Trev Anderson , Former Lightkeeper at Race Rocks celebrates 103rd birthday

The Times Colonist reported this week the 103rd birthday of Trev Anderson, former lightkeeper at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve who lives in Victoria, BC.
https://www.timescolonist.com/celebrations/birthday-trevor-anderson-7703934

 

 

The following note was published here in 2020
https://racerocks.ca/the-origins-of-an-ecological-reserve-trev-anderson-turns-100/

Trevor Anderson and Garry Fletcher in the dining hall at Lester B. Pearson United World College: September 21, 1998

Archives of Victoria Newspaper Articles on Race Rocks

The  British Colonist Newspaper Archives 1859-1906
https://racerocks.ca/newspaper-archives-1859-1906/

Since the last time I looked at the digitized versions of the early newspaper of Victoria, further work has been done by the University of Victoria Archives in digitizing and more of the early Victoria Newspaper references to Race Rocks have been found.  Here are some that I have come across to date..

1858/08/12 .. (page2 left column)Lighthouse Commissioners: HMS Plumper, Capt. Richards left Esquimalt Wednesday morning to select a site for a lighthouse on Race Rocks…
https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist18590812uvic/mode/1up

1934/12/30  Historic Race Rocks Lighthouse (recounts construction of lighthouse as well as story of Davies and tragedy)
https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist19341230/page/n26/mode/1up?view=theater&q=race+rocks

1970/04/26  Californians Come for Good Life. (California Sea Lions)
https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist19700426/page/n70/mode/1up?view=theater&q=race+rocks

1070/06/07 In Stiff Wind off Race Rocks Yacht Mishap Kills Four
https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist19700607/mode/1up?view=theater&q=race+rocks+rock

1970/08/09 Unusual Homecoming ..   ( Race Rocks Construction, light-keeper George Davies )
https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist19700809/page/n57/mode/1up?view=theater&q=race+rocks

1971/09/26 Dreaded Race Rocks : https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist19710926/page/n75/mode/1up?view=theater&q=race+rocks+rock+race%E2%80%99s

1977/02/20  Race Rocks Treasure. ( Thomas Argyle)
https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist19770220/page/n71/mode/1up?view=theater&q=race+rocks

1977/10/02 Zone of Silence
https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist19771002/page/n80/mode/1up?view=theater&q=race+rocks

178/04/23 Sea Lions Transients of the Coast. ( Stellers sea lions) 
https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist19780423/page/n82/mode/1up?view=theater&q=race+rocks

 

The Origins of an Ecological Reserve-Trev Anderson turns 100

Trevor Anderson at age 100

On October 22nd  we were invited to the 100th year  birthday party for Trevor Anderson, the light keeper at Race Rocks when it became an Ecological Reserve. Trev and Flo Anderson had arrived at Race Rocks with their family in 1966, and served at the station until they had built a boat and left to sail across the Pacific Ocean in 1982. They had been married for 70 years in 2014  and  Flo Anderson passed away in 1977.

  I first met the Andersons in 1976 and the students from Lester Pearson College in the Diving Marine Science and Biology programs started coming out to the Islands for field trips and SCUBA diving, with some even spending their project weeks studying and working at the islands. Students in the Diving and Sea Rescue Services at Pearson College developed a close relationship with these neighbours 5 km out at sea. After many of our dive sessions whenour students were invited into their home for tea and cookies, the students would talk excitedly about the incredible sea-life they were seeing at under water. In the late 1970s we started to visit Race Rocks more frequently and the Andersons invited students to stay on project weeks. 

Trev and Flo were the first to plant the seed of an idea urging us to see if we could get the government to do some formal recognition and protection of the Race Rocks Area.  What they could see at low tide alone was impressive enough, but if the underwater life also could be protected, that would be ideal.  In the years 1997 and 1998 we recorded the unique life underwater by logging dives from over 80 locations throughout the Race Rocks archipelago, and by February of 1979 a highly successful workshop took place, with officials invited from the Provincial Museum, the University of Victoria, and the Ministry of Parks who were all enthusiastic and supportive of our proposal.

Throughout that year we worked at the task of formalizing our proposal, presenting it to cabinet and lobbying to get action. Two students in diving and marine science, Johan Ashuvud from Sweden and Jens Jensen from Denmark were especially relentless in their pursuit of our goal. The proposal had to clear 11 agencies in the government bureaucracy and the cabinet before the Reserve could be proclaimed. These two students invited the Director of the Ecological reserves Branch Bristol Foster, and the Deputy Minister of Parks Tom Lee out to dive and then kept following it up with phone calls, even after hours! Their persistence finally paid off when after a year, the shortest time any reserve proposal has ever taken, the Minister of Parks was able to request Prince Charles on his visit to the college as international board president (April 1980) to make the formal announcement proclaiming Race Rocks the 97th Provincial Ecological Reserve.

The day we received the information that the reserve was proclaimed by the Ecological Reserves Branch of the Ministry of Lands Parks and Housing, The group of students who had worked so hard on the proposal went out to Race Rocks to give the news to Trev and Flo and present them with a very unofficial looking sign. 

 

The next week Trev and Flo asked the group of students who had worked so hard to establish the Ecological Reserve to come out to the island one afternoon where they presented the students with medals and “The Order of Race Rocks” as recognition and appreciation for their work in creating the Ecological reserve. 

 


Trev, Hans, Johan, Iina, Garry, Jens and Flo

 

FER Board member Garry Fletcher taught at Lester Pearson College from 1996 to 2004 and has been the ecological reserve warden for Race Rocks since 1980.

 

Trevor Anderson by Marianne Scott

Trevor aAnderson, Air Force Veteran, lighthouse keeper, offshore sailor. an article in Pacific Yachting magazine of December. 

See the pdf here: Anderson

 COASTAL CHARACTERS BY MARIANNE SCOTT

TREVOR ANDERSON

Air Force veteran, lighthouse keeper, offshore sailor

Only a few Second World War veterans remain with us today—Trevor Anderson is one of them. At age 99, he vividly recalls his war experiences, serving as a Morse code radio operator and doubling as gunner. “When the war broke out in 1939, I tried to enlist and finally made it in 1941,” he told me. He received his radio operator and gunner training in Calgary and Saskatchewan and eventually made it to England. “I was required to signal 16 words a minute in Morse code,” he recalls,“but it bumped up to 20 words in the UK. I’ve built a life-sized model Morse communication setup in the basement.”

After time in Scotland, he and 700 others boarded the SS Pasteur and spent two months sailing to the Cape of Good Hope, then to Aden.“Somebody goofed, ”Trevor says.“We were supposed to go to Burma but were dumped in Cairo.We had no notion we were going to North Africa.” He was attached to the British Royal Air Force with about 100 other Canadians, a few Australians and New Zealanders, but was scuttled all around the fighting between the Allies under Bernard Montgomery and the Germans under Erwin Rommel. “We moved continually,” he says.“It was a shemozzle.Tents, dust, sand, fleas and crickets. They assigned me to the American forces, who didn’t use Morse code. No keys in the planes to start with.Very insecure.” “The Americans wanted to fly at night,” he continued.“But their exhaust trails lit up like Vegas. So they changed their tactics.”

He spent 18 months in the desert, variously stationed in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and later, Sicily. Crouched in a small gun turret attached to the belly of American B-25 bombers, he handled two 50-calibre machine guns and the Morse code key.

On his fourth mission, January 2, 1943, his plane was hit and ditched in the Mediterranean while he signaled their location. Somehow, he escaped from the belly turret through a dinner plate-sized window and survived with six others in a dinghy for 30 hours.

Altogether, Trevor flew 55 missions— while the usual limit for gunners was 25-30 missions. During his 55th bombing run, an inexperienced colonel wanting flight pay missed the Italian target twice and then got lost. Trevor’s Morse code requests for help got them back to Sicily. The next morning, he visited the colonel. “Sir,” he said, “I’ve had enough.” (He tells me this story in his modest, understated way. Today, he’d be called a hero.) After flying to Cairo, he found the Canadians were clueless about what to do with him, but they released him from the combat area; Trevor went home to Victoria via West Africa, Brazil, Curacao, Miami and Ottawa.

WHILE IN NORTH Africa, Trevor, like all military men, thirsted for mail from home. Among the letter writers was Florence, aka Flo. “Our fathers were part of a small lending circle in Victoria and she wrote me regularly,” says Trevor, “mind you, it wasn’t romantic. But sometime during my desert sojourn, I asked her to marry me. She said yes.”

They married in 1944 after Flo finished her Victoria College studies; the marriage lasted 73 years. “When Hitler was defeated, we were released and every soldier was looking for work,” he recalled. “So after a few months, I went back into the Air Force and was posted in the Queen Charlotte Islands and Ottawa, teaching flight simulation for pilots.” Later, he and his growing family of two boys and two girls were stationed around Canada while Trevor flew all over the world in Dakotas and North Stars operating the radio while supplying the bases along the Alaska Highway and transporting dignitaries. He also served as radar fighter controller on several bases, retiring from the Air Force in 1960.

THE NEXT PHASES of Trevor’s life revolved around the sea. In 1961, he took the job of assistant lighthouse keeper and he, Flo and their four kids relocated to Lennard Island, near Tofino. Their government-issued home was on the verge of dereliction, cold and without running water. Electricity came on at night when the lighthouse operated and the Andersons turned night into day, with the children studying and Flo doing her household chores. In her autobiography Lighthouse Chronicles, Flo explained the senior keeper was a vicious drunk. Perhaps because Trevor had trained for lighthouse keeper duties, he’d become a threat to those without formal training; suddenly, the Department of Transport informed him he was fired. The noxious senior keeper had written a batch of letters reporting Trevor performed his duties badly.

Trevor journeyed to Victoria to protest his dismissal. After a lengthy investigation, he was reinstated, then promoted and appointed senior keeper at Barrett Rock. The family became rock hoppers, relocating to McInnes Island in Milbanke Sound, then to stormy Green Island, the northernmost-staffed lighthouse in Canada. They called it an “igloo” as the incessant tempests created rotund— and treacherous—ice pillows on the beaches. The Andersons lived through two ice-sprayed winters until July 1966, when they transferred to Race Rocks, which became a true home. They stayed 16 years.

Besides staffing the lights, the Andersons worked with Pearson College students and their marine biology teacher Garry Fletcher (featured in PY October 2019) to investigate the nine Race Rocks isles, their unique ecology, the surrounding high-current waters and various forms of alternative electricity production. They helped Garry to establish Race Rocks as an Ecological Reserve—areas set aside to preserve exceptional natural features. At some time, Trev and Flo decided they needed a sailboat and vowed to build one themselves, despite their lack of boatbuilding knowledge and skills. They spent much time pouring over Chappelle’s Boatbuilding and reading books penned by such sailors as the Hiscocks. They also met renowned boat designer Bill Garden. Over seven years, they built their 56-foot ketch (42 feet without bowsprit and davits), Wawa the Wayward Goose, launching her in 1982. “I knew I’d figure out all the intricacies eventually,” Trev says. “Bill Garden was enthralled.” They learned sailing by doing, first cruising the Gulf Islands, and then circumnavigating Vancouver Island. In July 1985, they headed offshore to Hawaii, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Fanning Island and Pago Pago. After returning to Victoria in 1987, they continued to live on Wawa for another eight years before returning to life on solid land.

Flo died in  2017, at 93 years of age. Having had her companionship for nearly three-quarters of a century, Trevor misses her enormously. “Being alone is hard,” he says. He continues to live in the 100-plus year-old house in Victoria’s James Bay (Flo’s parents once owned it). Although he spent more than 20 years in military service, Canada denied him a pension, as “the service wasn’t continuous.” Consequently, he doesn’t have much use for Remembrance Days or other veteran recognitions.

How does one live until 99 and still be upright? “My philosophy of life is to take things as they come,” Trevor says. “Don’t do what you can’t do. I don’t think much about it, I’m just here. I’ve survived an airplane crash, a car crash and a mangled foot. I don’t drink, quit smoking more than 50 years ago. I just continue to live, day after day.”

Flo Anderson : In Memoriam

ANDERSON, Florence (Zita) Belle On March 30, 2017 Florence (Zita) Belle Anderson, quietly slipped away at home, while laying next to her beloved husband of seventy-three years, Trevor. Born December 30th, 1924 in Victoria at the family home on Midgard Ave., Flo went to Mount View high school and then onto Victoria College in the historic Craigdarroch Castle. She fondly remembered daydreaming about the formal dances held at the castle. After completion of her college exams, she married Trev (May 20th, 1944, Grace Lutheran Church) on his return from serving in the Canadian Airforce, World War II, North Africa. The newlyweds moved to Boundary Bay where they had their first son Garry. Back and forth across Canada four times, the Anderson family moved to different Airforce stations and radar bases adding Stan, Beth and Adrienne to the family along the way. After Trev left the Airforce in 1960, they lived at Miracle Beach for several years. Then the family moved on to their next adventure – twenty years on five West Coast Lighthouses. Flo’s ingenuity led her to achieve any task that she set her mind to and thrive in new situations. During their last seven years on the lighthouse, she and Trev took on a massive undertaking; building their fifty-six foot sailboat Wawa the Wayward Goose. They launched the two-masted ketch from Race Rocks, February 7th, 1982 and headed off for thirteen years of sailing trips. First they sailed locally amongst the Gulf Islands. Then they circumnavigated Vancouver Island. In July 1985, they headed offshore to Hawaii and onto New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Fanning Islands, Pago Pago, returning to Victoria July 1987. Florence had prepared herself by completing a Celestial Navigation course, getting her HAM radio license and joining the Blue Water Cruising Association. They sold Wawa in 1995 settling in Sidney and then in her parents last house in James Bay. Travel has always been a part of Flo’s life. On holidays away from the lighthouse, she and the family travelled on many road trips across North America and an excursion to Portugal and Spain. Flo’s artistic skills started early. She learned to sew, leather work, crochet, tat, spin wool, knit, quilt, draw and paint. While on the lighthouses she taught herself to oil paint and created realistically beautiful wave seascapes. At age seventy, she taught herself to use the computer, wrote a book (Lighthouse Chronicles), found a publisher and went on a book tour around BC. She is predeceased by her parents, Bert and Ida Drader (Victoria), her sisters Nellie Marshall (Niagara Falls, ON) and Eileen Odowichuk (Campbell River) and her brother Bill Drader (Edmonton, AB). She is survived by her husband Trev, sister Julia Guilbault (Victoria), her children Garry Anderson (Phyllis), Stan Anderson (Janet), Beth Cruise, Adrienne Lowden (Jeff); six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, one great-great-grandchild and two dear life-long friends Kay Johnson and Arlene Bryan We would like to send a heartfelt thank you to Flo’s Caregivers extraordinaire, Lesley, Joanne, Hughette, Michelle and Wendy. And a special thank you to Dr. Rosenberg and Associates for their compasionate and excellent care. There will be a Celebration of Life June 30th , 1:00 – 3:00 pm at 576 Niagara Street. Flo will be dearly missed by all

This Obituary was published in Victoria Times Colonist from Apr. 22 to Apr. 23, 2017
View the Enhanced Obituary

Families of past lightkeepers visit Race Rocks

Courtney providing the transportation, along with Garry Fletcher took two sets of  lighthouse keeper’s family members,  the Robert Lundy Family and a branch of the (first light keeper ) George N.Davies family for a prearranged visit to Race Rocks today. They left archival documents and photos; and are sending more to add to the web pages;

Archive of Canadian Lightkeepers Association

This article is reproduced from The Archive of the Canadian Lightkeepers Association

Race Rocks

On Boxing Day 1860 the magnificent Imperial Light on the treacherous Race Rocks Islets was lit for the first time. Since then a succession of dedicated lightkeepers have tended the light as a vital navigation aid for ships transiting Juan de Fuca Strait and bound for Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle and the Inside Passage.
The urgent need for a light on Race Rocks had become obvious to the British Admiralty in the early 1850s. The new American light at Cape Flattery marked the southern entrance to Juan de Fuca Strait. Ships made the turn to starboard and found themselves navigating an inland waterway with variable winds and dangerous currents. At Race Rocks a tide race swirls past the rocky outcrops at speeds of up to 8 knots.
Located one nautical mile from the southern point of Vancouver Island, Race Rocks is only 12 nautical miles from the American shore, Race Rocks is swept not only by the strong tides but also the surging waves of the Pacific.
1860s Victoria was emerging as an important port. Captain George Richards,RN. of aboard the survey ship HMS Plumper reported that “a great want which is felt by all vessels coming to Vancouver’s Island of a light on the North shore on the Race Islands or Rocks.” The decision to construct the Admiralty’s first lights on the West Coast at Fisgard at the entrance to Esquimalt harbour and at Race Rocks was soon made.
The construction of Race Rocks light was a remarkable undertaking. Granite was cut and numbered in Scotland and then shipped as ballast for assembly at Race Rocks. Throughout the summer of 1860 the massive stones were barged from the harbour to the Race and assembled using timber derricks and scaffolding largely by the crew of the 24-gun wooden screw frigate Topaze.
Three days before the light was lit, tragedy struck. If there was ever any doubt about the need for the lighthouse structure the loss of the 385 ton sailing ship Nanette proved it. Without the warning the Nanette ran hard aground on Race Rocks and was a total loss.
The Nanette’s mate William McCullogh wrote in the ship’s log: “At 8 o’clock saw a light bearing N by W [this must have been the new light at Fisgard lit only two months earlier] Could not find the light marked on the chart. At 8 1/2 o’clock it cleared somewhat, and then saw the point of Race Rocks the first time, but no light. Called all hands on deck, as we found the ship was in a counter current, and drifting at a rate of 7 knots toward the shore. We made all possible sail, but to no avail.”
With the assistance of the construction gang the crew of the Nanette found shelter although the lightstation boat was also lost. HMS Grappler was able to rescue the crew from Race Rocks the next day. The Nanette’s cargo of machinery, trade goods and rum, valued at over $160,000, was strewn across the rocks. This prize attracted eager local salvors. One ambitious crew perished when their over loaded canoe capsized off Albert Head tossing five men, a woman and her baby into the sea.
Soon after the light went into service, Race Rocks’ distinctive black and white stripes were painted on the tower by the first lightkeeper George Davies to improve it’s visibility. Although the light was a great improvement on clear nights when it was visible for 18 miles the hazards of Race Rocks were still very real in the fogs that shroud the islets for up to 45 days a year.
Notable wrecks at Race Rocks include the SS Nicholas Biddle sunk in 1867, the Swordfish wrecked in 1877, the SS Rosedale sunk in 1882, and the Barnard Castle, a coal freighter en route from Nanaimo to San Francisco that struck Rosedale Rocks in 1886.
In 1892 the Department of Marine and Fisheries installed two compressed air fog horns at Race Rocks. The Department had taken over operation of lighthouses from the British Admiralty in 1871 when British Columbia joined the Dominion of Canada. Despite the addition of the powerful horns tragedies continued at Race Rocks.
In 1896 the SS Tees crashed ashore,in 1901 the Prince Victor was wrecked. The worst disaster occurred on the night of March 24, 1911 when the ferry Sechelt , bound for Sooke from Victoria found herself fighting a fierce westerly gale. The captain decided to turn back for the shelter of Victoria. Caught in a beam sea the Sechelt capsized and took her crew and 50 passengers with her to the bottom of Race Passage.
In 1923 the liner Siberian Prince went aground within a mile of Race Rocks light without ever hearing the fog horn. Two years later, the Holland America liner Eemdijk also ran aground in the same location. Again the ship’s crew reported they did not hear the horn. The tug Hope was lost with her crew of seven while attempting to salvage the Eemdijk . In 1927 Race Rocks was the first station on Canada’s West Coast to be fitted with a radio beacon. This helped to prevent further tragedy.
The issue of the reliability of the lightkeepers and the fog horns was finally resolved in 1929 when the Hydrographic Survey ship Lillooet investigated the so called silent zone and found an unusual deflection of the sound as a result of the location of the horns. The horns were moved to a separate tower and for the first time were truly useful.
Their living conditions for Race Rock lightkeepers were difficult. The original stone house at the base of the light tower was drafty and damp. In southeast gales, rain penetrated the cement joints in the structure.
On Christmas Day 1865, the first keeper George Davies and his wife Rosina were awaiting the visit of her brother, sister-in-law. As their skiff approached, with the Davies family watching and waving from the station, a tide rip only 20 feet from the jetty swept the small boat away, capsizing it and dumping the shocked passengers and their gifts into the water. The station had no boat at this time and the visitors perished. The new year was no better for Davies. During the winter of 1866 George became seriously ill. The Union Jack flew at half mast at the station as a signal of distress for nine days but to no avail. George Davies died shortly before Christmas 1866.
In 1867 Thomas Argyle was appointed as Chief Keeper of Race Rocks Light at an annual salary of $630. His wife Ellen was retained as matron at $150 and two assistant keepers were hired at a salary of $390 each. Supplying the station was difficult as it involved rowing out from Victoria but at least the Admiralty paid up to $900 a year for supplies. The employment conditions for the keeper of Race Rocks deteriorated after 1871 when the new Dominion Government took over. Argyle’s salary was cut to a paltry $125 and he was expected to pay for his own assistants and supplies. Argyle took to the sea to supplement his food supplies. His family had grown considerably as six children were born to the Argyles at Race Rocks. He was known to dive into the frigid waters around the station in search of abalone, scallops and mussels.
It seems that Argyle’s luck changed in 1885. The Victoria Colonist newspaper reported that he paid for his supplies with gold sovereigns. When Argyle died 30 years later at the age of 80 he had still not exhausted his supply of coins. It would appear that his diving expeditions resulted in the discovery of sunken treasure.
Argyle served at Race Rocks foryears and retired in 1888. One son was drowned at age 19 when returning from Victoria with a friend. Another son Albert took over as temporary keeper until a new appointment was made in 1889. According to descendants of Argyle they would not allow him to stay on as keeper because he was not married!
Appointments to government jobs were always closely linked with political patronage. The appointment of W.P. Daykin who came from Sand Head station was clearly influenced in this way. Daykin served for three years before moving on to Carmanah Light Station on the outside coast. Frederick Eastwood, his wife and three children moved to Race Rocks in 1891. When Eastwood hired two Japanese assistants, he was charged with dereliction of duty when the local MP Colonel E. G. Prior wrote to the Minister that “for a long time past this lighthouse has been in the charge of two Japanese instead of a white man.”
Minister Louis Davies fired the Japanese. “The Department was not desirous to encourage in any way the employment of these men,” he decided.
A second keeper, Arthur Anderson, was lost in 1950 when he left his wife and two children to obtain supplies ashore. He never returned. His skiff turned up empty along the American shore near Port Angeles.
In the early 1960s , the old stone house attached to the bottom of the tower was destroyed under the “efficiency policies” of the time by the Canadian Coast Guard. In 1997 the last lightkeeper left Race Rocks lightstation after it was automated.
Province:

British Columbia

Year Built:

1860

Staffed:

No

Trev and Flo Anderson visit Race Rocks

Trevor and Flo Anderson, lightkeepers at Race Rocks from July 28, 1966 until March 2, 1982 had a very pleasant visit at Race Rocks today. Trev and Flo provided endless stories of their 16 years here and certainly provided some historical tidbits for our benefit. Many, many things have changed on the Island since the Anderson’s time. Garry accompanied while Erik drove the boat.

Misery took his time in occupying the pathway as we were trying to get by.
There were 4 visitors to the island today.

George Nicholas Davies Rosina (Warner) Davies (later Harman) Lightkeepers at Race Rocks

In preparation for the 150th anniversary of the Race Rocks Lightstation
(December 2010) I have come up with a variety of references, about George Nicholas Davies and his wife Rosina. I am entering them here and would urge anyone with further information or photos to get in touch and I would be glad to add them to this historical record.
Garry Fletcher

For some time now, we have had the following entries on our Race Rocks History page about the Davies family: Soon after the light went into service in 1860 it became obvious that the tower was difficult to see by day when approaching from the west. Distinctive black and white stripes were painted on the tower by the first lightkeeper George Davies to improve it’s visibility against the shoreline. These markings remain today maintaining Race Rock’s unique appearance. Although the light was a great improvement on clear nights when it was visible for 18 miles the hazards of Race Rocks were still very real in fog.

james Davies

James Davies was 4 years old when the family immigrated to Canada, to live at Race Rocks lighthouse.

Grant Meyer and son and his uncle and aunt.

Grant Meyer and son and his uncle and aunt.


Family members from the Davies family visited Race Rocks with Pearson College
on August 24, 2015 and left us with copies of many of these pictures and documents:

Also see https://www.ancestry.com/boards/surnames.davies/998.2

GeorgeDavisarticle1

GeorgeDaviesarticle1 1

 

.

The first keeper’s time at the Race was a very unfortunate one. George Davies and his wife Rosina eagerly awaited the visit of her brother, sister-in-law and three friends on Christmas Day 1865. As the skiff approached with the Davies family watching and waving from the station, a tide rip only 20 feet from the jetty swept the small boat away, capsizing it and dumping the shocked passengers and their Christmas gifts into the water. The station had no boat at this time and each of the unfortunate visitors perished. The new year was no better for the Davies family. During the winter of 1866 George became seriously ill. The Union Jack flew at half mast at the station as a signal of distress for nine days but to no avail. George Davies died at Race Rocks shortly before Christmas 1866.

LIGHTHOUSE DIGEST – July,2002
George Nicholson Davies First Keeper on Canada’s West Coast,

An excellent account of the Davies history by Jeremy D’Entremont . refers to Joy Davies research.
Seaside Memories Tribute to Race Rocks
George Nicholas Davies/light keeper Race Rocks and Fisgard

” Seaside Memories is a tribute to my Great-Great Grandfather George Nicholas Davies. He holds the honour and distinction of being the first full-time lightkeeper at Race Rocks just outside Victoria Harbour. His memory is with me as I watch from our window the waves washing the shore. The light in our guest suites will welcome travellers both Near and Far.

by his Great Great Granddaughter, Wendy Breaks.
http://www.seasidememories.ca/My_Homepage_Files/Page8.html
I am conducting a research project and I’m looking for any images of George Davies – British Columbia’s first lightkeeper. I have checked with the BC Archives and came up with nothing. Does anyone know if there are any photographs or portraits in existence?
Mark Evans – Vancouver, B.C. Canada 1999-10-27

http://www.fogwhistle.ca/bclights/guestbook/index.php?from=0&more=39&key=Davies
George Nicholas Davies/light keeper Race Rocks and Fisgard

Anyone out there have connections to George Nicholas Davies the Lighthouse keeper at Race Rocks and Fisgard lighthouses in British Columbia Canada, or to his son George Nicholas Davies who was a coal miner, Fire Chief and Brewer at Naniamo,B.C. Canada in 1800-early 1900,s ,he died in 1934 and his wife Louisa Jenner died in 1950.? The Davies were supposedly from Wales, some from England, arrived in Canada in 1860.They came with three children-George (just mentioned), James and Rosemary.Their ship sustained damage rounding Cape Horn in rough seas and had to change ships at Hawaii then made their way to Canada to fulfill their lightkeeper contract.More info to share soon.

by Ken Davies, 23 Jul 2000
http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.davies/257/mb.ashx
Anyone connected to this Welsh fellow who immigrated to Victoria,B.C.Canada from England Aug 1860? Wife Rosina Warner. Children:David,James,George and Mary Elisabeth.

The head of this tribe immigrated here in Aug of 1860 and he was George Nicholas Davies (apparently from Wales),married to Rosina Warner, after his death in about 1866, she later married a Peter Harman. When George and Rosina immigrated from England,they brought their four children over as well, three with them and a child that was ill came later with someone else. Some of the Warner family were here too and there is a very sad story about this family in websites and books for Fisgard and Race Rocks lighthouses on B.C. West Coast, George and Rosina were the 1st lightkeepers over here. One of the books, Keepers of the Light, by Donald Graham, is excellent. Anyway, one of their sons was born in London,LongAcre County, Middlesex,England, possibly more born there.

by Joy Davies 12 Feb 2003
http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.davies/998/mb.ashx
I am a descendant of George Nicolas Davies through my maternal grandmother’s side. Her father was William Rafter, his mother was Laura Helen Davies, and her father was George N Davies. I am wondering about the information you provided regarding his father George (the lightkeeper) and his wife Rosina? May I ask where I can get a hold of this information? For some reason I had George sr.’s wife penciled in as Elisabeth – I am looking over “George Davis” and “Louisa Jenner”s marriage cert and that is what it says under George’s parents. I would love to clear this up or update my info. Hope to hear from you. Warm Regards,
Joe
by: Joseph Isaac 22 May 2009
http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.davies/998.1.1/mb.ashx

George Nicholas Davies was the son to the lighthouse keeper George and wife Rosina immigrated to Canada with three sons. Two came with parents, because of health problems the other joined them later. For more information. You can e-mail me jdixie (use the at sign here) shaw.ca

by Kathleen Dixon Mar 2004

http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.davies/998.1/mb.ashx

George Nicholas Davies/light keeper Race Rocks and Fisgard
1.There is a book out that will give some information about the Davies connection to the lighthouses Victoria BC. ” Keepers of the Light” By Donald Graham.
2. George and Louisa from Nanaimo are my great-grandparents. One of the sons of the first George N (lighthouse keeper)

by Kathleen Dixon 11 Oct 2009

http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.davies/998.1.1.1/mb.ashx

Nicholas Bertucci , Assistant lighthouse keeper

Nicholas Bertucci came to Victoria from Italy in 1862. He was assistant at Race Rocks for 5 years: from either 1863-1867 or 1863-1968. He later owned and operated the Ferry Boathouse until selling it in 1889. He died in 1917
( information provided from an e-mail from Annamaria Bamji, February 2008)

Annamaria was doing research on the life of Mr. Bertucci and sent us this obituary from the Victoria Daily Colonist of 1917.

“Nicholas Bertucci , res/here for 55 years. aged 79. N/o Lavagna Ita. he left there in early 1860’s and came here by way of Cape Horn. Prior to coming to Victoria, he worked on an American Survey ship, and after arriving here worked for 5 years as asst. lighthousekeeper at Race Rocks. Later he owned amd operated the Ferry Boat house, situated at that time where the E&N RR bridge now stand, selling it in 1889.

He leaves a widow, 7 sons: BG; D and J, now on active service:
N;A,Al,and F all of VIctoria.
Also 5 daughters: Mrs J. Sauit, Mrs. H Gallinger; Miss J, all of Victoria,
and MrsF Arnott, Los Angeles; Mrs. H.F.Silk, now in Eng.

VX/NewsPh/Jun23,5-A/Cpl Joseph Francis Bertucci, Victoria, WIA 2nd time. Left Victoria w/2 bros. Louis and Jack, both at front. Was employed in Times Business Office. U 073 B53 (location of burial in Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria,BC.)”.

Recent information indicates that after his death, of the three sons who went to war, two died in active service in World War 1.

Another more thorough entry can be found on the Markes Family History page: http://marko.dgmm.net/bertucci.html