Ogden Family

Ogden Point, Victoria BC. Photo by Rachel Perkins

Peter Skene Ogden was born in Quebec, 1790 to American Loyalists Isaac and Sarah Ogden.  Isaac Ogden was a Judge.  Peter joined the Northwest Company.  In his travels he married an unknown Cree woman, “à la façon du pays” according to the custom of the country in Ile a la Crosse, Saskatchewan in 1818.  She had two sons and died.    Peter Skene Ogden was transferred to the Columbia Department.  In 1845 he became one of a triumvirate of Chief Factors of the HBC managing the Forts with James Douglas and John McLoughlin.  He served on the board of governance of Fort Victoria.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

His first born Peter Ogden Jr., was also a Chief Factor of the HBC.  He married Phristine Brabant, a Métis and Cree woman.  They had eleven children including seven beautiful daughters.  One daughter, Sarah Ogden, married James Marsden Lindsay Alexander, a Scot and Chief Factor of the HBC.  They had nine children before Sarah died in 1886 at the age of 40.   One of their sons, William Lindsay Alexander, born 1881 in Stuart Lake, BC, was Mark’s grandfather.  He married Agnes Dunlop, born 1886 in Liverpool, England.  The wedding took place at Queen’s University Chapel in Kingston, Ontario on November 6^th, 1911.  They had six children.  Their youngest, born 1923 in Prince Rupert, BC, married Gordon Thomas Steven Perkins of Victoria, BC.   They had three children, including my husband, Gordon Mark Perkins .

Submitted by Fern Perkins

Ross Family

Grave of Isabella Ross, Ross Bay Cemetery - Victoria, BC. Photo by Rachel Perkins

HBC Chief Trader (Chief Factor according to some documents) of Fort Victoria, Ross brought the first and only Métis fur trade family to Fort Victoria and supervised the building of the HBC Fort in 1843. Isabella Ross was the first registered independent woman landowner in BC.  She owned Ross Farm, now Ross Bay, Foul Bay, King George Terrace, Harling Point and Ross Bay Cemetery.

Charles George Ross was born in Kingcraig, Invernesshire, Scotland, 1794, the son of Christina Munro and Scottish Nobleman, Sir Charles Ross, according to Mrs. Edward Cridge and Charles Ross’ correspondence.   Ross joined the Hudson Bay Company in 1818 as a clerk with an excellent education, according to Governor Simpson.  After marrying Isabella Mainville in 1822, at Lac La Pluie, “à la façon du pays” according to the custom of the country, they travelled across the country establishing trade at many HBC Forts.  They renewed their vows in 1838 with the Reverend Herbert Beaver at Fort Vancouver, WT according to the tradition of the Church of England.  Charles died of appendicitis in 1844 after Fort Victoria was completed.

Isabella Mainville, a woman of great courage, according to Governor Simpson, was born on the Island of Michillimacinac in 1807, to a French Canadian Métis father and Ojibway mother, Joseph and Josette Mainville.  Their granddaughter calls them Melville in a Puyallup newspaper interview from 1916.  The Rosses had ten children.  Alexander Ross, the fourth son, born in 1835 at Fort Vermillion, AB, married Mary Ann Bastian.  She was born in 1850 to Rose, of the Nisqually/Muck Creek Tribe near Tacoma and Henri Isaac Bastian, French Canadian Métis settler.  Mary Ann Bastian was raised by the Reverend Edward and Mary Cridge after the death of her mother, the Indian wars and hanging of her Tribal Chief, Leschi, in 1858.  Her guardian, The Reverend Cridge, performed the marriage ceremony of Mary Ann Bastian to Alexander Ross in 1868.  Mary Ross was the laundry woman for the Carr family since their arrival in Victoria.

Charles Ross' Chair, Ross Bay - Victoria BC. Photo by Rachel Perkins

Alexander and Mary Ross had six children.  Their only surviving daughter, Flora Victoria Ross, was born in Victoria on Queen Victoria’s birthday, May 24^th, 1876.  She married William Edward Ottaway on December 25th, 1895 at Christ Church Cathedral. The Reverend Arthur Beanlands officiated.  The Ottaways had four surviving children.  The third surviving daughter, Flora Victoria Eugene Waldegrave Ottaway, born in Victoria in 1905, was my grandmother.   The Bishop Cridge was her Godfather until his death in 1913. Flora married James Francis Edwin Marrison in 1927.  They had eight children.  Their third child, Flora Loretta Marrison, my mother, was born in Victoria on September 15, 1930.   She married Douglas Roy Barker of Victoria, BC.  They had three children including me, Stephanie Fern Barker, born in Victoria on May 6, 1950, Paul Douglas Barker and Francesca Isabella Alexandra Mary Barker, also born in Victoria.

Submitted by Fern Perkins

Roderick Finlayson

Gravesite of Roderick Finlayson - Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria BC. Photo by Rachel Perkins

Roderick Finlayson, born March 16, 1818 in the parish of Lochalsh, in the county of Ross, Scotland, was the second son and fourth child of Alexander Finlayson and Mary Morison. He attended parochial schools and loved reading Anson’s, Cook’s and Drakes voyages around the world.  By age 16 he understood the principals of the rise and progress of the East India Company and other adventurers and longed to go abroad to do something for himself.

In July 1837 he left Scotland with his mother, siblings and maternal grandfather and headed to New York.  While in New York he met his paternal uncle, Chief Factor Duncan Finlayson and Sir George Simpson who were returning to England.  Through the kindness of his uncle he secured a position as apprentice clerk with the Hudson’s Bay Company.

He left New York and proceeded to Lachine where he worked for a short time then moved to Fort Coulonge.  Here he learned to negotiate with Native American hunters and lumber men working on the Ottawa River.  Not having any knowledge of the French language he taught himself the principals of the language and eventually spoke French fluently.

In 1839 he was transferred to the Columbia District.  His journey west was uneventful other than being caught in the middle of a stampede of 500 buffalo that were crossing the Saskatchewan River.  At Fort Vancouver, Finlayson was placed in charge of the new saw and grist mill; he supervised 32 men and reported weekly to Chief Factor Dr. John McLoughlin.

In the spring of 1840 he was transferred to Fort Stikine on the northwest coast.  He traveled from Fort Vancouver via the Cowlitz Plain and learned from a Native American messenger that Fort Langley had burned to the ground.  Once at Cowlitz he proceeded to Fort Nisqually and boarded the steamer Beaver under the direction of Chief Trader James Douglas.  The steamer proceeded to Fort Langley and he helped rebuild the post.  With Fort Langley rebuilt Finlayson one again boarded the Beaver with Douglas and proceeded north and stopped at Fort McLoughlin and Fort Simpson.  At the latter post he met Sarah, the second eldest daughter of Chief Trader John Work.

By 1843 some northern HBC posts were abandoned and Finlayson was ordered transferred to the southern tip of Vancouver Island to help establish Fort Victoria.  Chief Trader Charles Ross supervised the construction of the new post with Finlayson as his second in command.  Less than one year after Fort Victoria was established Chief Trader Ross became violently ill and died.  Upon Ross’s death Finlayson was placed in charge of Fort Victoria.

Roderick was an excellent supervisor.  In a letter written to Governor George Simpson on April 6, 1846, Chief Factor James Douglas noted:

“Roderick Finlayson has managed the affairs of Ft. Victoria, remarkably well, since his accession to the charge of the Post and I assure you it will not be an easy matter to find a better man for the place.  He is not a man of display, but there is a degree of energy, perseverance, method and sound judgment in all his arrangements, which from what I had seen of him in a subordinate situation, I was not prepared to expect.  He is, besides a young man of great probability and high moral worth, this, in justice, to the young man, should have been represented before.”

In 1849 Chief Factor James Douglas moved from Fort Vancouver and took control of Fort Victoria.  Finlayson was reassigned as Fort Victoria’s head accountant.

On Dec 14, 1849 Roderick Finlayson married Sarah Work the second daughter of Chief Factor John Work and his Métis wife Suzette Legace.  One month after their marriage Finlayson received his commission as Chief Trader and ten years in 1859 he was promoted Chief Factor.

In 1861 Finlayson took a one year furlough to visit family and when he returned to Victoria he was appointed Superintendant of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s interior affairs.  He continued in this capacity until 1872 when he retired and devoted the remainder of his life to farming and managing his business ventures.

Always interested in Victoria’s civil affairs Finlayson was elected Mayor of Victoria by acclamation in 1878 and was instrumental in pushing forward the construction of the first section of Victoria City Hall.

Historian Hubert H. Bancroft visited Victoria and wrote the following about Finlayson:

“He was well preserved in mind and in body, clear-headed, courteous, intelligent and public spirited.  He was tall, well proportioned, and erect and crowned with gray, with fine full features, expressive at once of benevolence and intelligence.  He was a shrewd, practical, clear-headed Scotchman, who meddles little with his neighbor’s affairs, but attends to his own business.  He is kind, benevolent, honorable, and exceedingly courteous and a true gentleman in the highest sense.”

Roderick Finlayson died on January 20^th 1892 at age 74.   The flag situated on the top of Victoria’s City Hall hung at half mast indicating one of the leading and most honored residents of Victoria had passed away.

Submitted by Pamela E. Pike Gaudio,

great granddaughter of Chief Factor Roderick Finlayson and

3 x great granddaughter of Honorable Chief Factor John Work and Suzette Legace.

Cridge Family

Cridge Family Gravesite - Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria BC. Photo by Rachel Perkins

Edward Cridge was born Dec. 17, 1817, in Devonshire, England.  After graduating from Cambridge University, he became vicar at Christ Church, in the parish of West Ham near London.  When he learned the Hudson’s Bay Company was seeking a chaplain for the fort on Southern Vancouver Island, he applied for the job and was accepted.  He proposed to parishoner Mary Winmill who agreed to marry him and join him in this great adventure. (Mary Winmill was born in Essex, England on April 15, 1827.)

On September 20, 1854, they sailed from Gravesend aboard the Marquis of Bute.  Over six months later, in March of 1855, after a journey around South America and via the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), they were welcomed to the fort by Governor James Douglas.

On August 12, 1856, he said the prayers at the inaugural meeting of the first meeting of the elected House of Assembly, held in a small room at the fort and was named Clerk of the Assembly.

Edward and Mary had nine children, four of whom died in the black measles epidemic of 1865.  One of them was Ellen, born March 18, 1867.

Ellen married Thomas Herbert Laundy, on Sept. 17, 1891. (He was with the Bank of British Columbia, subsequently the Bank of Commerce, at the branch at Fort and Government streets)

Ellen and Herbert had six children, the youngest of whom were twins Edward and Arthur Laundy (my father).

Arthur married Dorothy Kennedy in 1939.  They had two children; myself, David Arthur Laundy, born on January 16, 1942 and my younger brother, Robert Lynn Laundy, born on June 22, 1945.

Submitted by Dave Laundy (wife Janet)

descendant of Edward and Mary Cridge

(chaplain to Fort Victoria)

The Caselton Family

So far the earliest Caselton family member has been traced to England and the county of Kent. This was William Caselton born in 1699. In 1832 and some five generations later   Richard Caselton was born in Eltham, Kent. He was the start of theVictoria and Saanich Caselton heritage.

In 1842 James Douglas of the Hudson Bay Co. established the trading post of Fort Camosun, later Fort Victoria, at the south end of Vancouver Island.  In order to establish a permanent settlement a call was put out for new employees, settlers and developers for the fort and the new colony of Vancouver Island.

Economic times were poor in south-east Britain in the mid 1800’s and the thought of an exciting challenge, full employment, and a chance to own a parcel of land (unheard of in Britain for the working class) caught Richard Caselton’s imagination. He jumped at the chance and signed on with the HBC and the long sea voyage to Fort Victoria.

Before leaving for the new world, Richard married his childhood sweetheart, Sarah Ann Williams, at a church in Wilmington, Kent. This was a double ring ceremony as Richard’s sister Jane married Thomas Flewin at the same time. The two newly wed couples together with Sarah’s father, mother and brothers and their wives and children boarded the HBC barque ‘Norman Morison.’ On August 16^th, 1852 at the quayside at Gravesend the ship slipped her lines and was on her perilous voyage to the new colony. There were fifty passengers onboard in addition to the crew.

The trip took four and a half months and experienced storms, bitterly cold winds, a near mutiny, a burial at sea, and even two women gave birth.1 The ‘Norman Morison’ arrived in Esquimalt Harbour on January 16^th, 1853. The Caseltons stayed on the ship until accommodation was found in the fort at Victoria.

At first, Richard Caselton and his family lived on the Hudson Bay Company’s farm at Cadboro Bay where he was employed. After a few years he acquired 27 acres of land at Royal Oak, in what was originally called the Lakes District in Saanich. They were one of the first settlers in the area. Here they raised their family of ten children: Maria, Henry, Frederick, Edith, Agnes, Annie (died in infancy), Adah (Dolly), Edwin, Charles, Alice, and Arthur.

The farm did not produce enough to support the large family so Richard found extra work in the Victoria town area. He also got ‘gold fever’ when the Caribou Gold rush was in full swing and joined the crowds of miners heading to the mainland to make their strike. It was reported that Richard actually walked to the Caribou, an effort that was mostly in vain.

In 1903 there where celebrations for Richard’s fifty years in Victoria. He died four years later in 1907 and was predeceased by his wife Sarah in 1899. Both are buried in the family plot at Ross Bay Cemetary.

Their daughter Maria married Laramie Wallenstein and they had a daughter and son. Richard and Sarah’s son Henry married Leonora Wallenstein2 and they had four children. Frederick married Elizabeth Glide and had three children. He was the manager of Haywards Funeral Home for a number of years. Edith married John Lovell Smith and produced one daughter. Agnes married Austin Sheather, Annie Louise died in infancy, and Adah (Dolly) married Erny Jeeves of the Jeeves Cartage family. Edwin never married. Charles married Alice Harris and had a son Charles who in turn married and had a son Charles who died at an early age of Muscular Dystrophy. Alice married Napoleon St. Onge and had one daughter. And the last child, Arthur, married and had a son Arthur.

The longest line of Richard and Sarah’s family is through son Henry. Henry and Leonora had four children, Henrietta, Florence, Reginald and Clarence. Henry managed the family farm when Richard moved into the city. By 1901 the two daughters were married. Sadly, in 1905, Henry suddenly died of a heart attack while working in the field on the farm. It was reported that Reginald, Henry’s three year old son, was found sitting in the field with his father’s head in his lap thinking he was asleep.

With two boys left to support, Leonora left the farm and went to San Francisco. This was unfortunate for the great San Francisco earthquake struck in 1906 and as a result son Clarence died in the aftermath because of a contaminated water supply. Leonora returned to Victoria with son Reginald. Here she married Charles Palmer, a member of the Victoria Fire Dept. and son of the prominent pianist Digby Palmer. Leonora died in 1941 and Reginald retained ownership of the family farm that was eventually sold around 1937.

Reginald attended the old North Ward School and Victoria High School. In 1924 he married Ida Lillian Mould, the great granddaughter of Richard and Jane Cheeseman who were also passengers on the third trip of the‘Norman Morison’. Reginald took over ownership and operation of the Brookleigh Dairy at Elk Lake until the start of World War II when he joined the Chart Depot staff at HMCS Dockyard. At the end of the war he worked for the Colonist newspaper and later became a real estate salesman for the firm of Pemberton Holmes. He died of a heart attack at an early age of 56 leaving his wife Ida,  two married daughters and four grandchildren. There are now six great grandchildren. Ida passed away in 1990 and both she and Reginald are buried at Royal Oak.

Including Richard and Sarah Caselton there have been six generations of the family that have lived in Victoria and the municipality of Saanich. While the Caselton name has virtually disappeared from the area, the genetic bond to those pioneering forefathers  (Caselton, Cheeseman, and Williams) has created a common tie of which our current families are very proud.

________________________________________

1 One of these babies was Mary Cheeseman, born off the Galapagoes Islands. She married William Henry Williams whose off-spring married Richard and Sarah Caselton’s grandson.

2 The Wallensteins were German pioneers who came to the west coast from Chicago in covered wagons.

Submitted by M. M. Whitehead

The Cheeseman Family

Richard Cheeseman was born Sutton-at-Hone, Kent England in 1823. He was the son of James and Elizabeth Cheeseman.

As a young man of 26 he signed up with the Hudson Bay Company in its call for adventurous people to help establish the community at Fort Victoria on the southern end of Vancouver Island.

Richard sailed on the first trip of the HBC barque ‘Norman Morison’ embarking from Gravesend, London on the 20^th of October, 1849 and arriving at Fort Victoria on the 24^th of March, 1850. After a short time he signed on for the return trip of the ‘Norman Morison’ arriving back at Gravesend on the 20^th of February, 1851.  Richard must have loved the sea for he then took the second five month trip of the “Norman Morison’ back to the Fort. As if that wasn’t enough, he returned on the ‘Norman Morison’ back to England for a second time. This last time, though, was with a real purpose in mind.

Before his final and third trip to Fort Victoria, Richard married his childhood sweetheart, Jane Dyke. They embarked on the ‘Norman Morison’ on August 20^th, 1852 from Gravesend. It was a  perilous five month voyage that saw  storms, a near mutiny, a death and burial at sea, and two births, one of which was Richard and Jane’s daughter, Mary. Mary was born about one hundred miles off the Galapagos Islands. The ship arrived Esquimalt harbour on January 16th, 1853.

The Hudson Bay Co. granted Richard five acres of land near present-day Quadra and Caledonia streets. He built a road from the fort to his property that he named Chatham Rd. He and Jane, around 1854, acquired 214 acres of land between East Saanich Rd., West Saanich Rd. and Beaver Lake. According to many stories, it was Jane and daughter Mary that gave the name of ‘Royal Oak’ to the area.

Richard and Jane had three more daughters, Emma in 1854, Jane in 1857, and Cedra Cecelia in 1858.

Sadly, in 1862, Richard was killed when coming down his lane with his horse and carriage when his horse bolted throwing Richard to the ground. Jane was left with four daughters, the property, and the Royal Oak Hotel that the couple had recently built.

In 1864 Jane married James Bailey who owned Rose Hill Farm and in 1868 another daughter was born. They named her Hilinda. They also had a son who died in infancy. In 1871, James died of a heart attack. Jane then married John Durrance who owned and operated Spring Valley Farm located in the area on Durrance Rd. In 1872, Jane and John had a son and they named him John in family tradition.

Daughter Mary married William Henry Williams. The Williams family were also passengers on the third trip of the Norman Morison and were among the first pioneers in the Royal Oak area of what was then known as the Lakes District. Daughter Emma married William Henry Snider. Daughter Jane married Louis Napoleon Duval and they took over the ownership and operation of the Royal Oak Hotel. Cedra Cecelia married Pontein Joseph Goyette. Hilinda Bailey married Samual Henry Hulsman.  And Jane and John Durrance’s son married  Agnes Webb.                   .

It was Jane who donated land for the first school at Royal Oak and James and Jane both gave land for the construction of St.Michael’s and All Angels Church located on the West Saanich Rd.

Jane passed away in 1897 at the age of 66 and then seven years later, in 1904, John died. They are both buried in St. Stephen’s churchyard.

It is interesting to note that Mary and William Henry William’s granddaughter Ida Mould married Reginald Caselton thus tying together the Caselton, Flewin, Cheeseman and Williams families, all passengers on the last voyage of the ‘Norman Morison’.

Submitted by M. M. Whitehead