A wonderful part of living in the Capital Regional District is the easy access to rural Saanich Peninsula on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. While directly adjacent to urban Victoria, the immigrant settlement patterns on the Peninsula were similar to Victoria but slower and less intense. For example, in the 1881 census, the Peninsula population was approximately a tenth of Victoria City's population of 7,300. Fortunately, this development pattern continued and the Saanich Peninsula retains elements of The Fair Land, as captured in Betty Bell's book on her fond memories of childhood, family, neighbours and farms of the Peninsula countryside.
Using this 1881 Canada census and material from the Saanich Pioneers' Society Archives, Mike explored the early Peninsula settlers and mapped their locations for a VGS display at the 2024 Saanich Fair.
Join Mike for further exploration of the early family history of the Saanich Peninsula including the first squatters, ex-Hudson Bay Company settlers, gold rush impacts, land speculators and early industry.
ATTENDANCE IS VIA ZOOM ONLY.
Mike Woodcock is the Vice President with the Victoria Genealogical Society (VGS). He is the Past President of the Victoria Branch of the United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada (UELAC) and remains on the Victoria Branch Executive. He is considered the expert on early British Columbian UEL descendants. Mike is also a member of the Saanich Pioneer Society and the Old Cemeteries Society. He has led recent cemetery tours (Loyalist Descendants, Early B.C. Public Servants, German Pioneers) at Ross Bay Cemetery for the Old Cemetery Society.