April 2004 - Vol Four, No.5

HAPPY EASTER!

When I did a search on the Internet for "Easter," one of the sites that was included revealed how Easter was calculated. You can find that site at http://www.smart.net/~mmontes/ec-cal.html, where, not surprisingly, you’ll also discover some other gems, not necessarily having anything to do with history, British Columbia or otherwise.

Another Item About the Beaver

"THE OLD BEAVER

Sixty Years Ago To-day She Arrived at Fort Vancouver

Sixty years ago to-day, April 17th, the first steamer to plough the waters of the Pacific, the old Beaver, not a vestige of which can now be seen above Siwash rock in the Narrows, arrived at Fort Vancouver, the Hudson’s Bay Company’s station. She came round the Horn from England.

Steamers were scarce when the Beaver started away from Gravesend on her long journey in the fall of 1835, and the successful trip of the Savannah a short time previous is all that prevented the Beaver from claiming the honor of being the first steamer to cross the Atlantic ocean. As it is, the name of the old craft will live forever in the annals of steam navigation as the first steamer to enter the Pacific ocean, as well as the first one on any of the waters of the Northwest. This fame, which will ultimately become international, is not so thoroughly appreciated in the Northwest from the fact that the extreme age reached by the old pioneer placed her easily within the recollection of nearly all of the present generation.

All over the Northwest are hundreds of people who remember the antique-appearing craft that splashed around the waters of the Sound and British Columbia until about eight years ago, when she was wrecked in the Narrows with her timbers as sound as the day they were put in place. No more striking picture of the rapidity of development and progress was ever witnessed than the common sight of one of the magnificent Empresses of the Canadian Pacific Royal Mail line to the Orient flying past the veteran as she rested helpless on the rocks while the curio hunters hacked her to pieces. On reaching Fort Vancouver, April 10, 1836, the Beaver’s machinery was overhauled, her paddle wheels shipped, and on May 16, 1836, she was ready for business."

Source: Vancouver Daily World, 17 April 1896, page seven.

Information at the National Archives of Canada

New help is now available for anyone researching his or her aboriginal roots at the National Library of Canada and the National Archives of Canada, in the form of a guide titled "Researching Your Aboriginal Ancestry at Library and Archives Canada."

To access the guide, go to the Canadian Genealogy Centre Web site at http://www.genealogy.gc.ca, click on "How To" and then click on "Guides."

There is also a contact person available, if you wish more information, namely, Louisa Coates, Media Relations, Library and Archives Canada, (613) 992-9361/cell: (613) 295-5516 e-mail: lcoates@archives.ca

Motor Insurance Initiated

"MOTOR INSURANCE COMPULSORY IN B.C. ON SEPTEMBER 1

Six provinces in Canada have now enacted financial responsibility clauses in the Motor Act, that in B. C. being due to go into effective operation September 1 this year.

The B. C. act will allow the principle of a first accident or in other words, drivers will not be affected by the act until they render themselves open to its terms.

New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Ontario have adopted similar legislation.

Paving the way for their cooperation in the new B. C. law, the B. C. Insurance Underwriters’ Association, Automobile Branch, has issued a brief pamphlet analyzing the chief terms and effect of the B. C. law.

The summary makes it plain that the insurance is now compulsory and that the whole object of the law is to encourage careful driving and eliminate irresponsible drivers.

Under the amended B. C. Motor Vehicle act, drivers’ licences may be suspended for failure to satisfy, within 30 days, a final judgement by an Canadian court for injury to person, or damage in excess of $100 to property through driving to the common danger; exceeding the speed limit (where damage in either case is more than $25); failure to return to the scene of an accident; driving without a license; or any criminal offence involving the use of a car.

Every license suspended under such conditions will remain void until the holder has given proof of his financial responsibility and, in the case of damage claims, until these claims are satisfied.

The proof of financial responsibility to be demanded includes visible cash or credit in the form of bond or insurance to the extent of $11,000, $10,000 of which is for the coverage of public liability and $1,000 for property damage."

Source: The Weekly Optimist, 25 August 1932, page one.

Treasures in the Filing Cabinet

I’m sure every researcher has had the experience that I’ve just recently had, namely, being on the hunt for some elusive piece of information and finding something equally valuable. With a less than perfect filing system that has evolved over the past fifteen years, I came across a completely unexpected file labelled "Other Sources" -- nowadays I don’t even know what I would file under such a heading.

The long and the short of it is that I found in that file information about a text published around 1989 by the Public History Group at the University of Victoria. It is called "The Researcher’s Guide to British Columbia Nineteenth Century Directories, a Bibliography & Index" and would appear to be a most useful resource for those of us who frequently search in these informative tomes.

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Gwen Szychter, M.A.

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