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 Danda's knack for colourful, no-nonsense writing makes history come alive. The people she writes about are real. We sympathize with them, marvel at them, enjoy them . . . and through their stories, experience their lives, their loves, and the legends they left behind. Danda's first book, "On The Street Where You Live: Pioneer Pathways of Early Victoria" was a B.C. success story within weeks of publication. Her second volume, "On The Street Where You Live: Victoria's Early Roads and Railways" traces Victoria's growth from a fur-trading post to a provincial capital, quickly joining Volume One on best-seller lists. Her third volume, "On The Street Where You Live, Volume III: Sailors, Solicitors and Stargazers of Early Victoria" introduces us to more of the colourful characters who were drawn to the southern tip of Vancouver Island - the people behind Victoria's street names.  Danda's latest book, "Building Victoria: Men, Myths and Mortar." introduces us to the people behind our best-known downtown heritage buildings. Parliament Buildings ... Empress Hotel ... St. Ann's Academy ... Craigdarroch Castle and more... All the buildings are on, or within walking distance of the Inner Harbour. A location map allows you to design your own self-guided walking tour of these interesting structures!You can obtain these books here, for yourself, or as a special gift! |
 The history of Victoria is preserved in its buildings. They stand as mute reminders of a bygone era, providing a peek into our past and a glimpse at the lives of the men who owned, designed and inhabited them. A must-read for intrepid urban explorers, Building Victoria looks behind the bricks and mortar, uncovering Victoria's history as it goes. In these pages, you'll find fascinating facts about:
Craigdarroch Castle, the home atop the Fort Street hill, designed as a statement of wealth, but destined to be a monument to the man who built it. Danda's knack for colourful, no-nonsense writing makes Victoria's history come alive. The people she writes about are real. Building Victoria exposes them, excuses them, enjoys them …and marvels at the buildings they left behind.
 Today, Victoria's streets are busy thoroughfares. Yesterday, they were simple trails. Along came the Hudson's Bay men and the Native people who traded with them and helped build their fort. Then came the gold miners, followed by the bankers and businessmen, sailors and saloon-keepers, poets, postmasters, architects and astronomers. They're remembered in our city's streets - and every street name tells a story. What follows are three brief excerpts - each taken from the pages of Danda's three books - and each offering a glimpse into the reading enjoyment that awaits!   Douglas Street, which starts at the "Mile Zero" marker on Dallas Road, is the beginning of the 7,000 km-long TransCanada Highway. It's an important street, running through the heart of our city. And it's a fitting reminder of the man who, almost 160 years ago, took the first step toward putting Victoria on the North American map. By the early 1840's, it had become clear to Hudson's Bay company officials at Fort Vancouver, on the Columbia River, that the proposed border across the continent was going to heave them high and dry. James Douglas was given an assignment to set sail for the southern end of Vancouver Island and decide on a suitable site for a new fort. James Douglas had served the company since 1819. Born in Demerara, British Guiana, of a Scottish father and Creole mother, he was educated in Scotland and recruited by the HBC at the age of 16. By the late 1830's he was at Fort Vancouver, and in 1842 was sent to scout out a place for a new HBC northern headquarters. He decided on the Port of Camosack (now spelled Camosun, meaning "place of Camas lilies") and renamed it Victoria for the young British queen of the day. His men built a fort on the east side of the Inner Harbour. The Douglases lived in a fine home overlooking James Bay, where the Royal British Columbia Museum stands today. His wife Amelia was also of mixed blood, and was shunned by English society ladies until James, who had served as Governor of the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1864. Sir James died in 1877. Amelia died in 1890 in the house they had shared, near the street that still bears their name.  - On the Street Where You Live, Volume I: Pioneer Pathways of Early Victoria - In the 1860s, Victoria bore little resemblance to the sleepy settlement of days gone by. Gone was the old fort with its two bastions, or gun-towers, that had guarded the Hudson's Bay Company's finest. All that was left was Bastion Street, which ran between Government and Langley streets. The City Jail was at its Langley Street end. The penalty for crime was harsh. The hangman had no mercy. Close to a dozen murderers, miscreants, and other miserable souls, who may or may not have been guilty, breathed their last on the jail yard's gallows. Rumour had it that some of those hanged were buried, not in a cemetery, but beneath the exercise yard on the jail's north-east side. Just outside the jail yard (where the Yates Street parkade is today) was the Boomerang Saloon, owned by Ben and Adelaide Griffin. The Griffins had followed gold rushes to Australia, to San Francisco, and finally to Victoria. But they weren't interested in mining for gold; they were interested in mining the miners. Business was brisk. Griffin provided his customers with strong ale, good company, and a generous offering of his poems satirizing local personages. He was a real character, no doubt about it. But it was Adelaide whose story would be remembered long after Ben and the Boomerang were gone. Not long after the Griffins arrived, the young and reasonably robust Adelaide suddenly upped and died. She was buried, with due ceremony, in the Quadra Street Burying Ground, with Ben as chief mourner. Nobody knew what killed Adelaide. It might have been typhoid, it might have been something else. All they knew was that her ghost was seen - and is still seen today - walking near where the old Boomerang Saloon used to stand, close to Bastion Square. - On the Street Where You Live, Volume II: Victoria's Early Roads and Railways - On the east side of Mt. Tolmie Park, there's a short road with a long story behind it. The story begins in England, with the birth of Francis Rattenbury in Leeds, Yorkshire in 1867. At the age of 18 he joined his uncle's architectural firm. In 1892, he set sail for Canada's west coast. The city of Victoria, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, wanted a grand new headquarters for the government of British Columbia. Rattenbury confidently put pencil to paper, despite the fact that his sole claim to architectural fame was helping to design two municipal buildings in his native Yorkshire. In the spring of 1893 he was informed that he had been chosen to design the new parliament buildings. The magnificent stone structure on the south shore of James Bay was completed in 1898. Government House, the Bank of Montreal, and the Empress Hotel quickly cemented Rattenbury's reputation as a designer with vision and verve. Professionally he was a success, but his personal life was a shambles. Married to Florence, whom he no longer loved, he sought solace in the arms of a beautiful temptress - the piano player at the Empress Hotel - who was 30 years his junior. Florrie reluctantly agreed to a divorce, and died soon afterward. Rattenbury and Alma married, but Victorians were not amused. Shunned by the same society that had once welcomed him with open arms, he took Alma and their children back to England in 1930. Removed from any connection with his famous past, he became depressed. But although he talked about suicide, he didn't die by his own hand. It was George Percy Stoner, Alma's jealous young lover, who brought things to a head by bludgeoning Rattenbury to death. Stoner was arrested and sentenced to hang, but was reprieved after Alma - unable to contemplate living without him - took her own life a few days later. It was the end of an era, the last chapter in the life of Francis Mawson Rattenbury, architect of Victoria and ultimately, one might say, of his own demise. All that remains are the magnificent buildings he designed and a short city street that, like the man it's named after, starts out with promise then comes to a disappointing - and very dead - end. - On the Street Where You Live, Volume III: Sailors, Solicitors and Stargazers of Early Victoria -
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This is the first volume in the trilogy. Danda tells the fascinating stories behind over 40 streets, from Saanich to Sooke. ISBN 1-895811-90-2 8x10 192 pages |
Second volume in the trilogy. Follows early settlers into outlying areas, and traces the railroads that eventually connected them with the original city core. ISBN 1-894384-09-1 8 X10 192 pages |
Third volume in the trilogy. Another collection of stories about some of the fascinating people who lived, loved and worked in 19th century Victoria. ISBN 1-894384-31-8 8 X10 192 pages |
*plus 7% GST = $37.40 CDN. Shipping $10.00 CDN. Total payable $47.40 CDN.
B.C. residents please add a further 7% PST. Total payable $49.85 CDN.
B.C. residents please add a further 7% PST. Total payable $49.85 CDN.
| Reviews:(Danda) Humphrey's accounts go beyond standard textbook information . . . enlivened with gossip and unusual details . . . good one to add to the gift list for friends here and elsewhere, and for the wonderful peek into the past that it provides. Tracy O'Hara Times Colonist The stories are full of snippets of the trials, tribulations and triumphs of lives lived at the edges of civilization. Humphreys has an eye for the telling detail, a feeling for the terrain, a sense for the passage of time and its effect on people and the places they inhabit. George Newell British Columbia Historical News A very readable book that uncovers a lot more than a mere printed date . . . . The writing is clear and approachable . . . . A nice history book which illuminates a significant period for British Columbia. Judging panel, Writing competition, British Columbia Historical Federation Local booksellers declare Volume 1 . . . "The best selling local history book of all time! Get one, get the set! These books make great personal, client and incentive gifts!" Also available at: Heritagehouse.ca Chapters.ca Crown Publications Inc. Bolen Books Munro's Books |
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