One of the most interesting and likeable characters in our early history here is Dr. John Sebastian Helmcken whose statue is pictured above. It's a relatively new statue that was erected in May 2011 in the small square in front of the house the doctor built and lived in during the nineteenth century. He arrived here in 1850, only seven years after the colony was founded and became an important part of the colony's political and socal life.Wikipedia has a good short biography of Dr. Helmcken. And there is some interesting anecdotal material on the BC Heritage website. Below is a short video of the unveiling of the statue in front of Helmcken's house last spring. The house still stands in its original location beside the Royal BC Museum overlooking the Inner Harbour.
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
John Sebastian Helmcken
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4 comments:
Interesting bit of our colonial history, and an excellent statue.
Victoria has a great RBC museum.
My first thought was as to why I hadn't seen it before, but you explained that - it's newish. I'll be checking it out for myself next month. Victoria is on a roll with all the new statuary added in the core the last few years.
Interesting post and nice statue.
Chrissy at Manchester: a photo a day at Mancunian Wave
I really love the look of the old Helmcken house in the city. Glad they put a statue out front!
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