Deas Cannery employs 25 people

John Sullivan Deas took over the salmon canning business that had been started by Edward Stamp and pre-empted the land between Delta and Richmond that now bears his name. The British Colonist newspaper reported on July 25, 1872, “At the Fishery which is carried on by...

1871: Census for Blacks in B.C. and Canada

The total population of the province in 1871 was 36,427. That number included 8,576 (23.7%) British/Continental European, 1,548 (4.3%) Asian, and an estimated 25,661 (70.8%) Indigenous. Source: Jean Barman “The West Beyond the West”, pg. 429. The official census for...

September 16, 1868: The Barkerville Fire

John Anderson, a local correspondent for “The Elevator” a San Francisco newspaper, wrote of the effects of the Barkerville fire, “Mr. Editor: —Since I last wrote you, we have met with a serious calamity— Barkerville has been entirely destroyed by fire, and it...

September 14,1868: The Yale Convention

On September 14,1868, 26 delegates from the BC colonies met at Yale, BC for a convention of the Confederation League. The Confederation League was led by Amor de Cosmos, then a B.C. legislative council member. Mifflin Gibbs, represented Salt Spring Island. The...