Mar
3
By Ted Ross
Then
The St, Andrew's and Caledonian Society of Victoria and its predecessor, the Caledonian Benevolent Society, founded in 1859, has organized the annual Highland Games in Victoria since 1864. For a young colony with many significant Scottish connections, the Highland games were a sporting and cultural celebration of roots.
Over the years the Games have been held at a number of locations. From 1869 the Society held property on Cook Street, just north of Yates Street. In 1887 they bought undeveloped land here in James Bay for a sports ground. Lying between Government, St. Andrew's, Niagara and Simcoe Streets, it was named Caledonian Park, and for the next twenty years the field became home for Victoria's Highland Games, as well as a venue for numerous other community sporting events.
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| Image G-02816 courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives |
A BC Archives picture shows a game of lacrosse being played on the field. The photo was taken by John Lewis from the flat roof of the house at 58 Government Street. It is circa1900.
In 1907 the Society decided to sub-divide and market its James Bay property. A check of the block plan for 1908 at Victoria City Archives indicates that seventeen new homes were built that year. One two-storey, one one-storey, and fifteen storey and-a-half houses went up. Half of the lots on St. Andrew's and Simcoe Streets were still to be built on over the next decade.
Now
A check of the block today shows that all of the 1908 dwellings, except two, are still extant. The house at 615 Simcoe Street was built in 2012, but matches the neighbourhood architecturally.
The transition from playing field to residential neighbourhood seems to have happened in a year. Today, beyond the archival records, there is no sign or indication that such a park ever existed. No plaque or marker is to be found. Only the name, St. Andrew's Street, hints at the history.
The St. Andrew's and Caledonian Society continue to organize annual Highland Games. After the James Bay field was gone, the Games moved to different venues around Victoria. Today the yearly event takes place at Topaz Field on Blanshard Street. But many decades ago, James Bay was its home!
Bibliography
"Historical Timeline", St. Andrew's and Caledonian Society, 2013; "Early Days of the Highland Games in Victoria", Victoria Highland Games Association, 2012; "1908 Block Plan: Niagara, Government, Simcoe and Niagara Streets", Victoria City Archives, 1908; "Photo Archives", BC Archives, 1900; "City Directories", Vancouver Public Library, 1860-1955; "Daily Colonist Archives", Victoria Times-Colonist, 1858-1910.