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Open hours: The Archives are open to visitors & researchers in person by appointment in advance during staffed hours, normally on Tuesdays and Fridays 9.30-4. Drop-in hours are Tuesdays 10-1.

Access in person: The usual Archives entrance is on the ground floor on the east side of the building (nearest Fairway Market). This entrance is step-free. You can also request Archives access via the front desk upstairs in Municipal Hall - ask the staff member at reception to phone the Archives office, and the Archivist will meet you in the foyer. Please note that indoor access from main reception

Open hours: The Archives are open to visitors & researchers in person by appointment in advance during staffed hours, normally on Tuesdays and Fridays 9.30-4. Drop-in hours are Tuesdays 10-1.

Access in person: The usual Archives entrance is on the ground floor on the east side of the building (nearest Fairway Market). This entrance is step-free. You can also request Archives access via the front desk upstairs in Municipal Hall - ask the staff member at reception to phone the Archives office, and the Archivist will meet you in the foyer. Please note that indoor access from main reception involves a full flight of stairs.

Staff: 1 professional archivist, employed half time by the District of Oak Bay (17.5 hours/week.) The archivist is employed elsewhere the rest of the week and is not able to accommodate requests to visit or volunteer outside of the above hours.

Enquiries are also welcome any time by email, phone and post:

Email: archives@oakbay.ca
Tel: 250-598-3290 (please include an email address in your message if possible)
Oak Bay Archives
2167 Oak Bay Avenue
Victoria, British Columbia V8R 1G2

On this blog: posts about local history and Oak Bay Archives holdings from the municipal archivist and archives volunteers.

Links:

Blog Index

Oak Bay Archives historic photographs

More about Oak Bay archives

  • WW2 memorials - discrepancies

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    The Beach Drive War Memorial and the Honour Roll document at Municipal Hall do not contain exactly the same lists: William Dyson and William Phillips are missing from the Honour Roll., which also mistakenly substitutes (and misspells) HLG Meyer for his brother HE Mayer.

    An earlier OBA PDF list here transcribes the Honour Roll without noting the discrepancies with the War Memorial.

    Not yet identified/confirmed: RA Wilson.

    Names in the early list published in the Colonist (5 July 1946) which are not on the Oak Bay Cenotaph:

    • RB Bush,
    • name following JH Doe (may be legible in another edition)
    • RA Wilson.

    In addition, a number of names are mentioned in early municipal drafts of the list but not included in either of the final memorials:

    • Devereux Walton DeBretigny.
    • Ernest Franklin Elford
      • wife listed on Elford St & Comosun St, mother on Elford St in service record
      • sister on Thompson
      • attended Central and Vic High schools
    • Peter Hindley (Navy, possibly at OB schools)
    • one Jones of HMCS Victoria or O Hara
    • Bernard Arthur Lewis
    • Ian Morton
    • Chris Norman (Navy, possibly at OB schools)
    • Stephen Rose (see below)
    • one Taggart or McTaggart
    • Sub Lt James Wilson, 2517 Margate
    • RA Wilson "on Valleyfield"
      • Roderick Arnold, chief stoker, 21498 RCN confirmed from naval authorities in municipal corresp
      • Richard Alexander Wilson KIA 10 December 1943 confirmed by Army authorities, pencil annotation "NO")

    Why do several sources (probably quoting each other) describe the WW2 contents of the Oak Bay War Memorial as variations of 97 names, 96 men and one woman, etc? On the Beach Drive war memorial (aka cenotaph) there are 96 names (4 panels with 24 names each), of which 4 are women's: Pamela Bennett, Patricia Cooney, Violet Field, and Nora Johnson. On the Roll of Honour document at Municipal Hall there are 95 names, of which the same 4 are women's. The name of Ronald G. Birch (see below) is in the list printed in the programme for the memorial's unveiling ceremony on 11 November 1948, bringing that list only to the oft-quoted 97 names - but it does not appear on the Beach Drive memorial or the Honour Roll in Municipal Hall.

  • Blog index

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    About the Archives


    Collection descriptions & finding aids


    Research & Collections: Features and Displays

    Reports & updates

    =================

    Questions? Please get in touch!
    Website: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives
    Photo Search: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives/photographs
    Blog posts: https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives
    Email: archives@oakbay.ca
    Phone: 250-598-3290

    - Post by Anna Sander 2024 -

  • October 2024 in the archives

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    Public open hours: The Archives were open for enquiries and on-site research appointments 17.5 hours/week as usual, with drop-in hours on Tuesday mornings.

    Enquiries: 12, of which 1 in person.

    Running total for 2024: 178.

    On-site volunteer hours logged: 38 (5 volunteers)

    Volunteer projects (ongoing):

    • municipal demolished-property files indexing
    • historic building permits indexing
    • assisting with enquiries research
    • file listing in a large collection of personal papers, preparatory to cataloguing
    • transcribing oral history recordings, checking existing transcripts

    Views on Flickr in October: (about 5K, total 312,683 by 15 November, since 3 Mar 2022).

    Archivist's work:

    • ongoing additions to Oak Bay property reference files
    • WW2 online memorial project stages 1 & 2 - identifying discrepancies and errors in memorials and records, listing correct and complete names with life dates and links to online record sources re military service and memorials.
    • internal and external enquiries research and responses, facilitating researcher visits, volunteer management & monthly bulletin - #56

    - Post by Anna Sander, 15 November 2024.

    To cite: Sander, Anna. (2024, October). 'October 2024 in the Archives.' [Blog post]. District of Oak Bay, Archives. Retrieved from https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives/news_feed/october-2024-in-the-archives [date accessed].

    Questions or appointment requests? Please get in touch!

    Website: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives
    Photo Search: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives/photographs
    More photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/oakbayarchives/
    Blog posts: https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives
    Email:     archives@oakbay.ca
    Phone: 250-598-3290

  • Oak Bay Remembers: Second World War local history project

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    supporting image

    - under construction -

    District of Oak Bay Roll of honour 1939-1945

    view transcript here (Veterans' Affairs)

    Oak Bay Archives does not hold original photographs, personal papers, or other records of most of the subjects listed below. If you have a photo of anyone in the list that you are able to share, or information that would contribute to any of the categories below, the Archivist would love to hear from you.

    This page is very long. To search for a name, type Ctrl + F and enter your term in the search box.

    Eventually, we intend that this list should contain, for each subject as applicable/available, at least:

    Oak Bay's WW2 War Memorials

    click links below

    Discrepancies - click title for link

    Oak Bay War Dead

    • Willows School: Ian McDonnell Sutherland-Brown; William Beaumont Brown; Geoffry Byatt; George Henry Corbett; George Scott Fraser Coulson; Vernon Beverley Gilson; Daniel Macfarlane McLeod Reid; Peter James Arnold Huke Palin; Thomas James McIntyre; Leighton M. Manning; John Blandford Latta; John Duncan Ward; and Ernest William Scroggs. Of these, McIntyre is not listed on the Oak Bay War Memorial. Willows honours school’s Second World War dead - Oak Bay News 15 November 2016.
    • Oak Bay High School: correspondence of 1943 from DH Hartness, Principal of Oak Bay High School, to Arthur Musgrave, who headed the war memorial project as municipal engineer, lists: "IH Acland, TM Baker, RF Bradbury, GH Corbett, G Coventry, DM Lindsay, P Palin, JA Shepherd, I Sutherland-Brown, D Wilson, R Walls." He also notes "I know there are others of our boys who have given their lives in this country's service". School memorials MIA. Many thanks to Jean Sparks, volunteer at Oak Bay High School Archives, for a reference copy of the longer memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook (November 2024).
    • St Michael's School (now the Junior School of SMUS)
    • St Christopher's School
    • Glenlyon School and Norfolk House School (now Glenlyon-Norfolk)
    • St Mary's Anglican Church
    • Our Lady of Lourdes (now St Patrick's)
    • Oak Bay United Church

    Roll of honour

    Names are listed alphabetically by surname. The 96 names on the cenotaph are numbered.

    1. Acland, Ion Hugh (1914-1941).

    2. Akam, Thomas (1906-1940).

    3. Bailey, William Benjamin Edward (1920-1942).

    4. Baker, Thomas Morley (1920-1940).

    5. Beard, Thomas Norman Kemp (1921-1941).

    6. Beedham, Maurice Michael (1919-1944).

    7. Bennett, Pamela Gladys (1915-1945).

    Birch, Ronald George (1920-1944).

    • name appears in the Unveiling Ceremony programme (1948) but not elsewhere in Oak Bay memorial records
    • Oak Bay address: 2172 Lafayette St (mother's address, service record)
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    8. Bird, John Stanbridge (1919-1942).

    • Misspelled in all District of Oak Bay records as BURD.
    • Oak Bay address: "His parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. S. Bird, live at 2481 Central Avenue, Oak Bay. "
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ] - photo

    Blenkinsop, Edward Weyman (Teddy) (1920-1945).

    • Oak Bay address: Son of Hubert Weyman Blenkinsop and Winsome Hazel Blenkinsop(nee Neroutsos), of Victoria, British Columbia (CVWM), check directories
    • attended Cranleigh House, Monterey and Oak Bay High Schools in Oak Bay, as well as Craigflower and Central in Victoria.
    • Oak Bay High School: class of 1938, included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ] - photo
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ] - photos. NB attribution of Blenkinsop Rd name is incorrect.
    • Blenkinsop died while a prisoner of war at Bergen-Belsen in 1945, after the publication of the Oak Leaf. Not found on the community rolls because he moved to and signed up in Vancouver and his parents were not Oak Bay residents at that time. (information from Jean Sparks, OBHS Archives). This points to some inconsistency in inclusion criteria and/or communication at the time, as others in a similar position were included.
    • Biographical note by Peter Celis, and see his biography of Blenkinsop, One who almost made it back, 2008.
    • Blenkinsop family fonds at City of Victoria Archives

    9. Bourque, Theodore (Ted) Phillip (1923-1944).

    10. Bradbury, Richard Forrest (Dick) (1920-1942).

    11. Bradshaw, George Gordon (1912-1944).

    12. Brooks, James Harry (1921-1944).

    13. Brown, Ian McDonald Sutherland (1919-1941).

    • Oak Bay address: 1931 Bowker Pl (service record)
    • commemorated on Willows School memorial
    • Oak Bay High School: included as Ian Sutherland-Brown in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • Sutherland is clearly given as a middle name with BROWN as surname in service record but Sutherland-Brown seems to have been used as surname unofficially.
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ] as Sutherland-Brown
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    14. Brown, Louis Kresse (1911-1945).

    • Oak Bay address: 3320 Weald Rd (parents' home, service record)
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ] - as "Louis Kreese Brown"
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    15. Brown, William Beaumont (1920-1942).

    16. Bruce, Robert Emerson (1923-1944).

    17. Button, Frederick (Fred) Sidney (1921-1944).

    18. Byatt, Geoffrey (1917-1944).

    19. Carmichael, Brian Withers (1912-1943).

    • Oak Bay address: 1932 St Ann St (mother's address, service record)
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    20. Christy, Richard Roland Thomas (1923-1942)

    21. Cooney, Patricia Jane (1922-1942).

    • Oak Bay address: not found (yet). 809 Linden Ave (City of Victoria) is given on Cooney's CWAC enrolment form in 1941; the city directories list the family of George Alexander Cooney & Jane Anne Cooney, including an entry for Patricia who was living at home, at 1246 Fairfield Road in 1937 and 517 Harbinger in 1941.
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • BC death record 1942-09-607646, no image available - [ source ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ WW2 Canadian Women's Project ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    22. Corbett, George Henry (1919-1940).

    23. Cornwall, James Anthony (1923-1944)

    24. Coulson, George Scott Fraser (1916-1944)

    25. Coventry, Henry Reginald (1915-1943)

    • Oak Bay address: check directories
    • [ Service record ] - served with Royal Air Force 102 Sqdn. (UK)
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ CVWM ] - photos
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ] - photos
    • Brother of Robert Coventry.

    26. Coventry, Robert George (1913-1940).

    • Oak Bay address: check directories
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • Service record not available, served with Royal Air Force (UK)
    • [ CVWM ] - photo
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ] - photo
    • Brother of Henry Reginald Coventry.

    27. Curtis, Edward Lea (1907/8-1941)

    28. Davey, John Vernon (1918-1942).

    • Oak Bay address: 680 Oliver St (parents' home, service record)
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ] - photos

    29. DeFreitas or De Freitas, Percival Francis Mayow (1900-1943)

    30. Doe, James Harrington (Harry) (1922-1944).

    31. Dyson, William John (1907-1942).

    32. Eley, Douglas Raymond (1922-1944).

    33. Ellis, Henry George.

    34. Field, Everilda Violet, later Yurke (1919-1945).

    • Oak Bay address: 1422 Newport Ave (aunt's home).
    • 1921 Canada Census: aged 2, living with parents James William and Everilda Agnes at 229 W. 26th Ave in Vancouver. Violet's mother died in 1927, when Violet was 8. Her father continued to live in Vancouver, and died there in 1958. Violet must have been sent to Oak Bay to live with the Philp family. A list of invitees to the war memorial unveiling ceremony in 1948 lists all the surnames of those commemorated and the number of guests expected to attend for each. "Field" on this list list is crossed out and replaced by "Philp". Francis EL Philp worked for "police BC Govt" (1936 city directory) and lived at 1422 Newport Avenue. His wife Nellie Faith, nee Dundas, was Violet's maternal aunt.
    • attended Monterey and Oak Bay High Schools (VDT obit)
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • Service record not available - served in WRCNS, no longer on active service at time of death
    • British Colonist. Attended Monterey School in 1932 and Oak Bay High School in 1936/7, same class as Pierre Berton (b. ca. 1919/20) here.
    • [ Find A Grave ]
    • Victoria Daily Times obituary 4 May 1945, p.6 col. 3 - photo

    35. Fortt, Edward William Ronald (Bill) (1920-1942).

    36. Frame, Robert (Robin) Hicks (1914-1942).

    37. Fraser, Gordon (1915-1944).

    • Oak Bay address: 737 Monterey (widow & children's address, service record); 790 Linkleas (parents' address, service record)
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    38. Gilson, Vernon Beverley (1922-1944).

    • Oak Bay address: 2562 Cavendish (mother's address, service record)
    • commemorated on Willows School memorial
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    39. Grogan, Jack Armstrong (1919-1945).

    • Oak Bay address: 2580 Bowker Ave (service record)
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    40. Harman, Frederic (Fred) Cuthbert (1912-1944).

    41. Harness, Arthur Creedon (1913-1941).

    • Oak Bay address: check directories
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ] - served in Canadian Merchant Navy
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave and also here]

    42. Harper, James Russell (1924-1944).

    Henigan, Clarence Francis

    43. Hind, Arthur Desmond (1924-1941, d. aged 17).

    • Oak Bay address: 2439 Currie
    • 1931 Census see lines 35-36 - Desmond aged 7, his recently widowed mother Mildred, and younger brother Philip are living with French-born maternal grandmother Gertrude Zwinger at 2439 Currie. Mildred Hind is still living there in 1940; in 1948 the directory lists Philip Hind, now aged 21, as a helper at Robert Mayhew's Sidney Roofing Co.
    • Father John Arthur Lewis Hind died aged 29 in 1930 at Port Alberni, BC death reg. no. 1930-09-433130.
    • attended Monterey School, passed high school entrance exam, British Colonist 20 July 1938, p.3. col. 6.
    • in the same class at Monterey as Vincent Knox; Gordon Macfarlane was in the class below: Victoria Daily Times, 2 July 1932, p.12 col. 2
    • [ Service record ] - served in Canadian Merchant Navy
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ] n/a
    • [ Find A Grave ] not found
    • He died of smallpox in isolation at the Basra Hospital, Morocco. (CVWM)

    44. Horsfield, Robert Wilberforce (d.1941 aged 20).

    • Oak Bay address: check parents Alan G & Helen, formerly of Cadboro Bay Road, moved to Duncan/Cobble Hill
    • [ Service record ] - served in Royal Air Force (UK)
    • [ CVWM ] n/a
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]
    • British Colonist obit notice - 11 Nov 1941 p.2 col.4. Photo.

    45. Hunter, Raymond Henry (1919-1943).

    • Oak Bay address: born Victoria, check pre-war directories for Henry and Dorothy Hunter. Mother remarried, moved to Vancouver. (service record)
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ] - photo

    46. Johnson, Nora (1915-1945).

    • Oak Bay address: 2063 Marrion St
    • NB some sources spell forename Norah, but it is spelled Nora in military records, death certificate, and memorial correspondence. There is no H on the cenotaph.
    • died in the same plane crash as Pamela Bennett, above.
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ BC death certificate ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]
    • [ Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum ] - this site states that Nora Johnson and Norman Marshall Johnson, who died on the same flight, were siblings, but it is clear from information in their service records that this is not the case. Nora's parents were Edward and Alice Johnson, English immigrants living in Victoria BC; Norman's parents were Ole and Augusta Johnson, Norwegian immigrants farming in Alberta.

    47. Knox, Vincent Cooke Lindsay (1924-1943).

    • Oak Bay address: 2239 Oak Bay Ave (mother's address, service record)
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ] - photo
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    48. Latta, John Blandford (1914-1941).

    • Oak Bay address: check directories
    • commemorated on Willows School memorial
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ] - served with Royal Air Force (UK)
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ] - photo

    49. Lawrie, James William (1920-1944).

    • Oak Bay address: 599 St Patrick St (service record)
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    50. Leese, William Hewison (1924-1944).

    • Oak Bay address: 668 Island Rd (service record)
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list (as W.B. Leese) in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ] - photo
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    51. Lindsay, Douglas Maxam (1922-1942).

    • Oak Bay address: 1828 Monteith St. (parents' address, service record)
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    N.B. older lists tend to follow the Scottish convention of grouping all surnames beginning with Mc or Mac together at the top of the Ms. Nowadays Macs and Mcs are listed in strictly alphabetical order, because it's what computers understand. This means that if you are not sure whether a surname begins with Mc or Mac, you should look under both.

    52. MacNeill, Philip George Collie (1918-1942).

    • Oak Bay address: 2276 Cadboro Bay Rd (mother & siblings' home address, service record)
    • Oak Bay High School: included as P. McNeil in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    53. Maconachie, James Roy Alexander (1910-1945).

    • Oak Bay address: 2195 Guernsey St (service record)
    • Oak Bay High School: included as J.R.A. MacOnochie in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    54. Manning, Leighton McMicking (1918-1942)

    • Oak Bay address: 1556 Monterey Ave (mother's address, Missing Marines)
    • commemorated on Willows School memorial
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ] served with RCAF then flew as a radioman and gunner with US Marines in Pacific theatre
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ] - photo
    • Missing Marines entry - photo

    55. May, Robert Seayears (d.1943).

    • Oak Bay address: Son of Robert Seayears Oliver and Mary Jane McKechnie Lindsay May, of Victoria
    • [ Service record ] - served with RAF (UK)
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    56. Mayer, Harry Edward (1921-1943)

    • surname misspelled Meyer on war memorial
    • brother of HLG Mayer, below
    • Oak Bay address: 2180 Pentland (father's address, service record)
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ] - photo

    (Mayer, Herbert Lee Gisborne, 1918-1977)

    • included here to clear up confusion with his brother HE Mayer, above - probably one of the reasons H.L.G. Mayer/Meyer is erroneously included on some of the draft lists and the Roll of Honour document.
    • "Sgt. H. L. G. Mayer, flight engineer" with RCAF [ source ]
    • "Sgt. H.L.G. Mayer RCAF R225219, flight engineer" - this source notes that Mayer and others in the air crew "parachute[d] to safety becoming POWs for the next two chaotic months before war’s end", so it may be that this name was added to draft lists while Mayer had been reported missing, but in fact he did not end up as a casualty of war after all. [ source ]
    • municipal engineer's correspondence notes he was reported "missing: presumed dead"; aunt lived at 2180 Pentland Rd
    • see name confirmation here
    • BC death certificate here

    57. Mayhew, Charles Alan (1916-1943).

    58. McDermott, Irving Frederick (Fred) (1901-1941).

    • Oak Bay address: 3655 Beach Drive (parents' address, service record)
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    McIntyre, Thomas James

    • Oak Bay address:
    • commemorated on Willows School memorial

    59. McMullin, Francis (Frank) Hugh (1909-1942).

    • Oak Bay address: Son of Colonel John Hugh McMullin and Mrs. McMullin, of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
    • [ Service record ] (record images not available)
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave Royal Oak and Runnymede] - photo

    60. Mellander, Ernest William Terence (1923-1944).

    • Oak Bay address: 964 1/2 Byng St. (parents' address, service record) Son of Ernest George Gustaf and Margaret Mellander, of Victoria, British Columbia.
    • [ Service record ] - photos
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    61. Meredith, Richard Charles (1918-1943).

    • Oak Bay address: 2615 Cranmore Rd (mother's address, service record)
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    62. Moore, Thomas Walton Moore ( 1920-1941).

    • Oak Bay address: 953 Hampshire Rd (father's address, service record)
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    63. Palin, Peter James Arnold Huke (1919-1942).

    • Oak Bay address: 1729 Hampshire Road.
    • commemorated on Willows School memorial
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    64. Palmer, William Sydney (1912-1941).

    • Oak Bay address: Son of Captain William Quinn Palmer and Mary May Howard of Victoria, British Columbia.
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ] - served in Canadian Merchant Marine.
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    Pangman, B.

    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook

    65. Parker, George Frederick (1915-1941).

    • Oak Bay address: 1720 Hampshire Rd. (parents' address, service record) Son of Charles Harris Parker and Mabel R. Parker, of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    66. Pattinson, Roy (1919-1944).

    67. Peasland, Charles Willox (1921-1943).

    • Oak Bay address: 1052 Newport Ave (The Guest House), 1329 St Patrick St, 2644 Cavendish Ave (mother's addresses, service record). NB middle name is WILLOX not WILLCOX.
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ] - photo
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    68. Phillips, William Edward (1913-1941).

    69. Pidcock, Charles Trevor Leighton (1917-1944)

    • Oak Bay address: 977 Victoria Ave (service record)
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ] - photo
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    70. Reid, Daniel MacFarlane McLeod (1920-1944).

    • Oak Bay address: 2720 Heron St (service record)
    • commemorated on Willows School memorial
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    71. Robbins, Edward Gorton (1920-1941)

    • Oak Bay address: 1044 South Hampshire Rd
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    Robinson, E.

    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook

    72. Robson, James Thomas (1918-1944).

    • Oak Bay address: 2713 Cavendish Ave (service record)
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    Rose, Stephen Gregory (d.1940)

    • included in early drafts of Oak Bay roll of honour lists but not on the Beach Drive memorial or the Roll of Honour document.
    • Oak Bay address: Son of Dr & Mrs William Rose of Uplands Lodge, Thorpe Place (#3, 2612 Thorpe Pl); attended St Christopher's & St Michael's schools (Vic Times obituary); included in MS list from Rev. Nunns at St Mary's Anglican Church.
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ] - served with RAF (UK)
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]
    • Victoria Daily Times obituary notice, 16 May 1940 - photo

    73. Rycroft, Arthur Martyn (d. 1943).

    • Oak Bay address: Son of Lt.-Col. John Gordon Rycroft and Alice Rycroft, of Oak Bay, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
    • [ Service record ] - served with Royal Artillery, Signals (UK)
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    74. Scharff, William Kenneth (1920-1944).

    • Oak Bay address: 1245 Hulett (i.e. Hewlett) Place (service record)
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    75. Scroggs, Ernest William (1916-1943).

    • Oak Bay address: 2417 Estevan Ave (service record)
    • commemorated on Willows School memorial
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    76. Shearing, Robert Rufus (1912-1945).

    77. Shepherd, John Adamson (1915-1940)

    • Oak Bay address: 831 Linkleas. An MS note in municipal records (Archives) notes "P.O. John Shepperd, Linkleas Ave, RAF"
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ] - served with RAF (UK)
    • [ CVWM ] "Son of Reginald Shepherd and May Corbett. Brother of Reginald Alaistair [sic] Shepherd who was killed in action on April 5, 1944 while serving with the North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment."
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ] - photo

    78. Shepherd, Reginald Alastair (1914-1945).

    • Oak Bay address: 831 Linkleas Ave (service record)
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    79. Sills, John Loring (1921-1943).

    • Oak Bay address: 2595 Lansdowne Rd (next of kin address, service record)
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    80. Stevens, John Frank (1920-1943).

    • Oak Bay address: 1539 Monterey Ave. check for John Slade and Mary Stevens living in Victoria ca. 1930, see service record.
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    81. Stewart, Douglas Bute (1919-1945).

    • Oak Bay address:
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    82. Stoney, George Edward Bowes. (1911-1940)

    • Oak Bay address: Son of E. Bowes Stoney and K. M. Stoney; husband of Aileen Hilary Beresford Stoney, of West Derby, Liverpool.
    • [ Service record ] - served with RAF (UK)
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    83. Syme, James David (1923-1944).

    • Oak Bay address: father John Syme was chief of Oak Bay Police, check directories. Willows School, Oak Bay High, VIctoria High.
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    84. Symons, Charles Michael Brooke (? - 1942).

    • Oak Bay address: Son of Kyle Charles and Edith A. Symons, of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; husband of Margaret Jane Symons, of Victoria.
    • [ Service record ] - served with RAF (UK)
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Canadian Fallen ]
    • [ Wings of War ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    85. Taylor, Selby Fred (1924-1943).

    • Oak Bay address: 2732 Thompson Ave (parents' home, service record)
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    86. Trace, Jack Richdale (1915-1943).

    • Oak Bay address: 1733 St Ann St (mother's address, service record)
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    87. Trudel, Paul Arthur (1916-1943).

    • Oak Bay address: 1084 St David St (mother's address, service record)
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    88. Tull, Lloyd Henry (1924-1945).

    • Oak Bay address: 2856 Cadboro Bay Rd (parents' home, service record)
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    89. Verley, Edward Worrell Graham (1914-1943)

    • Oak Bay address: attended Willows School (service record - check Victoria directories 1920s)
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    90. Walls, Raymond (Ray) Ben (1920-1942).

    • Oak Bay address: 1798 Lee Ave, later 1725 Oak Bay Avenue (mother's address, service record)
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    91. Ward, John Duncan (1919-1944).

    • Oak Bay address: listed on the Willows School memorial - the rest of this research is thanks to Willows including his middle name.
    • commemorated on Willows School memorial
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • John Duncan Ward was born in England and the family moved to Canada in 1928 (1931 census)
    • A JE Ward is listed at 1840 Newton St in the 1930 directory. Could this be an error for JS Ward? 1840 Newton is not in Oak Bay, but it's not far from Willows School.
    • at the time of the 1931 census (see line 30), one John Duncan Ward, aged 13, was living at 3127 Balfour Rd (Gorge) Victoria BC, with his parents James Sydney Ward, a heating engineer with the Hudson's Bay store, and Mabel Ward, and older brother Reginald Greaves Ward, aged 16.
    • The family moved to Australia, and John Duncan Ward served with the Royal Australian Air Force.
    • [ Australian Virtual War Memorial ] - photo
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    92. Whiting, Frank Harlow (1917-1944)

    • Oak Bay address: 2183 Windsor Rd (mother's address, service record)
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    93. Williams, Edwin Mountford (1917-1945).

    • Oak Bay address: 311 Foul Bay Road (parents' address, service record)
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM [
    • [ CWGC [
    • [ Find A Grave [

    94. Wilson, Donald Alexander Kenneth (1921-1942).

    • Oak Bay address: 2517 Margate St (service record)
    • Oak Bay High School: included in memorial list in the 1945 Oak Leaf yearbook
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    Wilson, Richard Alexander

    • this name does not appear on the Oak Bay cenotaph, but R.A. Wilson does appear on the hand written decorated Honour Roll displayed in the lobby of Municipal Hall until 2019, which is now in the Archives. A framed facsimile is displayed in the main foyer of Municipal Hall next to the Archives display case.
    • Oak Bay address: Richard Alexander Wilson (d.1943) is listed in several places but ultimately was not placed on the memorial. Service records shows only Vancouver addresses incl PW High. Check father's name in VIctoria during Richard's elementary school years. More research pending...
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    95. Wood, Matthew (1912-1944).

    • Oak Bay address: 777 Victoria Ave (mother Mrs A. Hallworth's address, service record)
    • [ Service record ]
    • [ CVWM ]
    • [ CWGC ]
    • [ Find A Grave ]

    96. Wood, Stanley Edmondson. (1919-1940)

    =================

    Questions? Information to share? Please get in touch!
    Website: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives
    Photo Search: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives/photographs
    Blog posts: https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives
    Email: archives@oakbay.ca
    Phone: 250-598-3290

    - Post by Anna Sander 2023-2024 -

  • Oak Bay Remembers: WW2 Roll of Honour

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    This hand written and decorated Roll of Honour commemorating the women and men of Oak Bay who died in the Second World War hung in the foyer at Municipal Hall until 2019, when it was removed to the Archives for safekeeping during renovations. Given its age and fragility, it will remain in the Archives, but a facsimile hangs in its place, next to the Archives display case in the foyer by the main reception desk.

    It lists 95 names, 91 men and 4 women.

    Transcript:

    FOR KING AND COUNTRY

    RESIDENTS OF

    THE CORPORATION OF THE DISTRICT OF OAK BAY

    WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES

    WITH

    CANADA'S FIGHTING FORCES

    [Col. 1, 28 names]

    Ian Acland. [sic]

    Thomas Akam.

    William B.E. Bailey.

    Thomas Baker.

    Norman Beard.

    Richard Bradbury.

    Ian McDonald Sutherland Brown.

    William Brown.

    John Burd [sic]

    Brian Withers Carmichael.

    Richard T. Christy.

    Patricia Cooney.

    George Henry Corbett.

    H. Reginald Coventry.

    Robert Coventry.

    John Vernon Davey.

    P.F. M. DeFreitas.

    [empty line]

    Henry George Ellis.

    Edward W. R. Fortt.

    Robin Hicks Frame.

    Arthur Harness.

    Desmond Hind.

    Robert Horsfield.

    Raymond Henry Hunter.

    John Latta.

    T.P. Bourque.

    Douglas M. Lindsay.

    Leighton Manning.

    [Col. 2, 20 names]

    Robert S. May.

    Alan Mayhew.

    Frank McMullen. [sic]

    Philip G. Collie MacNeill.

    Richard Meredith.

    Peter Palin.

    William Palmer.

    George Parker.

    Edward G. Robbins.

    Arthur M. Rycroft.

    Ernest W. Scroggs.

    John Shepherd.

    John Stevens.

    Charles M.B. Symons.

    G. L. Trudel.

    Ray Walls.

    Donald Wilson.

    Stanley E. Wood.

    Selby F. Taylor.

    [empty line]

    Douglas R. Eley.

    [Col. 3, 20 names]

    Vincent C.L. Knox.

    James William Lawrie.

    Charles W. Peasland.

    Robert E. Bruce.

    Jack Trace.

    John D. Ward.

    J.H. Doe.

    Matthew Wood.

    Gordon Bradshaw.

    Geoffrey Byatt.

    James A. Cornwall.

    Gordon Fraser.

    Roy Pattinson.

    George B. Stoney.

    F.C. Harman.

    James H. Brooks.

    Fred S. Button.

    George Coulson.

    Kenneth Scharff.

    [empty line]

    Vernon P. Gilson.

    [Col. 4, 27 names]

    Frank H. Whiting.

    E.W.T Mellander.

    Daniel M. Reid.

    James T. Robson.

    John L. Sills.

    J.R.Harpur. [sic]

    Louis Kresse Brown.

    J.R.A MacConachie. [sic]

    T.C.L. Pidcock.

    E.M. Williams.

    Norah [sic] Johnson.

    Maurice Beedham

    E Curtis

    Irving McDermott.

    H L G Mayer [sic]

    T W Moore

    R R Shearing

    R A Shepherd

    D B Stewart

    R A Wilson

    [empty line]

    Pamela G. Bennett.

    [empty line]

    Jack Grogan.

    William H. Leese.

    J. Syme.

    L.H. Tull.

    Graham Verley.

    Violet Field.

    == end ==

    Aside from obvious spelling errors and variations in abbreviation, there are several discrepancies between this list and the contents of the War Memorial at Beach Drive:

    • William J Dyson, William E Phillips - on war memorial, not roll of honour
    • RA Wilson - on roll of honour, not on war memorial
    • HLG Mayer on roll of honour vs. Harry E. Meyer on war memorial -

    ========================

    Questions? Information to share about this topic? Please get in touch!
    Website: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives(External link)
    Photo Search: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives/photographs(External link)
    Blog posts: https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives
    Email: archives@oakbay.ca(External link)
    Phone: 250-598-3290

    - Post by Anna Sander , October 2024.




  • Finding the Fallen: researching Oak Bay's WW2 Memorials

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    As part of the international WW1 commemorations in 2014-18, Oak Bay Archives volunteers researched and compiled a list of the fallen from Oak Bay in 1914-18. So far it comprises 50 names with biographical details: view here.

    The centenary of the beginning of WW2 is still 15 years away, but commemorations and anniversaries are already happening regularly, and these plus a small but persistent trickle of WW2-related enquiries indicate that it's time for Oak Bay Archives to create a similar annotated roll of honour with details for Oak Bay's fallen in WW2. This is now underway, here.

    The aims are

    • Remembrance: to remember and honour the residents of our community who gave their lives in the Second World War
    • Connect: to connect and share information with schools, churches, and other Oak Bay organizations with their own WW2 memorials, providing mutual links where applicable
    • Research: to provide an annotated, linked list of Oak Bay WW2 war dead as a helpful jumping-off point for those interested in conducting their own further local/family history research, and that's easy to add to or correct in future
    • Sources: to use and provide links to sources as close to the original and/or contemporary as possible, and avoid sources of online information that are simply quoting (or misquoting) each other
    • Collections: to encourage residents of Oak Bay and the wider community to share information and archival material related to Oak Bay's war dead via Oak Bay Archives

    Oak Bay's War Memorial on Beach Drive near Cattle Point was erected following WW2, and includes 96 names, of 4 women and 92 men. So far so good, that's one huge step already done. Alan and Leona, who researched Oak Bay's WW1 fallen, had no list to begin, and had to start their research from scratch! But there are discrepancies between the war memorial, a list created at the Archives, municipal correspondence, and external sources - errors, omissions, spelling mistakes, "orphan data", mysteries. Every name has to be checked.

    Then there's another element to add to the mix: the hand written and decorated WW2 Roll of Honour that hung in the main foyer at Municipal Hall until 2019 - now in the Archives and replaced by a framed facsimile in the foyer. This list is in a mostly different order, and contains names not on the cenotaph. VIEW HERE

    The order is obviously intentional, but what is it? chronological by year? more research needed...

    Things I wanted to ensure we had, as applicable, for each name, and places to start looking:

    • full name and life dates - names expanded and corrected, recorded variants noted to assist future research
    • Oak Bay address - often found somewhere in the service record. It's not always the subject's own current home or permanent address (at the time of enlistment or during service), but it's a good Oak Bay related starting point for further local and family history research.
    • Archives Canada service record link
    • Canadian Virtual War Memorial record link
    • Commonwealth War Graves Commission link
    • Find A Grave link
    • photo or link to photo at one or more of the above
    • link to further information online or in original records held at Oak Bay Archives or elsewhere

    Things I wondered about:

    • which branches did Oak Bay men and women serve in?
    • how old were they? (mean, median, mode)
    • are Oak Bay statistics consistent with BC and national ones?
    • what kinds of Oak Bay connections did they have? variously born here, attended Oak Bay schools, moved to Oak Bay for work, settled in Oak Bay with their own (usually young) families, parents moved to Oak Bay.

    The early gathering of names by the chief engineer for Oak Bay was conducted with stated criteria: "The list is intended to include all who attended Oak Bay schools, were born in the municipality, or lived there for about five years." (British Colonist 5 July 1946, p 8.) There is so much research to be done for every name on the list, to add to a picture of their Oak Bay connections.

    Although the National Archives of Canada have done a HUGE service in digitizing all the Canadian WW2 service records of those who died during the war and making them publicly searchable and viewable online, in many cases it's not as straightforward as identifying a service record and checking for an Oak Bay address. A significant number did not serve with the Canadian forces but American or British - those service records are mostly not available online, and those names may or may not be commemorated in the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

    Eventually, it would be wonderful to map the Oak Bay addresses with Honour Roll connections for both WW1 and WW2, as the CWGC are doing for the UK.

    Sources used for research:

    • City directories
    • WW2 Service records at Archives Canada
    • Census records at Archives Canada
    • Victoria Colonist newspaper
    • Victoria Daily Times newspaper
    • Canadian Virtual War Memorial
    • Commonwealth War Graves Commission
    • Find A Grave
    • Missing Marines

    * * *

    A note about the WW1 Roll of Honour: thanks to the many people who have contributed to online projects in the last decade, particularly on Find A Grave, there is so much more well-attested information available online nowadays that I was able to find and add details for the last two names whose entries had until 2024 been simply "research in progress", Benjamin Buss and Wilfred Sampson, as well as adding the full name of Thomas Weston Buss. There is so much more research and writing that could be done for each of the names on that list as well. We hope the Oak Bay community will be inspired to join in researching and writing those stories.

    =========================

    Questions? Information to share on this topic? Please get in touch!
    Website: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives
    Photo Search: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives/photographs
    Blog posts: https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives
    Email: archives@oakbay.ca
    Phone: 250-598-3290

    - Post by Anna Sander October 2024 -

  • Oak Bay Remembers: Hampshire Road Methodist Church Honor Roll

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    For the story of how this document came to Oak Bay Archives and was conserved, please see this article from the Oak Bay News, May 2019.

    A brief history of Hampshire Road Methodist (later United) Church can be viewed here (Gary Wilcox, Oak Bay Encyclopedia)

    The WW1 Honor Roll includes 24 names, transcribed below, with rank and regimental abbreviations, which we hope will help to distinguish them from others with the same or similar names during identification. The term "Roll of Honour" is usually used when listing those who died on active service. This document is what's more often referred to as a Roll of Service, as it includes all who served, including those who returned.

    For each name, we hope to be able to add their full names and life dates, further biographical detail, their Oak Bay address (bearing in mind church attendance is not aligned to municipal boundaries!), WW1 service record, and Find a Grave entry. For those who survived the war, more information may be available. For those who did not, we will try to link to their entries on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial and Commonwealth War Graves Commission sites.

    We hope to discover the reason for the order of the list, since it is neither alphabetical nor by rank.

    Honor Roll

    Abbreviations and ditto marks are expanded below to aid in online searches.

    [col. 1]

    Private A. Franklin, 50 Battalion.

    • full name
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Private W.R. Stobart, 11 Battalion.

    Private C.H. Mumford, 67 Battalion.

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Private A. McKissick, 1st Pioneers.

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Private F.S. Sandiford, 6th Engineers.

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Private H. Johnston, 11 Battalion.

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Private R. Nelson, 103 Battalion.

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Private J. Nelson, 103 Battalion.

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Private H. Nelson, 143 Battalion.

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Private T.G. White, 103 Battalion.

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Private B. Francis, 242 Battalion.

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Sergeant J.A. Hibberson, 68 Battery, 14 Brigade.

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    [col. 2]

    Sergeant G.E.Deakin, 62 CFA (Canadian Field Artillery)

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Private C. Oliver, 1st Pioneers

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Gunner C.B. Henderson, 5 CFA (Canadian Field Artillery)

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    L/C (Lance Corporal) D. Willis, 48 Battalion

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Private F. B. Farquharson, AMC (Army Medical Corps)

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Private W. White, 48 Battalion

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Sergeant H. German [section not noted]

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Private J. Herdman, 13 FA (Field Artillery)

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Private J.E. White, 103 Battalion.

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Private A.J. Francis, 242 Battalion

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Private G. Williams, AMC (Army Medical Corps)

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    Private E.C. Curry, AMC (Army Medical Corps)

    • full name & life dates
    • Oak Bay address
    • service record
    • CVWM
    • CWGC
    • Find a Grave

    = end of list =


  • On This Day - 1 October 1924

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    Starting an occasional series, prompted by the local headlines a century ago today. The Colonist newspaper's back issues, digitized and online up to 1980 at https://britishcolonist.ca/, are a wonderfully rich source of contemporary information. I hope they're planning to upload the next decade's worth soon!

    https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist0924uvic_24/page/n1/mode/1up?view=theater

    Let's see: murder trial, war, national and international politics, elections, shipwreck - nothing new under the sun! and an oddly specific echo of today's news, disastrous flooding in the eastern United States.

    Lower down on the front page is a not very eye-catching headline: "DEAL LIKELY TO BE CONSUMMATED".

    A Oak Bay Council meeting of the Committee of the Whole is described, in which "all phases of the offer of the Oak Bay Reverted Lands Syndicate to buy from the municipality 499 of Oak Bay's reverted lots for $75,000, paying $15,000 down, and the balance of $60,000 in four annual installments of $15,000 each, with interest at [?3 or 5] per cent per annum, and paying the taxes on the said lots each year, were thoroughly threshed out" for four hours, to the exclusion of al other business on the agenda. The Reverted Lands Syndicate was represented by Alfred Carmichael, David Leeming, and Charles E. Yearwood.

    Obviously, for us nowadays, it's the idea of Oak Bay land being snapped up 500 lots at a time as a bargain that gets a reader's attention! But what's the story behind it?

    Questions:

    Reverted Lands? i.e. reverted to ownership by the municipality for non-payment of municipal taxes. Many of these lots would have been vacant - a vigorous building boom was stopped by WW1, and the 1920s were economically difficult leading up to the Depression of the 1930s.

    Which lots? Who owned them? What had happened to them, why were the taxes unpaid?

    Sources:

    George Murdoch's administrative history of Oak Bay:

    in 1923," The Corporation still had some 500 lots, reverted from tax sales, on its hands and in an effort to dispose of these properties a letter was sent to the Victoria Real Estate Board requesting suggestions."

    Here's some background to the syndicate from earlier in 1924:

    https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist0124uvic_32/page/n73/mode/1up (column 1, "Real Estate Values")

    Some years later, the issue of reverted lands - and the related rise in municipal taxes - was a sore point in the City of Victoria, to the tune of more than 2,000 reverted lots: read here

    more to come...

    ======================

    Questions? Information to share on this topic? Please get in touch!
    Website: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives
    Photo Search: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives/photographs
    Blog posts: https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives
    Email: archives@oakbay.ca
    Phone: 250-598-3290

    - Post by Anna Sander, October 2024.

  • September 2024 in the Archives

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    Public open hours: The Archives were open for enquiries and on-site research appointments 17.5 hours/week as usual, with drop-in hours on Tuesday mornings. I was at the District stall for 4 hours 4-8pm at the September Night Market on Oak Bay Avenue, with June Preston for part of the time. which generated 40+ conversations and questions answered on the spot, plus 8 written enquiries. We again shared the tent with CRD staff advertising the CRD's Home Energy Navigator Program. We were lucky with the weather again, but summer was over - it was dark by the time we were taking the tents down.

    The Night Markets have been a great success and we look forward to seeing you on summer evenings next year!

    Enquiries: 14, of which 8 in person.

    Running total for 2024: 166.

    On-site volunteer hours logged: 37 (5 volunteers)

    Volunteer projects (ongoing):

    • municipal demolished-property files indexing
    • historic building permits indexing
    • assisting with enquiries research
    • file listing in a large collection of personal papers, preparatory to cataloguing
    • transcribing oral history recordings, checking existing transcripts

    Views on Flickr in August: (about 5K, total 307,567 by 7 October, since 3 Mar 2022).

    Archivist's work:

    • staffing Night Market table & responding to ensuing enquiries
    • continuing survey & detailed descriptions of maps, plans & drawings in the collections
    • internal and external enquiries research and responses, facilitating researcher visits, volunteer management & monthly bulletin - #55

    Questions or appointment requests? Please get in touch!

    Website: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives
    Photo Search: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives/photographs
    More photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/oakbayarchives/
    Blog posts: https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives
    Email:     archives@oakbay.ca
    Phone: 250-598-3290

    - Post by Anna Sander, 7 October 2024.

    To cite: Sander, Anna. (2024, October). 'September 2024 in the Archives.' [Blog post]. District of Oak Bay, Archives. Retrieved from https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives/news_feed/september-2024-in-the-archives [date accessed].

  • August 2024 in the Archives

    Share August 2024 in the Archives on Facebook Share August 2024 in the Archives on Twitter Share August 2024 in the Archives on Linkedin Email August 2024 in the Archives link

    Public open hours: The Archives were open for enquiries and on-site research appointments 17.5 hours/week as usual, with drop-in hours on Tuesday mornings, except for one week while I took some annual leave. June Preston and I were at the District stall for 4 hours 4-8pm at the August Night Market on Oak Bay Avenue, which generated 40+ conversations and enquiries answered on the spot, plus 6 written enquiries. This time we shared the tent with CRD staff advertising the CRD's Home Energy Navigator Program. Looking forward to the last of the season on 11 September.

    Enquiries: 9, of which 8 in person.

    Running total for 2024: 149 - thanks to a big boost through engagement at the Night Markets, by the end of August we exceeded the yearly enquiry totals for 2020-2023.

    On-site volunteer hours logged: 36 (5 volunteers)

    Volunteer projects (ongoing):

    • municipal demolished-property files indexing
    • historic building permits indexing
    • assisting with enquiries research
    • file listing in a large collection of personal papers, preparatory to cataloguing
    • survey of cataloguing/digitization state of oral history collection, file listing preparatory to cataloguing

    Views on Flickr in August: (1.2K, total 302.9K by 30 August, since 3 Mar 2022).

    Archivist's work (3 weeks):

    • staffing Night Market table & responding to ensuing enquiries (bulk of work in August as well, catching up)
    • continuing survey & detailed descriptions of maps, plans & drawings in the collections
    • internal and external enquiries research and responses, facilitating researcher visits, volunteer management & monthly bulletin - #54

    Questions or appointment requests? Please get in touch!

    Website: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives
    Photo Search: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives/photographs
    More photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/oakbayarchives/
    Blog posts: https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives
    Email:     archives@oakbay.ca
    Phone: 250-598-3290

    - Post by Anna Sander, 6 September 2024.

    To cite: Sander, Anna. (2024, September). 'August 2024 in the Archives.' [Blog post]. District of Oak Bay, Archives. Retrieved from https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives/news_feed/august-2024-in-the-archives [date accessed].

Page last updated: 18 Nov 2024, 11:34 AM