July 2004 - Vol Four, No.8

History Helps, Volume Four, Number 8, July 2004
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CROP REPORTS

... were essential information at this time of year for farmers.

"Crops and the Weather

E. Hutcherson, the well and favorably known nurseryman, fruit grower and owner of the Jubilee ranche [sic], Ladner’s Landing, was in the city this morning. He has The World’s thanks for a crate of magnificent strawberries. He reports the small fruit crop as a great success with him this year, he having netted [sic] $1,000 from the product of 2 1/2 acres. The hay crop this year will not be as heavy an [sic] one as was last year’s. Wheat, of which there is a considerable breadth sown, looks very promising, as does also many of the other cereals. Roots and vegetables likewise promise well. Fine seasonable weather alone now is all that is required to make the heart of the farmer glad and fill his excheque [sic] with the gold eagles."

Source: Vancouver Daily World, 21 July 1891, page five.

A Reference Website

This website contains mind-boggling amounts of information that is logically arranged and quickly retrieved. Much of it is American, but there are many interesting and useful things to be found here, the equivalent of a well-stocked reference library. Look for it at http://www.refdesk.com/

Summer Holidays and Teachers

"NEW RULES FOR TEACHERS

Many Pedagogues Are Writing Their Examination Papers.

Teachers are writing at Vancouver, Victoria and Kamloops. In the future new regulations will govern the teachers’ certificates. These regulations were issued some time ago by the Council of Public Instruction, and are announced to come into effect on August 1, 1901. Hereafter all certificates issued to teachers by the board of examiners will be of four classes -- third class, second class, first class and academic certificates. Third class certificates shall be valid for three years, but no person shall be allowed to renew a third class certificate. All others shall be valid for life or during good behavior. All candidates must at least be 18 years of age on or before the date of the issue of the professional certificate.

To secure a third class certificate a candidate must have obtained a high school junior certificate and must complete to the satisfaction of his instructors, the professional course provided for third class certificates in the normal school.

To secure a second class certificate a candidate must have obtained a high school intermediate certificate, or he [sic] must, after regularly entering a high school in the Province and pursuing the course of study and passing the junior examination prescribed for high schools, have passed the examination for matriculation in arts of a university specified in the Public Schools act, and must complete to the satisfaction of his instructors, the professional course provided for second class certificates in the normal school.

To secure a first class certificate, a candidate must have obtained a high school senior certificate, or he must, after regularly entering a high school in the Province and pursuing the course of study and passing the junior examination and such other examination as is prescribed for high schools that are affiliated to a university, have passed the examination upon the first year course in arts of such university, and must complete to the satisfaction of his instructors, the professional course provided for first class certificates in the normal school.

To secure an academic certificate, a candidate must have obtained a high school academic certificate, or he must, after regularly entering a high school in the Province and pursuing the course of study and passing the junior examination and such other examinations as are prescribed for high schools that are affiliated to a university as specified in the act, have passed the intermediate examination in arts in such university, and must complete to the satisfaction of his instructors the professional course provided for first class certificates in the normal school; or he must be a graduate in arts or science of a recognized university in His Majesty’s dominions, who has proceeded regularly to his degree, and unless already the holder of a professional certificate approved by the board of examiners, must complete to the satisfaction of his instructors, the professional course provided for first class certificates in the normal school.

To render the foregoing more easily understood it may be remarked that matriculation in arts may be substituted for the intermediate examination; the first year in arts for the senior examination, and the intermediate in arts for the senior academic examination, provided always that the persons passing in these university examinations are bona fide students of a high school of the Province."

Source: [Vancouver] Daily World, 04 July 1901, page two.

Genealogy Newsletter

For anyone interested, the Vancouver Public Library puts out a Genealogical Resources Newsletter, which is a free publication of the History and Government Division. Available in print or by e-mail, future issues can be obtained by phoning 604-331-3603, or sending an e-mail to info@vpl.ca. The website of the Vancouver Public Library can be found at http://www.vpl.vancouver.bc.ca/home.html

The Continuing Saga of the S. S. Beaver

"Low tide exposes wreck of Beaver

When the tide goes out these days, Vancouver’s history comes in.

Extremely low tides are exposing the legendary S. S. Beaver, British Columbia’s first steamship which sank off Stanley Park in 1888 and was concealed for decades ..."

Source: The Vancouver Sun, Tuesday, 08 June 2004, page A1.

National Archives Website

Here’s a good reason to make a habit of periodically checking heavily-used websites. I found a new and useful database on the National Archives of Canada site. This one is called "Soldiers of the South African War (1899 - 1902) and is designed similarly to the database for Soldiers in the Canadian Expeditionary Force for World War One which has been around for some time. Both can be found, along with some other new databases at http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/020156_e.html

Adoption Records

This item is applicable only in a tangential way, as far as I’m aware:

"Alberta to open adoption records

CALGARY -- Alberta will join B. C. and Newfoundland in opening the doors on its adoption records this fall, making the search for biological family members easier for adopted children and their birth parents. Starting in November, adult adoptees and birth parents in Alberta will have access to ‘identifying information’ like names, ages and places of birth -- vital details that have traditionally been sealed in government records. B. C. opened its adoption records in 1996 and Newfoundland followed suit last month. Other provinces have yet to make similar changes."

Source: The Vancouver Sun, Wednesday, 02 June 2004, page A5.

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As far as B. C. adoption records are concerned, the Vital Statistics website, or, more accurately, the page relating to what records are available to adoptees or to birth parents, contains this explanation, which can be found at http://www.vs.gov.bc.ca/adoption/index.html:

"Adopted people, who were born and adopted in British Columbia, will receive a copy of their original birth registration in their birth name (including the names of any birth parents on record) and a copy of their adoption order provided a disclosure veto has not been filed.

Birth parents of people born and adopted in British Columbia will receive a copy of the adopted person's original birth registration, a copy of the adopted person's birth registration following adoption including any change of name consequent to the adoption, and a copy of the adoption order.

Adopted people, who were not born in British Columbia but were adopted in the province, will receive a copy of the adoption order and any identification particulars of the adopted person.

Similarly, birth parents of people adopted in British Columbia but not born in the province will receive a copy of the adoption order and any identification particulars of the adopted person following the adoption.

Before any adoption record is released to a birth parent, all identifying information pertaining to adoptive parents is deleted to protect their right to privacy."

Website Update

Self-promotion is never ending. I have now an updated page on my website, offering lookups of newspaper obituaries, as well as registrations of births, deaths and marriages in British Columbia. This link will take you directly to the page http://www.ladnerslanding.com/Lookup.html.

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Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone.

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Gwen Szychter, M.A.

P.S. Here's a favour you can do for me: If you liked this newsletter and found it helpful or just interesting, please pass it on to a friend or colleague. Thank you.