Vancouver Island History

Stories from the Colonial decade include the building of the first sawmill, the first legislative assembly of the colony, and early Victoria theatrical performances. Post-colonial stories include the building of the Malahat Drive and stories from the earliest days of Canada's Navy in Esquimalt.

• Agnes McKenzie’s Craigflower Dream House
• Attach Frazer’s River to Vancouver’s Island
• Cole Island Naval Magazine
• Craigflower - The British Empire Connection
• Esquimalt's Historic Halfway House
• Esquimalt's St. Paul's Church
• Historic View Royal Limekiln
• Miss Phillips Remembers the Dockyard
• Thetis Cove's Earliest Subdivision
• Vancouver Island's First Legislature
• Vancouver Island's Malahat Drive

Also see Maureen's Books OR Suggested Reading

For more information on the history of
Vancouver Island: (Links will open in a new window)

• BC Archives
• City of Victoria Municipal Archives
• District of Saanich Municipal Archives
• Township of Esquimalt Municipal Archives
• University of Victoria Archives
• Victoria Historical Society
• viHistory

Celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the Canadian Navy with the memories of someone who was there at the very beginning and through two World Wars - part of a story told by Miss Joy Phillips who lived and worked in the dockyard for many years between 1905 and 1951. From the British Admiralty's closure of its Pacific stations in 1905 to the creation of the Canadian Navy in 1910 and through to D-Day and beyond.
A Navy Centennial Story
Miss Phillips Remembers the Dockyard

Joy Phillips and her family lived in the historic brick naval storekeepers house long before it became Admiral’s House.
(Image Courtesy of BC Archives
- Source from Call Number: F-07222)

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