home first. It was and then they but then the the journalists came back. And so we went out to the built this place. Jack have a car to go all the way we had we had no transportation we walked.
Unknown Speaker 25:47
So he walked her to work every day.
Unknown Speaker 25:49
Yes, our house. Our house, he'd get a horse and buggy leader. They had no uh, they have they had horses. I mean, I used to drive well, I have driven one in California I had. My father was quite a horseman. In England, they'd had horses. Yeah. 200 clubs and all the rest of it. My grandfather was master of the hunt. And so I was used to horses but they wouldn't let me ride there was a nice riding horse. there but they used to use this team of horses for for cultivating Oh, no. So they didn't. They didn't want me to ride. They were afraid. My ride. Which was crazy, because
Unknown Speaker 26:54
what how long were you in Turner's house?
Unknown Speaker 26:57
Well, we were there. Mary was about what she wasn't too. There.
Unknown Speaker 27:09
So that's where the house where you were when she had the whooping cough?
Unknown Speaker 27:12
No, no, we were out in Fernwood. Oh, in our very poorly built house.
Unknown Speaker 27:21
had Jack Built it or
Unknown Speaker 27:24
why is it built? They had a they had a mill? As was the at that time they built it from scraps they found on the beach and boats and logs and what have you. But the two younger boy Jim and Harry were real mechanics. They built this mill. And then they were they were cutting as on the side they were cutting ties for singer.
Unknown Speaker 28:01
Oh, were they? Oh, because there were a lot of singer Mills here for a while. I didn't realize well, how would you get those to market down to the war?
Unknown Speaker 28:13
Well, they they should they shipped the singer looked after that.
Unknown Speaker 28:21
Oh, he came and picked them up at the farm taking care of what had most of the farmers if they could where they either cutting shakes or ties
Unknown Speaker 28:30
or something to augment their income
Unknown Speaker 28:32
because there was nothing just to bring a cash crop in a way. That's right. Well, do you remember things being pretty tough financially at that time here?
Unknown Speaker 28:44
Yes. Very tough.
Unknown Speaker 28:47
What were they tougher than they were when you got to dunk them at the height of the Depression
Unknown Speaker 28:51
about eight was better. We were better off in Duncan because we when we bought the farm we had the government had helped us buy the Garfield farm
Unknown Speaker 29:04
because Jack was a veteran.
Unknown Speaker 29:07
No, no, he didn't. He had thought of taking up veterans place Yeah. But then they wanted him to oh, it goes into rather unhappy family relations. Jackie gave up all his privileges they might have had to help the family
Unknown Speaker 29:40
but you did feel financially you are better off when you left the island in spite of it being the worst depression later.
Unknown Speaker 29:47
Well, when we left there, I well it was when we got over there we at least had some money to work with to establish the cause. had to build a C house and office and a house
Unknown Speaker 30:05
or did you get a vehicle in the phone? Oh, we
Unknown Speaker 30:08
had a car? Yes.
Unknown Speaker 30:13
Did you have the mobiola Saltspring?
Unknown Speaker 30:15
No no. But I had my parents had given me a car at the allow the last while they used to bring it over from Vancouver and during the summer, and then they let me have it and I can get back and forth to Vancouver which was
Unknown Speaker 30:42
one of the CPRS votes would be taking your over them Dorothy, do you remember? Well, hey, Mary, I
Unknown Speaker 30:48
started out coming out when we came to power Parker. We used to come over to Parker for the holidays with the jeep and the first one boat we came over on was the Queen City.
Unknown Speaker 31:08
Whenever you're telling me that Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 31:10
And then the author replaced that. And then the island princess and then the the Mary used to come in. In the
Unknown Speaker 31:27
I forgotten the short years. Yeah. And the charmer Oh, lovely.
Unknown Speaker 31:41
And the Royal
Unknown Speaker 31:43
Princess Royal. Yeah. Yeah. Those were they No, I wrote to CPR the other day to see if they had any of the old schedules Did you ever have to have the car lifted onto the deck or?
Unknown Speaker 32:02
No? on the I forget which one was it? But I remember they had put two planks from the front from the war to the boat and about this fight and I had to drive off
Unknown Speaker 32:26
I would have made them what was that going down that rabbit still laying around that round?
Unknown Speaker 32:31
Yes. And then the boards were there. And I remember driving the
Unknown Speaker 32:43
cars about
Unknown Speaker 32:52
I have one of the chill one was a baby was a baby. So but otherwise, we had by that time we had a Maxwell truck on the farm on a hard rubber
Unknown Speaker 33:15
I guess the roads were pretty awful to her
Unknown Speaker 33:19
and very now rats and of course sheep were allowed all over the world.
Unknown Speaker 33:29
I remember we always put our cows on the road every morning I'm dead went to work because it was good grass on it
Unknown Speaker 33:43
where were you farming to as well as doing the seeds. And when you were on Saltspring
Unknown Speaker 33:48
no it was straight for everstream seeds. Well they did have another asset they had Mr. Lang he had this had the cattle we looked after the he had a hurt there a dairy herd or dairy herd and they were about 14 cows. In those days they had to be milked it
Unknown Speaker 34:13
wasn't the only machines and the milk got to the creamery wants to or
Unknown Speaker 34:18
yes
Unknown Speaker 34:21
yes
Unknown Speaker 34:21
well that was part of the deal when you rented the place was it that you would look after the cat yes it well.
Unknown Speaker 34:27
We took over the whole we just over the farm and
Unknown Speaker 34:31
where did the lines go
Unknown Speaker 34:32
while they stayed in their house? Oh, and they the James were in that other house a new house had been built it was new at that time. Very nice plastic house
Unknown Speaker 34:47
and had a huge fireplace and I was sorry to see that they had just let that go. Oh yes. Oh yours going there first came back I was just sick when I went out
Unknown Speaker 35:02
to shoot never go back to go out there. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 35:09
They had just let everything go. And the lens helps.
Unknown Speaker 35:16
What was headed after you left, you know who had it after you left? Because the Harkness didn't cover that.
Unknown Speaker 35:24
Well, the Mackenzies
Unknown Speaker 35:25
Oh, that's right. Well, he left the creamery gold who didn't? Uh, yeah,
Unknown Speaker 35:31
well, I think he was he was the one starving not to go because that farm was in beautiful condition.
Unknown Speaker 35:43
No, he had a farm manager, Eric, Eric and joy. And Eric's father was with the ministry. And I thought they went up to Kelowna after that. I can't think of their name a very nice young couple, but he was working for Mr. McKenzie. And I'm sure he would have known him.
Unknown Speaker 36:10
Well, I don't know after we left, but
Unknown Speaker 36:12
you would have known them in Kelowna. Oh, in Kelowna, although you came here about them.
Unknown Speaker 36:20
When I when would they have been there?
Unknown Speaker 36:23
They were there when? Oh, I would say 48. He managed it for a few years.
Unknown Speaker 36:28
Yes. Well, I wouldn't never know. Because 48 We were over and we were up in Kelowna. Because we were in West van from from 41 to 46. Oh. And then when 46 we build a home and we were there 14 years.
Unknown Speaker 36:57
Now that was a shame that McKenzie let it go.
Unknown Speaker 37:01
Yes, it was. Apparently they had the neighbors thought that Mackenzie's were wonderful people.
Unknown Speaker 37:16
Well, that had been the old booth farm heaven. Yes. And then before that it has been since Griffis Yeah, it had been brims. That's right. Because Griffis and Brynn had had it before and started the orchard. Yes. Were there any of those old trees left when you were there? Yes.
Unknown Speaker 37:32
There were a lot of there was a wonderful orchard there. And
Unknown Speaker 37:43
because those trees go back right to the beginning of Saltspring.
Unknown Speaker 37:46
Yes, they do. Among the first trees planted
Unknown Speaker 37:52
because there was a star out there. He sold nursery
Unknown Speaker 37:58
the first nursery Yeah, Mr. Bags? Yes.
Unknown Speaker 38:03
And I think actually it was bags and then breakfast and Britain bought it from bag and then Griffith some Britain it was taken over by Mrs. GRIFFIS when her husband died and yes, and then she remarried. I don't know whether the lat I think the LEAs bought it somebody by the name of Le GH from the booths. And then probably the lens bought it from the LEAs. Because there's a funny little thing and Mr. Wilson story about Mrs. Lee being a very odd lady she goes about with a cross cut saw over her shoulder
Unknown Speaker 38:45
by the way, when is that book coming out?
Unknown Speaker 38:48
Well, our first draft we've done I mean, the one about the Wilsons Oh, I don't know That's Tony far doing now. Yeah, I know. And I think he got in was the very the wrong publisher. I don't know I would have
Unknown Speaker 39:03
well I know I hate from
Unknown Speaker 39:07
I think a lot of people I don't
Unknown Speaker 39:11
I can't believe I was asking told me the other day about Adobe and he said it was
Unknown Speaker 39:18
well you know, he was having trouble with his photographer so I got this surely greener over who had been surely best. And she was a photographer in the Air Force and I knew she had done all the photographs of this book on at Dunkin so she got all that straightened away but I you know, I saw I don't count think what's holding him up now. I think he just didn't pick a good publisher or a good editor or something.
Unknown Speaker 39:51
When you have the nursery or with the seed fund, you have much trouble with deer. Were up at the north end or No we had no problems with deer you didn't you have dogs
Unknown Speaker 40:03
were some around the you know there was a shooting but they were all down at South they were and we had no business where our fencing crows
Unknown Speaker 40:16
What about Blue Jays? Were
Unknown Speaker 40:17
they a problem? Yes to a point when it came certain crops yeah
Unknown Speaker 40:22
but they were more into nuts
Unknown Speaker 40:24
I remember when we were living in the Turner place I remember there were there were two or three King apple trees just a load of these wretched j's and come and pick
Unknown Speaker 40:40
us up so they wouldn't keep Yes well I used to be a bounty on them here apparently
Unknown Speaker 40:46
on the Blue Jays yeah well they because when we first came back here I didn't see anything there back again
Unknown Speaker 40:53
now Oh yes. I had enough tree
Unknown Speaker 40:57
well I do this this year they got after the long months of course the crows get after but they talked about Blue Jays when the greens were living over here. Do you remember Sydney? Pollack?
Unknown Speaker 41:19
Yeah they were living
Unknown Speaker 41:23
over where doors Myka Berlin and Sydney went out one day and found a pile of walnuts under under a tree over their place. And apparently this blue jay had been taking them from here and there because this was the only barrier entry
Unknown Speaker 41:44
for quickness well somebody said you grew seeds around
Unknown Speaker 41:49
two contracted seats when we were living here because
Unknown Speaker 41:54
this was after for when you came back No No Oh this was already
Unknown Speaker 41:59
well the reason we bought this place was because yes, they had the James had contracted seeds growing seeds out and this was one of the places they the crop
Unknown Speaker 42:15
was this when they were Wilson Barnsbury or
Unknown Speaker 42:19
when they were at Oh yeah.
Unknown Speaker 42:22
Any other places they contracted out to
Unknown Speaker 42:25
oh, I forgotten there was their workplaces but they didn't have to do too much but this was this was one there were pictures of this just to feel
Unknown Speaker 42:43
good you eventually buy it from the bitten courts or what this property here
Unknown Speaker 42:49
oh no no this this property has been
Unknown Speaker 42:57
I know the English has had the point
Unknown Speaker 42:59
that they had they had from the gate down here oh yeah the whole point. When we first came in Oh yeah 96 about 17 was the first year here and mother used to rent the
Unknown Speaker 43:17
one of the cottages or the
Unknown Speaker 43:18
cottage down here that Miss Mills oh oh yeah. And we
Unknown Speaker 43:33
know this property was
Unknown Speaker 43:37
wasn't part of the hierarchies was it at all?
Unknown Speaker 43:40
No, it was all divided up. The chaplains own this they had a registered ROP chicken farm and grew raised Plymouth Rock BB rock and he used to ship he had quite a business here and he used to ship a lot of the all over
Unknown Speaker 44:10
the chicks not the check.
Unknown Speaker 44:15
And then the they on in 17 the there was this other cottage that was moved later. Oh, why did you move? Oh yeah.
Unknown Speaker 44:37
And that was that was moved up there when the pikes wanted to build here. But before that, that college and the high Nikki's were living in first came back from the war she My mother was a war bride
Unknown Speaker 45:03
in English. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 45:06
I remember Ruth and her sister the cutest little tots with these bright red cheeks, and dark, that's cut air
Unknown Speaker 45:23
and this place here was field and where that this house is where the phrases are. There was it was all just a rock and dry grass. My sister and I used to use a board sliding down. I never did I dream we'd ever live here with a garden. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 45:47
Well, it's amazing what you could do. Was there much of a garden? Can you remember? Barnsbury? By them?
Unknown Speaker 45:53
Yes. They had loved it. It was a lovely garden.
Unknown Speaker 45:57
She was a good gardener. Yes.
Unknown Speaker 45:59
No, they had while Mrs. Wilson was a garden. Oh, yeah.
Unknown Speaker 46:05
lovely person. Yes, she was. Can't think why she ever married Norman. I can't think why she ever married normal.
Unknown Speaker 46:17
No, so different. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 46:24
Anyway, I must be getting home and let you get on with your lunch. No,
Unknown Speaker 46:29
no, it's nice to have a chat with you.
Unknown Speaker 46:33
Well, it's, you know, there's so much rubbish around about the island. And it's just so silly to get it incorrectly when there's still people around the constraint in it. Oh, yeah, I know. I was talking to Ruth and Iris about the bitten courts. And she said, I don't know who started this silly rubbish about dour houses. But they were dour houses. They were for rent. So they could make a bit of money.
Unknown Speaker 47:05
Well, apparently they the first star we are they build it further. They may have or there is daughters.
Unknown Speaker 47:17
I know the layer. It's the old layers. kernel and this is layered. The we're Dawn layer. It's grandparents. Yeah. They rented one of them. Oh, probably 19. Six while their house was being built across the canal. I think you know, again, it was just anyway to make an extra little
Unknown Speaker 47:41
cash crop. Yeah, well, that was it. There is no government.
Unknown Speaker 47:48
I remember when my parents started I had an ice cream parlor on our front porch. And you know, there was always something to try and make some money
Unknown Speaker 48:05
what's happened to your your mother's?
Unknown Speaker 48:09
Are most of them. You see she had sold. When my dad was not well, in 65, they sold most of the nursery to the city of Vancouver. Yes. And so most of it is in Van Dusen or in Stanley Park. But she kept all her stock plants. And then when she was getting well up in her 80s and they were getting really beyond her. She invited UBC and UVic and ship given 1000 clients to UBC before them. She invited them at UBC first because she preferred them to take anything they wanted. So they came in and took out a lot of already 1015 years ago. And then you Vic could have anything they wanted. And the rest are still there. They're largely
Unknown Speaker 49:04
largely someone in charge, you
Unknown Speaker 49:06
know, it's been sold now. They were largely unknown hybrids. Because when they first started importing from Britain in the 30s they would have all been pollinated in the West without doing hand pollinating so that they were nearly all turned out to be crosses and they would wait 1015 years for this wonderful white rotor dinner and a blooming come out pink. And so that they found that in England they weren't at that time hand pollinating and then putting bags over the balloons and everything so that everything was untrue. So that a lot of those are still there and some of them are very good but they are definitely processed. They're not what they were sort of they were bought as
Unknown Speaker 49:57
well when using you all the hundreds of variety So,
Unknown Speaker 50:01
oh yeah. What she did mostly in what she enjoyed doing most of my mother was buying wild collected seeds from the big Rhododendron expeditions, and then growing her own things from seed, and then she knew they were true. But even then, there was a lot of variation even in the wild. And she would maybe grow 40 have a Thomson eye or something. And she would just keep maybe three of the best. Yeah, and the rest of them she would put down on the road to learn anybody that picked up that wanted them. And of course,
Unknown Speaker 50:35
he said usually the cows ate them because nobody wanted to know there's some lovely or things in the garden, but it's
Unknown Speaker 50:47
really a very little interesting set. There's a wonderful, great big Acer Grissom, it's supposed to be the biggest NBC. That's lovely. Where was your mother's was about four miles south of Courtney and Royston Emery on the water so that when they bought this nursery of The Simpsons, which was an Alpine nursery, which was what they both really liked, they just had a terrible time it was too.
Unknown Speaker 51:42
Coach and leader Saturday August 5 1905 CPR officials and party pastor Duncan on Wednesday evening train the party consisted of Superintendent Marple and several others. They had two automobiles with them on the train from which they transferred to the SS Joan Nymo, which immediately sailed for Komatsu after having gone up beyond as far as the Comox Valley they intended taking the road back to Nanaimo in their autos. Automobiles caused quite a flurry of excitement in the first scene and the core city. Carrington leader August 19 1905. Mr. Castlereagh an interview regarding the Saltspring on cable phone thinks that business will be good over this line as soon as the fact is made known that the line is in good order, which expects will be in a very short time now.