One 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. […]

Emma Stark as a young woman (1875)

The photo is believed to have been taken at a portrait studio in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, B.C. Emma was teaching in the nearby community of Cedar.

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 Stark and the cougar (1900)

Willis Stark, known for his cougar hunting expertise, pictured here with one of his dogs, a gun and the cougar that he has shot on Salt Spring Island, […]

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 Albertina Stark Wallace, age 98, author of “The History of the Stark Family”

Marie’s story about the Stark Family was published in The Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper as an 11-part series in 1979-1980.

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 […]

“I want them to know I am a working woman” Sylvia Stark age 96

As the population of Salt Spring Island grew, the story of Sylvia Stark became legendary. She was visited by numerous historians and photographers. “Although she is 96 years […]

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