New Bridge

With all the fanfare over the new Johnson Street Bridge I have neglected to keep our visitors up to date with another new bridge that has recently been opened to traffic. Pictured above and below, this is the new Admirals Road Bridge over the Gorge near the Craigflower Schoolhouse and Manor. In the photo above, the schoolhouse is obscured by trees of Kosapsom Park on the right. Craigflower Manor is the white building directly above the bridge. This is not a new crossing but a new bridge to replace the old bridge.

While the design is simple and utilitarian I like the generous portion of the the bridge that is allocated to pedestrians and bicycles, especially in comparison to the narrow dimensions of the old bridge.

Ross Bay Cemetery 2 - Kenneth Mackenzie (1811-1875)

Above is the family mausoleum of Kenneth MacKenzie, his wife Agnes and other members of their family. It is located right next to the plot of the Pearse family that I posted about last Wednesday. There is something very Scottish about the craggy solidity of this structure - and that is fitting for a Scotsman who came out from Scotland to carve out a new life for himself and his family in early Victoria.

The foundation of his house, now known as Craigflower Manor, had been laid before his arrival in Victoria but the building (on the left) was completed after he came according to his wishes to have it resemble his family home, Renton Hall, in Scotland. Renton Hall is pictured on the right (Photo from virtualmuseum.ca.) Craigflower Manor still stands although since a serious fire some years ago it remains closed to the public. Nevertheless there is an excellent website where one can get a good idea of the furnishings and interior of the house and the kind of life the MacKenzies lived there. Click HERE to visit Craigflower Manor website.

When Mackenzie disembarked in Victoria in 1853 he brought with him his wife Agnes and six children ranging in ages from 8 months to 10 years old. One can only imagine what a 5 months sea voyage must have been like for this young family. However, the Mackenzie children thrived in their new environment. One daughter reminisced, "We were happy as children for it was a great change for us to run wild after a more or less restricted nursery life in Scotland." Mackenzie came to Victoria as an employee of the Hudson Bay Company to develop and manage their farms so as to produce needed foodstuffs and materials for other residents of the new colony and for visiting ships. Another early settler, Dr. John Sebastian Helmcken, described MacKenzie thus: "hale, robust and powerful - a good specimen of a hospitable, warm-hearted 'Scotch laird' a kind of whole souled proper gentleman" (quoted from the BCheritage website.) Mackenzie later left the company's employ and developed his own sheep farm, Lake Hill Farm, near Christmas Hill, where he and his family lived. One of his grandsons lived there until his death in 1947.

Admirals Bridge

A few days ago I posted a photo of Tillicum Bridge, the fourth bridge to cross the Gorge. Moving upstream westward the next and final bridge is the Admirals Bridge or Admirals Road Bridge. Some time ago I posted a photo taken from this bridge but have not before posted a photo of the bridge itself. VirtualVacationGuide.com has posted a nice 360 degree panorama of this bridge that you can see by clicking HERE. The bridge connects two of Victoria's most significant historical sites, Craigflower Manor and Craigflower School. The school is the white building visible through the trees on the far left of the above photo. Craigflower Manor was directly behind the photographer in the above photo. Both of these sites have been featured extensively on this blog in the past.

Craigflower Manor

Craigflower Farm was initiated in 1853 to provide food for the fort, the growing colony and the ships of the British Navy. In that year the foundation was laid for Craigflower Manor, intended for the manager of the farm, Kenneth MacKenzie, his wife and large family (4 boys and 4 girls). The house was completed in the Georgian Revival style after the arrival of the MacKenzies from Scotland and they moved in in 1856. This is not the oldest house in BC but it is the oldest house in this style and one of the very earliest to remain standing today. It was extensively restored and furnished with period items but suffered from a fire last year. Though the fire was small the damage from smoke and soot was extensive throughout the house and all of the artifacts have been moved into storage to allow the structure to be cleaned. Consequently it is not possible to view the interior. However, there are photos of many of the interior rooms before the fire on the BC Heritage website. There's lots of other interesting information there as well about life in early Victoria. Wikipedia also has a good article about Craigflower Farm and School. And, about 18 months ago I published a few photos and a bit of information on this blog. Craigflower School, a separate building, was not damaged by fire and I was able to go inside and look around at the restored classroom and other rooms. I'll post some photos of this tomorrow.

Upper Gorge - Craigflower Manor and School

This photo is meant to serve as an introduction to the next few days' posts. Here we are looking up the Gorge from the Craigflower Bridge. To the left just out of the frame is Craigflower Manor, one of the earliest extant colonial houses in British Columbia, built in 1856. Off camera to the right and behind me is Craigflower School, the oldest schoolhouse in western Canada (1855). Together they constitute a National as well as a Provincial Historical Site. During my visit I was fortunate to encounter a guide both informed and patient who took me inside both of these old buildings and gave me some insight into their history. Thank you, Cailin Glenn, for the great tour. Between them, these two buildings provide a wonderfully evocative snapshot of life in Victoria's earliest days and tomorrow we'll have a look at them as well as what's behind their doors.

Craigflower Manor

Photos: Above, Craigflower Manor. Below, Craigflower Manor on the left, Craigflower Bridge in the centre, Craigflower School on the right. Bottom photo: Manor house rear porch window.

Craigflower Farm was established on land purchased in 1850 from the chiefs of the Kosapsom people, who had lived in the area for millennia. Throughout the farm’s existence, the Kosapsom continued to live on adjacent land, and many became involved in the farm operations, being employed in land clearing, construction, housekeeping and other duties.

The farm was one of four original farms set up by the Hudson’s Bay Company as part of their obligations in settling Vancouver Island. The farms were managed by a subsidiary company, the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, with the expectation that they would not only meet their colonizing objectives, but would also reap a profit from the sale of livestock and produce.

In 1853, Kenneth McKenzie and his family along with 18 farm hands and their families arrived in Victoria aboard the "Norman Morison", following a strenuous six month journey around Cape Horn. They soon took up residence on the farm site, and began clearing land and building accommodations. McKenzie oversaw the construction of the farmhouse, which was modeled after his ancestral home in Scotland. On May 1st, 1856, the McKenzie family moved in.

During the 1850s and 1860s the farm site continued to grow and develop. The school was opened in 1855 with 26 students. The first teacher, Charles Clark lived upstairs in the schoolhouse with his family and a number of children from outlying areas who boarded with them.

At that time, there were 20 other dwellings on site, as well as a saw mill, a flour mill, a blacksmith’s shop, a brick kiln, slaughterhouse and a general store. Seventy-six people lived at the farm during this period, but many of the original farmhands chose not to renew their contracts after 1857. The McKenzie family stayed on at Craigflower until 1866, at which time they moved on to their own sheep farm.

The farmhouse was subsequently rented to a series of tenants, but the farm itself did not succeed. The school was closed in 1911, and was subsequently re-opened as a museum in 1931. Eventually acquired by the Province of BC for protection as historic sites, the farmhouse and schoolhouse were declared National Historic Sites in 1967. (From The Land Conservancy Website.)

There is also an excellent description and backgrounder by Maureen Duffus HERE and anaother great source of information from BC Heritage HERE.