Families such as the Langfords, the Skinners, and the McKenzies who had arrived in the colony to manage farms for the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, were closely associated with the naval base established at Esquimalt. Their social life largely centered around the comings and goings of naval vessels in the harbor.

Perhaps those connections initially began because of a desire by the colonists to hear all the latest news from their homeland. It enabled them to keep in touch with what was happening back in the old world.  However, even more importantly, young naval officers presented a very eligible “marriage market” for their young, unmarried daughters.

Two of Thomas Skinner’s daughters, Ada and Emily, were also christened on board naval vessels; Ada was christened on the flagship HMS Monarch and named Ada Jane Bruce to honor Admiral Bruce with Captain and Mrs. Langford serving as her godparents; and Emily was christened aboard HMS Satellite with Captain Prevost as her godfather. These were notable and exciting events for the settlers and an indication of their importance in the new world.

The settlers’ young children also loved it when a naval vessel arrived as it meant there were new toys and sweets for them in the ship’s supplies aboard. Sometimes there were firework displays.

Thomas Skinner’s large family was most strongly connected to the navy as Thomas had obtained a contract at the time of the Crimean War to supply beef from his Esquimalt farm at Constance Cove for Her Majesty’s Fleet. This contract was extremely important to the Puget Sound Agricultural Company and to Thomas Skinner.

In addition, Thomas Skinner’s oldest daughter, Annie, married a Scottish Naval Officer named John Bremner. She had met him when she was fourteen and was totally smitten. He proposed to her when she was sixteen and they were married soon after and went back to Scotland where his family was from.

After a few years, Thomas Skinner became frustrated with the laws of James Douglas and the Hudson’s Bay Company and decided to leave their farm called “Oaklands” in Esquimalt and uproot his family. In 1864 they all headed north to what was then the “wilderness area” of North Cowichan. They lived on a 300-acre property and started again from scratch. His children had loved life at Oaklands but soon adapted to their new life living in a new house they built by Quamichan Lake, known as Farleigh.

One of the Skinner daughters, Constance, felt differently. She missed the active social and political life centered around Victoria which had been incorporated as a city in 1862. She needed more from life and was determined to prove she could contribute in ways that most women never considered. Her chance came when she met and fell in love with a young lawyer/politician, named Alexander Davie.

I am currently working on Constance’s story from her simple birth to great heights which I hope to turn into a book soon. If any of my readers know any of the Skinner/Davie descendants who still live on Vancouver Island, I would love to hear from you. Back in 1992 I interviewed Mrs. Beckett who was the granddaughter of Ada (Skinner) Mason. At that time, she lived in Victoria, but I’m not sure if any of her family would still be here. There is nothing quite like personal family stories passed down through the generations.

It would be an incredible miracle if one of the Skinners’ or Davie’s descendants happened to read this blog and could contact me at hello@valeriegreenauthor.com  I await with bated breath! Thank you in advance.