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Maureen Duffus describes the use of the farm immediately after the McKenzie Family moved to Lakehill6 May 2006
Craigflower, View Royal, Victoria, Canada
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After the five year indenturements were complete for all the labourers on the farm in 1858, and the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company realized that none of its' four Victoria farms were going to turn a profit, so they decided that the only way they could make money was to lease the farms out to individual farmers. The McKenzie family were the first people to lease Craigflower farm from the Hudson Bay Company. They leased the farm for eight years after 1858, prior to moving to Lakehill Farm. It was not until Kenneth started to go deeper into debt that he gave up and decided to relocated to his own farm in Saanich.3
The first lessee after the McKenzies left in 1866 was H. E. Holden who ran the house as a country resort, called "The Craigflower House and Pleasure Grounds". Guests to the house would go boating, fishing, swimming and hunting along the Gorge. For as well, croquet, quoits and swings were also available. Non-alcoholic drinks were available all the time. After four years the whole venture folded. This could have possibly occurred because this farm that had been built by people who had "bacchanalian feasts" was now dry!4
John Parker Jr. came out on the Norman Morison in 1853 to work at the Skinner Farm. The Parker family leased Craigflower farm twice, the first time being the period between 1872 and 1890. When the Parkers lived on the site they had eleven children. While they were living in Craigflower Manor, the Parker children attended Craigflower Schoolhouse. John Parker worked as a butcher, as well as a farmer. When he was appointed the local mail carrier the family left the Manor.5
In 1882 Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the Duchess of Argyll and the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, visited the farm at Craigflower. She visited the farm when her husband, the Marquis of Lorne, was the Governor General of Canada between 1878 and 1883. Princess Louise is famous for her name being used in the naming of places in Western Canada. Lake Louise, and the Province of Alberta are both named after the princess. She herself named Regina, Saskatchewan, for her mother by using the Latin word for "queen." Princess Louise later became the Duchess of Argyll when her husband inherited the title. Princess Louise was the only child of Queen Victoria to not marry a royal person because her mother wanted her to stay closer to home.Today, Craigflower still has two sculptures, that of Princess Louise and her husband, the Marquis of Lorne, in the dining room commemorating their visit to the farm. Mrs. Melrose, the wife of the blacksmith at the farm, lent the princess a cup of cream during her stay, which was commented upon in her husband, Robert Melrose's diary. While Princess Louise was at the farm the Parker family were residing in the Manor.
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Princess Louise and the Marquis of Lorne16 July 2006
Craigflower, View Royal, Victoria, Canada
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The Pidcocks moved onto a slightly reduced Craigflower farm in 1911, and remained there until 1922. The farm had lost part of its pasture land to create the new Songhees Reserve in 1911, so the farm was no longer as large as it had once had been. While they were there, the Pidcocks got married and started their young family. The children remember the farm fondly where they could go play in the forested areas, and swim and camp on the beaches on warm nights.8
Herb Pidcock describes his life at Craigflower Farm as a child6 July 2006
Craigflower, View Royal, Victoria, Canada
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Pidcock wedding photos20th Century, 1910
Pidcock Family, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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Craigflower when the Pidcocks lived in the house20th Century, circa 1910
Craigflower, View Royal, Victoria, Canada
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The Pidcock children20th Century, circa 1910
Pidcock Family, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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Pidcock's working on Craigflower farm20th Century, circa 1910
Craigflower, View Royal, Victoria, Canada
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In 1900, the Craigflower bakery burnt down. As a brick structure, the outside walls were still standing, but the wooden aspects of the building were lost. It had been abandoned for twenty years prior to the fire, and before that had been used as an oatmeal mill. After the McKenzies left it lost its role as a bakery, since more settlers had arrived to farm, and Craigflower's role as the food provider for people moving up island for the gold rush in 1858 was now over.14
The Knox family lived on Craigflower Farm from 1898 until 1904. Little has been documented about this family at the farm. |
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