history

Robert Hampton Gray was the last Canadian to earn the Victoria Cross during the Second World War. (submitted)

Remembering Hammy Gray, the B.C. ‘hick’ turned daredevil wartime flyer

BC Aviation Museum is out to host a memorial monument for Canada’s last Victoria Cross

  • Mar 15, 2020
Robert Hampton Gray was the last Canadian to earn the Victoria Cross during the Second World War. (submitted)
In 1910 an explosion at the Departure Bay powderworks wrapped a rail around a tree it was so powerful. (submitted)

T.W. Paterson column: Nanaimo’s biggest bang was a close call

Remembering when a ship-turned bomb exploded on Protection Island

  • Mar 1, 2020
In 1910 an explosion at the Departure Bay powderworks wrapped a rail around a tree it was so powerful. (submitted)
Fanny Rodgers shows a 45-year-old message left in the walls of her Castlegar home.                                 Photo: John Boivin

Hidden message connects Castlegar homeowners decades apart

The Rodgers family was surprised when a message fell out of the walls as they were renovating

Fanny Rodgers shows a 45-year-old message left in the walls of her Castlegar home.                                 Photo: John Boivin
Ken Lane, former director of the Royal London Wax Museum, pours tea for Queen Victoria in his Saanich home. (Nina Grossman/News Staff)

Hundreds of wax figures find new life in Saanich man’s home

Former director of Victoria’s Royal London Wax Museum still hopes to revive wax figure tourism

Ken Lane, former director of the Royal London Wax Museum, pours tea for Queen Victoria in his Saanich home. (Nina Grossman/News Staff)
A collection of new artifacts from the wreck of the Franklin Expedition’s HMS Erebus, is seen at Parks Canada Conservation Laboratories in Ottawa, on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. Artifacts include a hairbrush, handle of a stamp for a seal, clothes brush, comb, piece of sealing wax, chain, toothbrush and paintbrush. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Thumbprint, hairbrush: Franklin wreck in Nunavut waters reveals sailors’ lives

In 2019, the Parks Canada team produced extraordinary images of the HMS Terror

A collection of new artifacts from the wreck of the Franklin Expedition’s HMS Erebus, is seen at Parks Canada Conservation Laboratories in Ottawa, on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. Artifacts include a hairbrush, handle of a stamp for a seal, clothes brush, comb, piece of sealing wax, chain, toothbrush and paintbrush. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
T.W. interviewed Glaswegian John Lawson ‘Jock’ Hamilton, who survived the Halifax Explosion of 1919. (archive photo)

T.W. Paterson column: There’s never been a generation gap for this columnist

As humble copy boy at the Daily Colonist I have gone where no others would go before me.

  • Feb 16, 2020
T.W. interviewed Glaswegian John Lawson ‘Jock’ Hamilton, who survived the Halifax Explosion of 1919. (archive photo)
Sculptor Nathan Scott adds detail to the tremendous clay mutton chops of John Abbott. Looking on is the ill-fated John Thompson (front right), the 68-day leader Charles Tupper (back right) and Mackenzie Bowell (back left). (Dave Eagles/Kamloops This Week)

Kamloops sculptor casting Canada’s forefathers in bronze

Four of Canada’s early prime ministers will be cast in bronze at a shop in Knutsford, B.C.

  • Feb 9, 2020
Sculptor Nathan Scott adds detail to the tremendous clay mutton chops of John Abbott. Looking on is the ill-fated John Thompson (front right), the 68-day leader Charles Tupper (back right) and Mackenzie Bowell (back left). (Dave Eagles/Kamloops This Week)
February 1916 in Duncan, after record snowfall. (T.W. Paterson collection)

T.W. Paterson column: Relax! It doesn’t snow like it used to

So I wrote, years ago, in one of the earliest Chronicles of the ‘Great Snow’ of 1916.

  • Feb 2, 2020
February 1916 in Duncan, after record snowfall. (T.W. Paterson collection)
Couple’s love of Oak Bay Beach Hotel leads to purchase of strata unit

Couple’s love of Oak Bay Beach Hotel leads to purchase of strata unit

The best of both worlds in hotel condo

  • Dec 11, 2019
Couple’s love of Oak Bay Beach Hotel leads to purchase of strata unit
Artist Robert Amos paints Victoria

Artist Robert Amos paints Victoria

Painter is also an art writer and art historian

  • Sep 27, 2019
Artist Robert Amos paints Victoria
Founding family of the Peninsula

Founding family of the Peninsula

Jennifer Rausch is the latest descendant to open a business maintaining the family’s ties to the area

  • Jul 12, 2019
Founding family of the Peninsula
Andrea Pickard, Planner with Central Saanich, sits on a bench and enjoys the view of St. Stephen’s Anglican Church. Don Denton photography

Walking the Crossroads of Central Saanich History

From pub to church, examining local historical landmarks

  • Dec 4, 2018
Andrea Pickard, Planner with Central Saanich, sits on a bench and enjoys the view of St. Stephen’s Anglican Church. Don Denton photography