Vancouver Island Scoundrels Eccentrics And Originals

A collection of stories about some of the fascinating people and events that helped shape the history of Vancouver Island and Victoria.

A timely, intriguing collection of the overlooked stories of Victoria’s pioneers, trailblazers, and community builders who were also diverse people of colour. Often described as “more English than the English,” the city of Victoria has a much more ethnically diverse background than historical record and current literature reveal. Significant contributions were made by many people of colour with fascinating stories, including: the Kanaka, or Hawaiian Islanders, who constructed Fort Victoria, and members of the Kanaka community such as Maria Mahoi and William Naukana three Metis matriarchs—Amelia Connolly Douglas, Josette Legacé Work, and Isabelle M. Mainville Ross the Victoria Voltigeurs, the earliest police presence in the Colony of Vancouver Island, and who were primarily men of colour Grafton Tyler Brown, now known in the United States as one of the first and best African American artists of the American West Manzo Nagano, Canada’s first recorded immigrant from Japan and many more With information about various cultural communities in early Victoria and significant dates, May Wong’s City in Colour is a collection of fascinating stories of unsung characters whose stories are at the heart of Victoria’s history.

"An engaging contribution to Canadian women's history." —BC Books for BC Schools A fascinating collection of concise stories about seventeen courageous, independent, and diverse women who shaped the history of Vancouver Island. From the lush rainforest of Clayoquot Sound to the bustling city streets of Victoria, Vancouver Island has been home to an astounding number of inspiring women. On Their Own Terms: True Stories of Trailblazing Women of Vancouver Island celebrates the achievements of seventeen amazing heroines working in multiple fields, from world-famous artists to social activists to groundbreaking scientists and quietly defiant labourers. The diverse women in this engaging new collection include: pioneer and midwife Tuwa ‘hwiye Tusium Gollelim, Mary Ann Gyves; world-renowned algae botanist Josephine Tilden; undiscovered aviatrix Lilian Bland; Vancouver Island’s first African-Canadian teacher, Emma Stark; and entrepreneur and bounty hunter Ada Annie Rae-Arthur, better known as Cougar Annie. On Their Own Terms will delight and empower anyone looking for true stories of nineteenth- and twentieth-century women who confronted uncertainty, challenged gender norms, and excelled in their respective vocations. Whether you are an entrepreneur, an educator, a rebellious spirit, or an armchair adventurer, these incredible women who thrived on Vancouver Island will captivate you.

Told in 21 objects—including furnishings, artwork, and tools—this approachable museum guide takes readers into the family history, local lore, and oddities of one of Victoria's most famous landmarks. Craigdarroch Castle, built by coal baron Robert Dunsmuir for his wife, Joan, and their family, was completed in 1890. Following Joan's death, the castle was put up for sale in 1908, and later housed a military hospital and the nascent University of Victoria. Since 1979 the castle has operated as a museum and is one of the top tourist attractions in the city, a prime example of a “bonanza castle” and a rich repository of Victorian-era furnishings and décor, as well as objects evoking the hospital and college eras. Author Moira Dann offers the reader 21 selections from the castle's collection, using each artifact as a portal into the history of the building and life in Victorian and more recent times. The Black Forest clock, acquired by Joan on a trip to Europe; the telescope used by the eldest Dunsmuir son, James, aboard his yacht the Dolaura; the castle's famous stained-glass windows; a nineteenth-century intercom system known as a speaking tube—these and 17 more are described with detail and enthusiasm, and accompanied by photographs. Dann provides careful research into each object's provenance and manufacture, while inviting readers to join her imaginative journeys into the lives of the castle's occupants through the years.

“‘Remittance man’ was meant to be a disparaging term. It reflected the fact that these young men had been sent to the colonies to spare their families continuing embarrassment or shame. At home they had been scoundrels, dreamers, and second sons without future prospects. Perhaps in…the Canadian West they would make something of themselves. If they didn't, at least they would be far enough away that little disgrace would fall upon their families.” —Mark Zuehlke Beginning in 1880, thousands of young, upper-class British men with few prospects were sent to the Canadian West to distance them from British society. Still supported by their families, thus earning them the title “remittance men,” these men set out to continue their lives of leisure in this new land. With education, respectable breeding and the belief “from birth that they were superior beings,” the remittance men descended upon Western Canada with expectations of accomplishing something great and increasing their wealth. In reality, they hunted, played games, courted women, and enjoyed distinguished pursuits that squandered their parents' money and made hard-working Canadians raise their eyebrows. Though their era in Western Canada was short, 1880–1914, “they left an indelible mark perpetuated by the stories and legends that sprung up around them.” In Scoundrels, Dreamers & Second Sons, first published fifteen years ago, Mark Zuehlke traces the path of the remittance men through Western Canada, highlighting their adventures, limited successes and glorious failures.

Drawing on the most important studies in psychology, human aggression, anthropology, and primatology, and on hundreds of original interviews conducted over a period of more than 20 years, this groundbreaking treatise urges women to look within and to consider other women realistically, ethically, and kindly and to forge bold and compassionate alliances. Without this necessary next step, women will never be liberated. Detailing how women's aggression may not take the same form as men's, this investigation reveals—through myths, plays, memoir, theories of revolutionary liberation movements, evolution, psychoanalysis, and childhood development—that girls and women are indeed aggressive, often indirectly and mainly toward one another. This fascinating work concludes by showing that women depend upon one another for emotional intimacy and bonding, and exclusionary and sexist behavior enforces female conformity and discourages independence and psychological growth.