Formal Portrait Archives | British Columbia’s Black Pioneers

Sir James Douglas, 1863. Governor of Vancouver Island (1851–64) and British Columbia (1858–64)

Since 1851 James Douglas held 2 jobs, Chief Factor for the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), operating from Fort Victoria and Governor of the Crown Colony of Vancouver Island. […]

Willis and John Stark (1890)

Willis Otis Stark and his brother John Edmond Stark, in a professional portrait taken at the Elite Studio in Nanaimo, B.C. John Edmond made his living by prospecting […]

Emma Stark, daughter of Sylvia and Louis Stark

A formal portrait of Emily Arabella Stark, hand tinted, possibly taken while she was a schoolteacher.

Willis Otis Stark as a young man (circa 1870, age about 18)

When his father, Louis, moved the family to another farm near Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, Willis Stark stayed on Salt Spring Island and kept the farm. His mother, […]

Marie and Louise Stark, youngest daughters of Louis and Sylvia

Marie Albertina (Wallace) Stark (about 23) and her sister Louise Edna (Wylie) Stark (about 11), circa 1890. Marie Albertina and Louise Edna were the two youngest children. Marie […]

Sylvia Estes Stark at middle age

Sylvia Stark moved to Cedar on Vancouver Island in the early 1870’s. She returned to Salt Spring Island in the early 1880s. She missed her neighbours and life […]

John Craven Jones with his wife Almira (Scott) Jones (1885)

During a visit to Ohio, John met Almira Scott (1851 – 1923), a fellow graduate of Oberlin College, and a person of like mind. Almira Scott was widowed […]

Nancy (nee Davis) Lester – Abolitionist Supporter

Nancy Lester moved with her husband Peter and children to San Francisco from Philadelphia in 1850. Then in 1858, their 15-year-old daughter Sarah became part of a local […]

Maria Gibbs “One of the best-educated women”

While in Victoria, Maria experienced first-hand the discrimination that prevailed here by some. On Wednesday evening, September 25, 1861, heavily pregnant, Maria attended the theatre with her husband […]

Victoria (nee Richard) Clanton (1865) – influential in the Black Community

The Richard family was part of a nucleus of families who moved to California from Florida and then later to Vancouver Island. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Victoria married […]

Mary Louise Barnswell – well known and respected for her common sense and integrity

Mary Louise Barnswell “She was widely known and respected for her common sense and integrity. Businessmen and politicians, who valued her intelligence, sought her opinion” Crawford Kilian, Author

Richard Stokes: Owner and operator of livery stables

He also served with the Victoria Pioneer Rifle Corps.