Local treasure

By Jim Gerwing

Tucked away unobtrusively in the museum precinct are two houses about which too many people who live in Victoria seem to know virtually nothing. One of these, Helmcken House, built in 1852, has never been moved off its original site. The other, St. Ann's Schoolhouse, was built a few years earlier, and moved to its present location in 1974 after the Sisters of St. Ann donated it to the province.

I am one of the volunteers at the museum who spend several hours a week interpreting these houses for the general public. They are open only during the summer from 12 noon to 4 pm daily. During the school year the museum uses the houses to provide a program for school children to experience what life was like a hundred years ago. All of this education is possible only because of the many trained docents who offer their time for the enjoyment and education of museum visitors.

By far, most of those who visit the old houses come from outside Canada. Very few come from Victoria. All go away struck by the stories, the beauty, the age, and style of these structures and their interiors. It seems a shame that so few of our own people venture into these building to appreciate the time when Victoria's population was less than 300, most of them connected to the Hudson Bay Company.

Helmcken House alone holds stories of those early years of the governorship of James Douglas, whose daughter Dr. John Helmcken married. They built their house in 1852, raised a family there while Dr. Helmcken cared for the medical needs of the people who lived here. Dr. Helmcken ventured into politics for a short time, and was one of the delegates who brought British Columbia into confederation. That is an exciting story in itself, since his recollections are our only record of the negotiations.

Just how important these houses are to the heritage of our city is proven by the fact that the museum raised half a million dollars to make them safe from the danger of fire, and to renovate and reinterpret the interiors so that Victoria could preserve this part of its history and visitors could savour the experience of being in these old structures.

Every day till the end of August, you can visit from noon to 4 pm. Especially the residents of James Bay should take a little walk this summer and see what the rest of the world is oohing and awing about.