"Anguish And Laudanum" - The Tale Of Mrs. Wilmer
By Norman K Archer
One would have to be blessed with a remarkably fertile imagination to walk down Wharf Street today and conjure up the waterfront of the Gold Rush days.
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ARTICLESHISTORY / ANTIQUESShowing 46 - 59 of 59 articles.
Bygone Treasures - Military MemoriesBy Michael Rice Charlie was a soldier for a short time in all too brief a life. For me, Charlie's story started while I browsed one evening on eBay Ireland, 
"The Antics Of Charlie B" - The Tale Of Admiral Lord Charles BeresfordBy Norman K Archer He painted the town red and his horse black. Born in 1846, Lord Charles Beresford (known to his friends as Charlie B) was the second son of the Fourth Marquis of Waterford, Ireland. 
"An Unsolved Mystery" - The Tale Of The Macdonald Bank RobberyBy Norman K Archer Estella Hannah Carroll became the wealthiest, most flamboyant, yet most refined of all the madams that ever flounced their way across the pages of Victoria's history. 
Bygone Treasures - The Games We Played - IndoorsBy Michael Rice Long, long ago, before computers roamed the earth, your family and mine gathered at our kitchen tables after supper and spent quality time playing cards 
Bygone Treasures - Stamp Collecting - A Childhood MemoryBy Michael Rice At one time, most kids collected stamps, joining clubs at school, swapping their "duplicates" and pestering their neighbours to save their mail. The present under-20 generation doesn't rate stamp collecting high on their interest scale, as stamps aren't "interactive." You can't hang out at the mall with them, and suggesting on a first date to "come up and see my stamp collection" sounds like a bad cliché from a Mae West movie. 
Bygone Treasures - They Went ThatawayBy Michael Rice Just as kids today are influenced by video games, so were children 50 years or so ago by comic books and black and white western movies. Heroes of that era included Tom Mix, colonel Tim McCoy, Buck Jones and the "Big Three," Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry and the King of the Cowboys, Roy Rogers. Girls preferred Jane Withers, Annie Oakley and the Queen of the West, Dale Evans. 
"Doctor Heal-My-Skin" - The Tale Of Dr. John Sebastian HelmckenBy Norman K Archer Claus Helmcken and his bride, Catherine Mittler, left Germany soon after they married to try to find a better life in London, England. 
The Man Who Did Nothing - The Tale Of Governor Richard BlanshardBy Norman K Archer "Nothing" may be an unfair summary of the first Governor of the colony of Vancouver Island's achievements, but it comes close. 
The Stormy Petrel Of B.C. Politics - The Tale Of Amor De CosmosBy Norman K Archer The tale of Amor de Cosmos"A long and lean wolf in that sheep's clothing, steeped in duplicity." That is how Victoria's first newspaper, the Victoria Gazette, described the flamboyant founder and first editor of its archrival, the British Colonist. He became British Columbia's second Premier and probably should have been its first, because without him, there may never have been a Canadian province on the Pacific coast. 
Bygone Treasures - Momentoes From A Grand AdventureBy Michael Rice While the age of steam is long past, readers may have childhood memories of train trips through the Rockies, or even more exciting voyages 
The Romping Tale Of Billy BarkerBy Norman K Archer Billy Barker, a pioneer who struck it rich, gave his name to a town, died penniless and was buried in Victoria's Ross Bay Cemetery in an unmarked pauper's grave. 
Lantzville: Hometown HeartBy Darryl Wilson The small coastal community of Lantzville may be a lot quieter since its days as a booming coal mine town in the early 1920s, but its heart still beats strong. 
The Haranguing Judge - The Tale Of Matthew Baillie BegbieBy Norman K Archer Don't do Matthew Baillie Begbie the injustice of inflicting on him the common but ill-deserved title of "Hanging Judge." That epithet was only applied after his death. The Barkerville Gazette, however, did once carry a report, referring to him as the "Haranging Judge" due to his habit of giving every convicted felon a scolding before passing sentence. |    |
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