The Thomson Family

Last Thursday was spent double checking the accuracy of my entries. I also added a last name search bar to my database. However, I cannot seem to figure out a way for the search bar to pull up the form version of an entry. It only pulls up the table version, which is much more difficult to

Finished look of the form version of the database.

read than the form version. I spent a couple hours searching the internet for a way to pull up a form version of the entry and fiddled around with different coding options but nothing worked in the end. I ended up just changing it back to what I originally had and felt a little sad I just lost two hours of time that could have been spent doing something else. It really is amazing how much time stuff like that can take up. I did not quite finish double checking all of my entries as I had a lecture at the university I had to be at for 7:30 and so left a bit earlier than usual (4:30). As my progress has been rather slow (again), I am going to quickly highlight one of the most prominent pioneer families buried at St. Stephen's for the rest of the post: the Thomson family.

Thomson family plots. 

The Thomson family plots (#116-122) are marked by a large granite, rustic style tablet monument with additional plaques placed on the granite kerbing bordering the plots. It is one of the largest family burials in the Cemetery. Thomson was the second person to allocate farm land in the Mount Newton Valley, the first being Angus McPhail. Thomson’s arrival to Vancouver Island was troubled, and the ship he travelled on crashed near Barkley Sound, allegedly due to a drunken captain. Although the captain died, Thomson and the other passengers made it safely to shore (OCSV 1995; Wilkey & Wilkey 1995:5). Thomson made his way to the Mount Newton Valley, where in 1856 he staked out 200 acres of land, for which he paid the Hudson Bay Company 14 pounds, thirteen shillings, and four pence. Shortly after this, he married

Western face of the monument. 

Duncan Lidgate’s step-daughter, 15 year old Margaret Dyer. In 1858 they had their first child and moved into a small log cabin on Thomson’s land. (Wilkey & Wilkey 1995:6, OCSV 1995). Thomson provided the land that St. Stephen's Anglican Church and Cemetery sits on today in February of 1863. A payment of $20 dollars is noted in Bishop Hills' diary as having been paid for the land. This sum of money for 6 acres of land is a marginal amount and that same diary shows that $220 was paid for 7 acres of land elsewhere in the Victoria area (Wilkey & Wilkey 1995:6-7; Bell 1982:23; Hills 1893:172). The Thomsons were active community members and contributed much to the early pioneer community in the Mount Newton Valley area. In the Saanichton area today many streets are named after the Thomsons--a lasting legacy of the important role they played in the early pioneer history in the area. 


Bibliography 

Bell, Betty

    1982    The Fair Land. Victoria, British Columbia: Sono Nis Press.

Hills, George

    1863    Bishop Hills Diaries Volume 7, May 6-June 25 1863. 35 mm microfilm. Victoria, British Columbia: Royal British Columbia Museum Archives. 

Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria

    1995    Historical Research. In The Old Cemeteries Society: Report to St. Stephen’s Anglican Church. Victoria, British Columbia.

Wilkey, Gwen and Michael Wilkey

    1995    Symbols of Faith: The Story of Saint Stephen’s Church Saanichton, British Columbia. Saanich: West Saanich Aerographic Publications.