2A_Hamilton-Bea-Ina_Davis-Mabel_SSLife-part1.mp3

otter.ai

20.01.2023

no

Unknown Speaker 0:00
got a list here very long. We came over here on the 16th of June at 97. Yes, we came from Victoria oak Bay and we came on the tugboat alert. My father and mother and eight children. And we towed to scouse, one scow had all our furniture and worldly belongings. The second scow had the material for building your new home. It was quite rough going around trial island I remember on the water came in the cabin. And the captain or the mace came and said to my father, I remember that don't let any children outside it's going to be pretty choppy, and it was choppy then. And then when we reached Fulford harbour out here, about out there. It was sort of early evening, where the captain said to my father, I think you better try and bunk down here for the night because it's too late to start taking your things ashore. You'd never get settled and put all his family to bed before it was dark. So we did. And I couldn't sleep. I was so uncomfortable. My father said, What's the magic? I said, No, it's awfully hard. something hurts me here. So he investigated and found that I was lying under under black, it was seven sticks of dynamite. Well, of course, I didn't know that without the cap. It wasn't dangerous, but I got quite afraid. The next morning, they gave us breakfast. And they landed us by rowboat down near that rock the point. And we walked from the round to here. There were no road there then it was just a narrow trail. And we walked through these beautiful woods. But the road had just been made as far as this place just because my father bought this land, you see? Well, at any rate in those days, the woods were still beautiful. There were masses of wildflowers of all kinds. And almost the first thing we struck was the ravine down there, where there's a creek running in the center. And the banks were simply message this beautiful way. maidenhair ferns, I'd never seen one before. But I'd heard I remember being so excited. I said maidenhair ferns meeting. And then when we came here, we found there was just one building on the place. It was a square log house. And so we had to bunk down in that while they built our chicken house for a month. Then we moved to the chicken house. And we lived there for about a year while our house was being built not this one, but the old one. And however, I don't know whether I should tell this or not. We found that there was more company in that log house. And we really had anticipated. There were various kinds. There was lice, to please on our bed bugs. And I remember it took us two years to rid ourselves of all this unwelcome company which we did manage in the end. And of course there are lots of Indians here then, is an Indian reserve just across the it's still there. And a lot of the Indians lived on it. But they used to come here through the fine weather. And they have camps, quite elaborate camps. And they dig clams and catch the fish and smoke the cams. It's stringing them on strings and hang them up. You're all on these terrorists, sort of lattice works. And they did always about the middle of May, they'd be collecting up this stuff, because some chief from one of the big tribes would be giving a Potlatch that was quite a quite a business. I believe my sister can tell you more about that than I can. And the there was plenty of fish in those days, the waters were full of fish. We never came in empty handed. There was always fish in season. And now and again, spring salmon weighing over 80 pounds would be caught. But the average would be around 18 or 20 or 30. And I remember the Indians coming in soon after we were here with lots of salmon in their canoes. And my father bought 120 pound salmon for 50 cents. And they all had these dugouts dug out of cedar logs. My brothers did those after we all use the dugouts then, but to make them safer. They had outriggers and so that we could grow some of them we paddled. I loved the paddle. And what should I say them? Anything more about the Indians? Yes, lots about the Indians. They used to how they used to get the ducks was they string out along right across the harbor, perhaps a dozen or two dozen canoes at a time. That'd be Tuesday behind on one right behind these that were behind with a pickup easy to pick up the ducks that had dropped behind them. And they they use muzzle loaders, chiefly, and bows and arrows with all of using bows and arrows to shoot their birds with. And the birds then the geese would be down in the middle of the harbor. And the ducks and divers and other birds would be on either side right up to the beaches. And where there were hundreds of 1000s of birds in those days. There are perhaps a dozen today. You can imagine, you can imagine the sound when anything came along rather disturbing the sound when it got up. It's hard to imagine it's something you'll have to hear to know. Quite different. And, of course, when we came here, we found lots of Indian curios. I think there were mittens round here, you can send the damn shells. Lots of time shell here. I know the potatoes used to get scaly. And we were told it was too much lime and the soil through the Indians digging clams and leaving the shells. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 6:20
Anything else? I got lots more.

Unknown Speaker 6:25
Just go ahead.

Unknown Speaker 6:31
Yes. Oh, I might say that. The trees were very large when he came here. Douglas fir and cedars. Today the logs are getting out looked like much wood compared with them. And they told us that the place had been logged in. And I think it had been because we could see the old old logs but we're even so much larger than those that were already standing. And they said always been dogged. And still they came a dogged. Every few years they'd log and they're still logging. When How long is it going to keep up? I don't know.

Unknown Speaker 7:13
Oh, yes, in the 1920s. The ROM run as you know here, that was quite the business. We could hear them shooting from here. Sometimes at night, you'd hear the shots going bang, bang. And then the Mr. Picard and his son I think it was had the Winamac which was taken over by the first he used it for delivering groceries. Then it was taken over by the government for looking after the Run Run as and we saw a fight out here one day they heard the shots right out to the balaclava harbor. Did you see? Mr. Brittain? Yes, yes, some of those. Yes. You could use them just a bit got out there up there. A son you might see him? Well, yes, the cheap excitement in those days was when the CPR boat came in here with freight and mail. She came in twice a week, I think it was on Tuesdays and Fridays. One week she'd call it forward and Ganges. The next week, she'd go down the other side. She'd call it burger and Bay and the service bay and that is the day those are the days when people used to congregate on the ball party for business party for excitement does it one bit of excitement or the most of the time. And the politicians used to get there with it with three parties then never conservatives, the liberals and then socialists and to these men had very high pitched voices. And they'd be the shed on the wharf where the freight was while waiting for the boats. These they'd have arguments in politics, he tried to shut down the other and nobody was quite excited at times, sometimes it came to fights. You see sometimes you'd have to wait quite a long time at the off because it would depend on how much freight was being loaded especially in the Apple season. As the chief industry was here was farming was not what a lot of good pharmacy and then and sometimes we wait two hours and below is a little place around the corner. With triggers the creator had a huge orchard. And as I know sometimes a couple of hours they'd be there loading up apples and we wouldn't we'd see the boat coming and we'd hurry across the left off in our canoes, or both. We did have a boat also which we traveled around these islands a bit in it was one of these smaller form of the Columbia River fishing boat, jet boat fishing boat. In fact, those are the kinds of boats that fishermen used they would, the only way to propel them was by AWS or sail. And they used to go from here all the way up the West Coast away up wherever they went to fish for things and the funny thing was down here where it's flat now and shallow was a kind of a gravel pit the spit ran out quite a distance and it was quite deep in that little bay there quite deep and the fishermen would put in the wintertime when they would perhaps be two or three the patient on the flip down at the point would keep their boats there for safety in the winter. Couldn't do that today because it's all flattened out

Unknown Speaker 10:39
when you're referring to places around here of course when we take this tape away nobody will know very

Unknown Speaker 10:45
No. Oh yes and we had one little thing that used to be brought quite a bit of interest to this harbor it's about 19 forward harbor in 1905 was when the HMS egeria used to come in here to survey the waters she generally anchor out out here in front it always anchor in front of our place there's no sooner be anchored in there come a boat and they come in and no excuse to come Have you any extra sale or have you apples to sell or sold so we almost took them in and gave them tea or whatever they wanted. And this ship I wish I had a picture of her we did have she looked very much like the the type of ship that Nelson's victory yell at old fashioned English type. That's when the Navy before it became Canadian Navy. When it was HMS. That was quite a bit of excitement to when they came in.

Unknown Speaker 11:43
Was it entirely a sailing?

Unknown Speaker 11:46
Oh, no, not then it being converted? No, no, no, no, no, it didn't have the sales really but it was the cult. The whole that was that that style almost that style. Very awkward and I've never seen any boat. Any boat is so antiquated a step by look for us since I was tell you a little bit about the broom. In eldest plot plant this room. When we lived in Oak Bay, Sir Clive Phillips barley had a beautiful home there. And he had to broom bushes well on either side of his great big entrance gate. And I liked it so much. So I said to my father. Oh, can we have some room? It's so beautiful. So he sent to England and he got about four or five different kinds of room, Spanish room white room, the only room and I remember he got a skeleton gold. So we had room and everybody liked it. So they used to come and ask him Can we have some balloons so he saved seeds and gave out to people? I have no doubt lots of people have brought broom to the island since then. But it doesn't rate it's a good thing. My poor father isn't here today to take the brunt of having introduced the broom to this place. But it's such a curse

Unknown Speaker 13:12
because you know in those days we didn't have the conveniences of today. There were no telephones, no electric light. No engines to run anything. No. No boats with engines only. I remember that day there was a Mr. Piper there. He had what he called a steamboat. And it made an awful lot of black smoke. So he managed to propel his boat with a steam engine. But we had nothing like that here. So it would rather treat when those things started coming to us. Is there anything else you'd like?

Unknown Speaker 13:57
And who finishes

Unknown Speaker 13:58
Oh, there's the we now for entertainment. They used to hold their concerts are down to it in the schoolhouse, as we had no other place where we could there was no Hall. And so I don't know I think that's an issue asked me questions. Questions to ask. Yes, sure.

Unknown Speaker 14:20
That's fine, because you can go back. Tell me what was your father's name?

Unknown Speaker 14:27
William John Lawrence Hamilton, named after Lord Lawrence. There's this picture is Uncle Where did he come from Northern Ireland.

Unknown Speaker 14:36
And it will move on and in here are we born

Unknown Speaker 14:41
at my oldest brother was born in Ireland. My oldest sister and I were born in Kenya because my father was an electrician. He was an electrical engineer, and he was the manager of a company over in England. My brother Claude was born in England and have Four of them are born at Oak Bay, and four of them are born on Saltspring island with 12. Others.

Unknown Speaker 15:06
Roger father wrote?

Unknown Speaker 15:09
Well, that's something I don't know. I suppose he felt he'd like to travel. I really don't know. And I think he thought that there might be an opening here for him. But he didn't. What year did he come? In at 91?

Unknown Speaker 15:26
And where did he come to? First of all?

Unknown Speaker 15:28
We went to Victoria. I was four. And my eldest sister was six. Where did you where? Did you stay long in Victoria? Six years? Yes. How did

Unknown Speaker 15:42
Victoria impress you? Well, of course,

Unknown Speaker 15:45
I didn't know the town much. And I can tell you a bit about that. But we loved obey. Obey was more in the wild in those days. There were not many houses, there are quite a few of the people used to come to in the summer time. But it was very nice. We used to pick up so many exits on the beach. They were beautiful. We still have some I've had some set to and there was a band stand there. And in the summertime, every Sunday afternoon, the band would come down and play. And the people would come down in there on foot or you know, horses and carriages or horses, on carts, whatever they had according to your means. And they would stand on either side of the road there one behind the other. We just sat on our end and listened and watched. And you could see the horses as they played such beautiful music to lovely will music. And the horses would keep time you could see the heads going keeping time to the music. My mother said on those horses enjoying the music. We were enjoying it too. It's really very nice. And then you'll see the we could wander over the fields and pick mushrooms in the autumn we could go through the woods and get wildflowers we used to take shortcuts to the schools sometimes which caused quite a bit of adventure now and again. And all there was a horrible old bull. Bogus bull down there used to get loose sometimes. And whenever that will get out. I'll tell you what to cover. Does terrible thing. Really a really wild bull that you read about that in the history? I think

Unknown Speaker 17:24
it was a famous book.

Unknown Speaker 17:26
Very famous. Very famous well known to well known. Did anybody? Yes. bogus. bogus. You know, they were an old name and Victoria. No don't name bokeh. I think they're mostly addicts are still folk living.

Unknown Speaker 17:42
And what are they doing with it? I mean, how was it?

Unknown Speaker 17:44
Oh, I had a farm. I suppose. We just had lots of cattle. Focus both name was prior I believe. And everybody was fighting. You bet they were. It was well worth. It was not

Unknown Speaker 18:01
him that intense?

Unknown Speaker 18:02
Yes. But it would break out it was so it was such a breaching thing it would break out of almost anything. And one day Ian and I were going to school, and this ball was coming there were two men on horseback. And they said get over a fence little girl get on the fence. We can't we got under the fence so quickly. Just got that when the ball game against the fence. I was near the ball as the end of that table was and the men came up with pitchfork and got it off to go the ball. That's how dangerous it was. And I remember a man saying well, if ever the ball comes to you, you get behind the tree and if it gets rounded keep on getting around the tree. It won't hurt you round the trees even just hit the tree

Unknown Speaker 18:42
where it was this

Unknown Speaker 18:46
willows Beach, brown by willows beach beyond oak Bay. There's a stream that ran down I don't know if it does still or not. But they said that came ran down from the Jubilee Hospital. And it was just beyond that. In the fields. We never did go through those fields, although it was very enticing. Just we just do such lovely mushrooms over there. We did long to go get them. I think sometimes we did sneak a few feet under the fence and grab something away. Oh, for excitement, I must tell you this funny little thing. I don't know. We were very very naughty. We had an old gentleman here. He was a widower. He was a grandfather too. And he was very anxious to get married again. I didn't know this were a long time after but he went when I was 16. I asked my father if he could marry me. When I found this is the idea. Why didn't they come and ask me? But I didn't know anyway. Well, at any rate, we had a young man staying over here next door. And so we went for a walk in the afternoon and this Mr. X was visiting my family in the old house. And so we went for a walk we said I'm Fred I was the naughty one. I said let's go and make Mr. Solid apple pie dad. I don't know if you know what that is or not, you know an apple pie babies. So my brother So we've been working fine, we know how to get anything. And so we went in and we made him an apple pie bid. And I think one of the one of the some of the boys they found, or a three star whiskey bottle or something with with color oil, and they put that on the table and just said cards and put round. Well, the next day when Mr. X saw my father, he said, Oh, Mr. Hamilton, I'll have a job for you soon. He was the Jaypee. And he's the liberal. Somebody broke into my house last night. And he said, Nash, I'm just going to find out who did it and will. So then he came up to see us. And so my mother and I were the only ones I think home that night. So then I said, Well, Mr. X, what did you do we verify what he says, I'll tell you. I went home was quite late when I got home. First thing I saw was cards, and whiskey bottle on the table. And he didn't like anything of that kind. And he said, I thought somebody had been drinking here and gambling. Then he said, Well, when I cooled down, I went to bed, but he's like, couldn't get in my bed. So he said, Then I moved to the other room, and I loaded my gun. And if anybody come around that night, I'd have shot. The video. Really? Yes, you bet. I was so mad. I just shot them. And so he said, I got up at five o'clock, I couldn't sleep any longer. And I wrote out three notices. I put one over to Potapov, one down here at the head of the harbor and one up at the post office. And it read something like this. As the people who broke into Mr. X house yesterday, Sunday afternoon, are known they had better return stolen articles to prevent prosecution prosecution. There were no stone articles. It was just a joke. So we at night we went round was pouring rain, we were going to put all the notices down. Somebody came down afterwards and said, Well, Mr. Ayer, did you find out who did it and the rest of it and what was happening? What was stolen? Oh, is it Oh, I I don't think there was anything stolen there was something interfered with something like that. And somebody came up to see us and I think I know who did this. And another time, you know, we used to, we used to make our own interests. We had quite a lot of these dugouts my brothers used to make. From the cedar logs, you know, you couldn't find the Cedar Log today to make those. And so when we came over here, my father bought some among our furniture, some secondhand furniture, there was one set of chester drawers, and each drawer was filled with a color each one a color yellow or green or blue with Chinese lanterns, you know, like claps so we decorated, put things up and decorated our canoes and rafts, those who didn't have a canoe had a rough mean on della see. And we sailed out, up and down, it was moonlight. And we invited a few friends up and we had a fire on the beach, a nice bonfire and had some cocoa, I think it's something and some buns that need to eat, and some musical instruments. And so we'd be singing backward and forward, up and down and up and down. And at the head of the harbor, in those days, there was a long pier that ran out so that any launch could land at any time high to the tide between the very lowest and the people that are not here I suppose. The neighbors, they would promenade up and down this pier. And they were up and down. They saw these lights and these things going back and forth and here little little bits of music now and again. And they call Mr. blandy out who had the little hotel and start the head of the hub and then and they said well what is it what's going on the rest of it? Or he said it's just pretty much all our beds those crazy Hamilton's they're always doing something

Unknown Speaker 24:21
tell me about the crazy Hamilton's Why did they come to go to harbor?

Unknown Speaker 24:25
The crazy Hamptons came to COVID Harbor because my father brought us why I don't know what was he trying to do? I think he thought he'd have a big family here and we were growing up and we didn't make a farm and he'd make money out of his by planting fruit trees and things are Yes. And we used to take our stuff we did we grew quite a bit of stuff. And we used to take it over to Sydney to sell at the grocery exchange groceries for fruits, vegetables, eggs, etc, etc. And we had to go in this boat I told you about either sale or borrow And we'd always have to choose the right tides, because there's a very strong tide and canoe paths between Sydney and here between Sydney and Swartz Bay sea. And we'd have to go with the outgoing tide to get there. And with the incoming the ebb tide when we came home, because you couldn't possibly row against it, you could do it with an engine but not with a row or sail. Those were quite exciting days.

Unknown Speaker 25:28
You have a benches in the boats,

Unknown Speaker 25:31
lots of them. Once we bent to Victoria, just install the special and when we came back, it was so foggy, we couldn't see where we were. So we managed to get to some little beach there to some little island or somewhere near the near the past where the tide is very strong. We had to sit on the beach all night and it was daylight to come home. But we had a much worse venture than that. We'd been camping at Ganges Harbor. And we were coming home. It was my father and my mother and a brother and myself my oldest brother and myself. I think it was we started out very nicely about one o'clock in the day. But we had the sort of, I don't know it wasn't tide and wind seemed to be against us. We couldn't seem to make headway. We couldn't make a headway with tacking although we had a centerbore Daniel the center was like they have any sailboats to balance and so finally got very rough and it got dark. And I finally said what's that and yet I still it looks like breakers so there are no breakers there. What is it and we found it was a boom of logs. The further out you went the robbery got. We had to go out round spool of logs. And it got it was getting dreadfully rough. We were shipping water so we had to go see wherever he could we went in near the shore. And there was a little point jetting out not very far. So we anchored and were we tired because my brother and I had been rowing that boat all those hours had blessed us sighs my palms and so we went to sleep lay on the deck you know the body did deck just words we had about it in deck there, because you put the pitch in. And I remember my mother waking me up, wake up, wake up and I don't think I've ever felt so tired and so reluctant to wake up in all my life as I was then we're touching bottom. Come on, we're touching rocks. So we had no light, but we hadn't matches and we had some magazines. It rained hard, it poured rain, and it was still pretty rough in there. And we killed this bumper to bumper the bumper wasn't very nice. So my father taught out to the dry pages from the centers of the magazines that we'd had given us to take home and read and they let these just to see kept lighting run out there to see where we were. And by keeping up it means we managed to get into between these rocks into a beach. And then when we got into the beach, we managed to fit around on that and get a few bits of twigs and stuff we lit a fire. We managed to get just about enough to keep us going through morning. And it rained and it was cold. Couldn't sleep the roof stones were too hard it wasn't under the bed. Exactly. And so as soon as they got daylight with made ourselves some hot water and cup of tea or something got home about five o'clock in the morning. And when I took my clothes off I found that my beautiful new blouse I did set me with had the pattern all over my arms it was all over me where the rain had come through and put the pattern on me I was just probably tattooed

Unknown Speaker 28:53
what was laid here in the harbor when you came whether who was living here, what kind of a Sacramento

Unknown Speaker 28:59
whether there was nothing practically along here. And then you got to wait out at the point. And the Hawaiians were there. Some of them were very nice. They're much nicer now than they were to those days. That and up to there was nothing between us and the head of the harbor where they had our house the shape of Noah's ark with Windows, Windows upstairs and Windows downstairs. Oh one above the other. A front door with a little tiny porch over it, you know a little sort of and they had a post office, a kind of hotel and a bar. That's where we went for the mail when we first came here. People the name of Rogers. They had a farm too. But there was nothing between us and then it was all woods. And I remember one evening when I was coming home I'd been late with the mail. I could hear a sound in the woods. The woods were easier to climb through then and they are now with because the oldest went out to to a nuisance, it was clear. And it was a cougar. We call them pandas. And that followed me just in a little way in the woods the whole way through the woods. I was followed by this Cougar. Somebody said when you're frightened, I suggest what did you do? Did you run? I said, No, I've read that it's best not to run because the animals might run off to you. So I said I send him very much out of tune. Why are we doing that? As I told I wouldn't hear it coming this day, this is right at the head of the harbor right there just right at the weather where all those checks are now

Unknown Speaker 30:40
yes where they have this hotdog stand. That's right and once they're warm, they're

Unknown Speaker 30:46
no no's and Paul was across where the wharf is now but there was a pier built out a built away way out some years after we came here for the launches that after when we had launches but when we came here there was a bridge across from where that is where that creek is that press Creek small creek across where the Roman Catholic little churches that there was no road round the back at that time. That's the way we went round to the wharf and to Beaver point across the bridge everybody living Yes Not many there were people across by the wolf there were that Yellow House says Now the name of rains and then round in this bay further round. People will the name of Haskins then we went some miles up the road and there were people the name of Fisher beaver point wrote, that's where the second Lake is, was beaver point.

Unknown Speaker 31:43
I think I'd better turn your first part happened on the autobahn. Know the inequality. Because she came in on aorta. Well, I used to go in the dugout canoe across the wall, who my brother built the dugout canoe to post down letters instead of walking all the way down the valley to post them to the post office. So one day when I was over there, a brand who had been up on the mountain and for a while had ordered some equipment for his place on the boat, and a piece of it fell in the water but a piece that should have been kept dry. And the proved were they concerned about it and they know how to get it I couldn't reach upon the ball. So I had the only boat over notice my dad got a canoe and they asked if they could bought it to go and get it to two men gotten it but they couldn't manage it they couldn't even make it go. So I told them that let me know with Amanda and this piece of equipment slipped right under the walk between the PA and so so I had to roll in the mud at the wall and they couldn't manage it and I gave it the gaff I use them and I didn't tell the fishing they had to get the tap but that and then they had to send it back to Victoria because my daughter had to send a new one too

Unknown Speaker 33:26
the next time it's been the eight o'clock came in. She passed they used to inexpert the horse and buggy days and the wagon came down on our back and came down on the wall put a big crate a lie pigs and then a very lively a mainly be taking it off, you know the time but a bit closer so the gangway was a bit on the stoep and the crate broke and the pigs got out all over the world. And all the people were scattered trying to catch these pigs and Captain seers that came to help and he got home to one of the pigs and got the pump thought the pin was tanking run man, the captain was tagging the other and they both went down flat on their stomachs and they were having noses together and passenger jaw crowded on the boat and they were laughing and laughing. They were crying with tears beaming down they managed to get the big soundboard I write up and get back on that was as good as if any part of me. Yes. And you

Unknown Speaker 34:46
want your earliest memories. Oh my. I think my earliest memory was when I was about the age of three and a half. You know I had a deaf brother and the deaf sister And they formed kind of a sign language of their own, which which, of course was very convenient. You could use it for all anything under the sun you but tell them anything. Any stories or any who happened and nobody would know what you were talking about. They didn't use the letter in is just a sign they made up their own. My brothers did that. My first memory was when I was three and a half. And my mother who didn't speak the same language, I've always learned and mixed up, my brothers called out to me and said B, will you run up to the garden and ask Claude to bring a cabbage for supper? Well, I was one of those ops and that little things over never admit, I didn't know anything. I didn't know how or what the sign of a cabbage was. So I raced around and grabbed my dad's seed catalog, I turn the pages quickly till I found the cabbage. I knew what it looked like. And I showed it to my one of my older sisters, Sister violet, was all who was dead. And I said, How do you say this? And she told her gave me the sign that look cabbage, you know. So when I went up into the garden yet the Claude Shirttails and gave him the sign. Mother wanted cabbage first up. And that was the proudest moment of my life, Claude picked up cabbage a pin down and delivered it EPS away. That's the first memory I have of learning. I don't know, it just seemed to do something, you know, I don't I started around like a little Virtus of him after that. Another memory I have, which is really rather funny. We had been rather naughty. They were about all maybe half a dozen, four or five of us then was little to him was and I was quite small. And we had a lecture either from my older sisters or my mother on being polite we'd all had, we must learn to be ladies and gentlemen, we must not be rude, no less that No, we were so filled with this zeal of trying to impress them that we really were well brought up children, we wanted to make up for our bad ways. So we all went down on the roadway here. My people never knew anything about till after. And we sat down, we had a little conference watch we do to prove that we could be well, well behaved children. And we figured it out. But we decided that winds down along the roadside and wait for the next person. Almost have a few and far between the nodes to the next person that came along with the little girls with courtesy and the boys would bow and off their hats. So we waited and waited. And the only person who came along was an old Jersey Hi, no, came from the Jersey islands. He was a funny little man with great people. Substring as they call it, a huge mustache, you know, and everybody said the whole Jersey had substrains. Well, Jersey, it came along. We looked at each other and said, would that do this? Well, we've got to do it. We've got to bow to somebody. So Jersey came along and we all three of us little girls were Curtis it, and my brother's bowed low Doctor hats. And all Jersey he was never so pleased in his life. He beamed. The next day he arrived at the front door. And my mother answered the door. And he said that he wanted to congratulate her on her polite children, they'd been so well behaved. And here was 25 cents to buy them some candy. I thought that was really fun is that so that we proved to people at least, that we could be polite, but I hope it ended then and there we finished our little politeness. I would like to go back now to the house that my sister mentioned that was built here. You know, this place from where the Roman Catholic Church is just across the St. Paul's. It was built in 1880. And that has a terrific history. But from there down to Isabella point, this land was owned and lived on by the connectors. About 18 of these connectors came over from actually that came from the San Juan Islands. And they were led by an old connector called William NOC in his people actually called him I think was liquid me in or light coming in. I'm not too sure the pronunciation which means friend of the people because he was an interpreter when in James Douglas time. He was also on the survey ship that surveyed the boundary line between San Juan Islands and the Gulf of Georgia. And this all the connector came over to Saltspring island after this Sandborn incident Do you remember that all incident talk about the PID that caused the unit now I just states to annex the island and we lost it. Well, this all connector found that they didn't care for the United States rule. They lost their flavor, they lost their queen and they came, they were used to the route being ruled and clean. So they came over here. And they felt that they would be a little happier in this community in British Columbia because it was under the Queen's rule known as Queen Victoria. So these chaps came over and they preempted land on pot on the island, just across a few miles out from salt spin. They preempted land all along the Isabella Point area along here, and one of the connectors lived here. And the log house was built and different log houses, I believe were built by the connectors, they built log houses all along, because that's how they lived. Some of them were large, some were small, but they built them. And this older Hawaiian came, and it would brought about 17, or 18 connectors with him. And they had the old, wonderful names, Moses, nawada, Corona, and all kinds of musical names, which I would hesitate to pronounce right at the moment. But they all brought a guitars with them. And you could have called this a little Hawaii alarm here. I'm writing this into the history, of course of the island, because it's very much a part actually, in writing the history. The whole history starts with the Indians in the kidnappers. And the dark is they were all the first people that paved I think these connectors paid about the first time it's not just before the darkies but they'd been put on the island first, and then across here, and some of them, I believe, married some of the local Indians. Some of them married connectors, but they were really a very fun, very wonderful lot of people

Unknown Speaker 42:05
that actually connect a woman the women that came

Unknown Speaker 42:08
Oh, yes, because when William not in came, I believe he had five children and his daughters. Mrs. Pete Rowland was this famous canal because daughter Matilda, and she married Pete Rowland, Jesse, and several of the diaper sisters made the different ones the Kinect has came out. So they must have brought when they were young, when that payments blew up, I suppose here, it must have been young girls. And I believe it came across in a bit new that James Douglas brought and first I knew to Victoria and then they most likely paddled across in their canoes over to these islands. And over on the Portland Island. This William knock in blue, all and own vegetables. You know, once he got his seeds from someone, I don't know whether it was Breton ochre or pins or someone but once he got his seeds, he saved his own. He only had to buy them once. He said no, he saved them on every year. And he made his own tobacco. And that is an awfully interesting thing the way majors tobacco, he would get around, cut around off the log, and he bought a hole right down through the middle of it. And it crushed the tobacco leaves and put the leaves down in the bottom. Pour a little molasses on it. And that tart of rum, more tobacco leaves and right up till it's crammed full. And when the I suppose that would have set for a little hitch split the log open and he'd have his long tobacco stick which they cut in on smoked in them when they needed a smoke. I thought that was rather interesting. You know, that idea of make them tobacco, maybe look give a few ideas out to people how to make the tobacco in the future. But another memory I have all they don't go back nearly as far as my sister's was the old school that was built up here in 1904. My father was responsible actually for bedding the school. And the first teacher that used to go up the hill didn't have very much for walk him up. It was very steep. So all Hills went up hills and down hills and round stump. She had not tired walking up. So she used to get my three brothers who attended the school to stand behind her and push push her up the hill. While they got tired of this one day and my brother Claude, who was still living told me that they didn't see why they should have to push her up the hill. So right in the middle of the push in the steepest part of the hill. They all let go. And she had collapsed in the middle of the road. And whilst these naughty boys laughed they That ended it, she never asked them to push her up the hill again, mind you, she was an awfully nice teacher in that. But these aren't this was just a little bit too much I mean to push her. And later on, when I came along, I used to play ukulele, I changed it into kind of like a mixture between the ukulele and guitar. And I used to go up to the school and teach the children some of these children that would have been this connect because grandchildren. I taught them the songs and spirits and hymns, and we put on a concert down the hall. And I remember one day when I was teaching them, we made up Saltspring Island band salts behind on cooks band, and all the children were dressed in cooks costumes, you know, in Great Britain hat. And remember, one of the connectors was named Miss Shepard. And little Mary, Mary Ellen, I believe her name was she was a with him. And at the concert, we arranged for her to do the Highland fling with her cooks costume. She had the all the instruments that they used in the band were pitching instruments, you know, like spoons and dishes and, and upset but it was young Billy Lumley played the mouth or played it very well, too. And so these children all acted up on this little Mary Ellen got up on a little stool. And she did a highland team has had her cooks costume was much too big a hat was much too big. And she brought the house down. Oh, she was really good, you know. But also some years later, about 510 years ago, we had quite a number of the men who are putting in some pilot a war. They asked me if I would give them a meals, you know, whilst they were working for a few days. And the first day and we didn't there was a young man, great big strapping fellow. And he said, Do you remember me? And I looked at him. I said should i Is he used to teach me songs up at the school? Don't you remember? And it was Billy loudly. Well, that was who'd been in concert to play the mouth open, you know, rather nice to meet him again after that. But

Unknown Speaker 47:28
oh, my brothers used to make wooden bicycles. They didn't have any bicycles in those days. So when they were young, they made these all wooden want wooden wheels and everything you can imagine what they were really, they were solid wheels and they put spokes in very clever they were they were those pedals. You just got on a seat, lifted your feet and went down the hill, where they used to take them up to the school and go right to the top and it's a very steep hill, if you go up you'll find that and after school is over the bed on these blasted bicycles and come tearing down the hill. You could hear him going over the cobblestones you know and people off would hear this platter band clown a band was the bicycles came down and said there was Hamilton boys up and down the school hill. But hear them every time they used to do all kinds of clever things. I know that people used to tell me that before. Before I was born, my father used to beat them wonderful toys one was a great big stone boat, rocking boat. And they'd all get in this them you know and rock and only made them all kinds of wonderful wooden guns, you know, for them to play with and everything. They had some very lovely instruments and things. But as for the Indians along here, we had the Indians coming in and canoes and boats and they had come in many a time to buy apples from us come up to the doors you know, I remember one day they came in and we had some little tiny cakes that I sisters have been cooking and talking about the addition of them and they didn't quite know whether to eat them or what to do with them that was so tiny. So they Oh cheap involved and the top one popped it in his mouth and he nodded to the others. And so they all came home they didn't seem to be able to speak English we're talking when I find it funny sort of a guttural sound and so they all took one they pop them in their mouths they are beamed as edible goods and all nodded to us. Remember that we had quite a lot of friends really amongst Indians, you know that are very, very nice people. And they used to dip clams all along the shore front here, you'd see the lights, and bonfires, and torches and those they used to use first. Later on, they use lanterns and gas lanterns and but it used to look like a city for a while you know All the lights all along, shone on every beach around here.

Unknown Speaker 50:04
Just at certain times of the year

Unknown Speaker 50:07
when the tides were low, yes, not in the summer, just the wind as well from now on and on into spring at the low tides. And there's just during the summer months they're not allowed to dip clams are not supposed to be good. What isn't the months without an hour in it? You're not supposed to use clams, shellfish? I don't I didn't ask you an old saying I didn't you just use clams until this red poison or something that comes around the seas when the authorities put notes in the paper that you mustn't eat shellfish, you know, certain areas. Outside of that they pretty well did the ball. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 50:45
Tell me about the hotel or the in the head of the harbor? Do you remember?

Unknown Speaker 50:51
Oh, well, they've had three, at least there was the they've had what they call a White House. And then the Fulford in there, those were burnt down. You know, it was very sad. I don't know why them a bunk but it's just, I suppose some maybe cigarette in an in an ash pan or something that I don't know too much about the hotels, all I know is that they were being burned down now for many years. As long as you could remember was that? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. The first one, the first one would be the full for the full for the White House. And then there was the later on, they had one called the full foot in. But the the White House, they used to have a stall there. And then the post office was there for a while. And but the I don't remember too much about that. I do remember that I had to ride our old horse to go down and get a mail at the corner is to bring the mail and put it in the mailbox. And we had a great big horse. Oh, he was a huge feather was like riding on the table for a little girl. And I remember going down then they used to like to play tricks at times and he shaved off because it almost doesn't like go into close to some times. He'd shy around this blessing box and I couldn't reach it. So last night, and while if you're not going to get there, we'll just stay until you're doing it. Look around at me as I say what on earth do you want to do? So then it sidle up to the box and I bet me on the way we'd come home and get off the horse. It was too high a jump. I had to climb onto the fence the middle. So I bet Billy to sidle along the fence and then I'd climb onto that and get down sometimes it is me and sort of jump off you know wouldn't let me get on. So I do remember once I was we had we used to send to our cows you know and we know them. My brothers would milk and my one brother was quite a nice voice and he used to say my mom will send to them the milk battle and you send to them so we'd sit down in them everything was on the Merry Widow Walsall. I don't know what but here we sit in this blessed bond send him to the cows was the boys milk. So one day I went into the barn when we had an old horse the really the horse and I was saying that old that was on what is it? Why can't we powerlevel like other sweethearts do in how you're going to keep them down on the farm. There's an old song. And just as I got to wipe out the power level, they all built it around and looked at me and gave me the horse laugh. You ever heard a horse horse? Make us laugh. He just looked right at me and gave me a big horse laugh I just laughed. I thought that was really funny. Oh, but he was a nice horse. We lost him eventually enlarge and we brought a broken label and broke our hearts when he had to be shot.

Unknown Speaker 54:05
What do you remember about the settlement over the other side of the harbor there

Unknown Speaker 54:11
what I remember mostly is there was a boarding house over there run by Mr. Smith. And I didn't My bed was right but let's and there is I'll give you my first presentation in public and lasted in Rome one day and I didn't I recited later ledger Claire. And we are saving and I was I remember that. Let's I'll say that. I don't know too much about that. If you want the history on anything on that you'll have to ask my sisters because that's pretty vague as far as I'm, I can remember. My memories come mostly in the later part, you see. And 1902 Yes We saw that the oil, everything was beginning to get what do you call it civilized by the time I came along, you know, but I do remember that we live to. We had a lot of fun during childhood here. It was so lovely. I remember we lived down in that old maple tree half the time, we'd go down on the beach and play and most of us children me way up the tree. You know, now it's grown up. I imagine the branches that we played amongst, almost up at the top by now.

Unknown Speaker 55:36
Everything else you have? What about anything more about the connectors? Any incidents with the lawyer?

Unknown Speaker 55:48
Yes. Well, it's quite funny ones that happen. I wish you could have spoken to their descendants, but they happen to be aware at the moment. But

Unknown Speaker 56:04
perhaps you could really see them. But I just wondered if there's anything more from your point of view? No.

Unknown Speaker 56:11
I don't think so. I think if you're wanting to speak to them, it would be better for them to tell you their stories rather than me to want me to repeat what they told you. Yes.

Unknown Speaker 56:21
I just forgot what you in your experience. What do you remember? Oh, my

Unknown Speaker 56:25
memory mostly is teaching them songs that was full of old concepts and, and things like that. And

Unknown Speaker 56:33
they live on either side of you here.

Unknown Speaker 56:36
They live mostly down there. When we came, they had left this part. They were also but they were lived right from here down to the point. The first connector who ever planted fruit trees down in on the very point that Isabella point where major homes now lives was done by a connector call. His name was Monday Munden Henry Munden. And those trees down there were originally planted by him all they must have come here about eight in the 1850s. Right quite early in the year. And they're all trees down there now. Matter of fact, they asked me major homes asked me last year if I knew who planted the trees and I found out since was this connector, one of the first people who came in property down there

Unknown Speaker 57:30
when they came in the 50s. That would be before the sad one and

Unknown Speaker 57:35
I wasn't going to be about it, then it would be just after the second one is that was 5256 wasn't it? Was it 56? Simpson 71. No, it wasn't properly settled. But I know this. Whenever that was on the survey ship during the line being surveyed, was 10 years with the Hudson Bay Company you know, and he was sort of interpreted as James Douglas for quite a number of those years. And it was through James Douglas that they actually paid to these islands because they couldn't Milan any more. Or some of the Panera stayed on and got on in the States. But this man and his band were the tape but just couldn't. They didn't want another flag. They wanted their own. They brought their own flag with him over here, I believe the Hawaiian flag. But I imagine that was burned up. They had a bit fire once, you know, lost a lot of their notes and their beautiful big, really old Bible that had all their names and their histories and was burned out. When old Pete rowland's little shack was built. It was one of the original shapes to them. But there are a number of them very Yes, a few of the married Indians. So quite a number of white men first white men, okay, married Indians. And

Unknown Speaker 59:10
you're speaking about the old Catholic Church. Yes. Tell me about the origin of

Unknown Speaker 59:13
that. That was built in 1880 by the Catholic priests who came over from parish and be

Unknown Speaker 59:28
father, Peter Rando he, the one that built the stone church is in the parish to me. They brought some of the material from that church eventually when that was finished, and they used it to help build St. Paul's. They brought the lumber and stuff to burger and bay that's down about five miles from here, right the point and they land they brought in Indian canoes, you know, the Indians paddle it over. Then they pull it out. On a stone boat, it was drawn by oxen down across over here to the point. And with local help, and by Leon, Kim and Papenburg, and the different men from Beaver point. And I seem John Maxwell, one of the first man over here, and they all got together and they built a church. And by the way, the land that the church is almost given by this original kidnapper, William knocking, you gave that property for the church. So the church was built, and it took about takes about three, four years to build the church, you know, and it was finished and consecrated in 1884 85. So I suppose then the people around here in this day, we're mostly Catholic. Yes, they were. Most of them were the Roman Catholics. And then, of course, in 1894, the Anglican St. Mary's Church was built. And that was built by a very final clergyman, the Reverend Wilson, who was well known on the island, I don't know. His relatives are still living on the island. There's Mr. Austin when Wilson manages you know, quite a lot of people and heat up the lumber as it was there on the beach and he got all the people rounded up and got the church built. In his day. He was quite a parrot. Those Mr. Wilson, he used to come down from Ganges in his horse and buggy, and go all over the island. It was really wonderful. He used to come in any weather traveled down to is yes, down to Isabella point down to Beaver point, and from Burgoyne Bay into Ganges, up and down all the time. And if people will simply take the place of a doctor, it even take medicine. When Dr. Lai there was Baker news, Dr. Beech. When they left they used to leave their medicines in Mr. Wilson's charge, so that they went away he could treat their patients and he was very good. But that used to go around. He was very, very orthodox, very much of this old time religion, you know, either you're good or you're bad, and no in between. And he used to come up and teach home Sunday school is to come to our place. And it will give us all Sunday school lessons, you know, tell us if we were not good with God wha hot place and if we were good with well, the heaven. And one day that we've been in a bit of a hassle over it. I was a very small girl, but he would insist on me miss it on his knee. And I was terrified of his beard. He has great long beard way down here. And here I was sitting I am this blessed beard, right almost tickling me. And he asked me to interpret some of the Bible stories to Claude and brother who was deaf. So I was unemployed about it. And he told me that