234 Menzies St
contactus@victoriahistoricalsociety.bc.ca

Presentations

About VHS Presentations

Presentations will take place on the fourth Thursday of each month (September – May). Entry is free for VHS members and $5 for non-members. Membership forms will be available for those that wish to join the Victoria Historical Society. 


November 28, 2024

The Kathleen Conundrum

Moira Dann
Location: James Bay New Horizons Centre, 7:30pm

The talk coming up in November is about a member of the Dunsmuir family.

Imagine Kathleen, the second-to-last female child of James and Laura Dunsmuir of Hatley Castle, as she hands a still-warm bun to the bigger, dirtier man’s hand through the window of a modified van. She had already handed him a mug of hot chocolate. It’s February, 1915 in Le Havre, France and this Dunsmuir daughter was doing her bit for the war effort, serving upwards of 200 soldiers an hour at her quayside canteen.

Kathleen’s story is complex: She married her military supervisor in the canteen, and that meant she had to spend the rest of war in London. Her brother died in the First War and her son will die in the Second. She veers between a life of service in both wars and a life of privilege in Victoria, London, and Los Angeles. In LA in 1930, she sought to re-energize her dream of being an actress, using her wealth to start conversations with producers: If she could have a role in a film, she might back it. She ultimately found the role she sought with a producer back in Victoria. Kathleen’s involvement with “Canada’s First All-Talking Motion Picture” led to her financial undoing.

Local Victoria writer Moira Dann has crafted an article about Kathleen Dunsmuir for Canada’s History magazine, which she will preview for us in this presentation. The article is scheduled to appear in January 2025.

Moira is a member of VHS and the president of the board at Craigdarroch Castle. She’s the author of Craigdarroch Castle in 21 Treasures, which won a Lieutenant-Governor’s award in 2021.


January 23, 2024

Postcards Then & Now

Nick Russell
Location: James Bay New Horizons Centre, 7:30pm

“Postcards Then & Now” is a light-hearted look at what we can learn from old postcards — sometimes not what the sender intended!

Nick Russell expands on his book Victoria Then & Now and previous talks to explore two questions to which the answers are not what you might expect:

  1. WHY SEND POSTCARDS? People casually share the oddest bits of information when they feel the need to fill that blank space.
    a. “Your birthday is on June 1st.”
    b. “Hey, bro: I got married yesterday.”
    c. “This is our prairie shack…where the winds blow and the coyotes howl.”
    d. “Your oysters are waiting at the station.”
  2. WHY COLLECT POSTCARDS? It’s all about history.
    a. “Here’s a picture of our new house.” -Long since demolished.
    b. “Here’s a picture of the funeral home…of the smoke-stacks… of the sweat-shop…”
    c. “The Kilties are guarding the reservoir.”
    d. Did Dunsmuir Castle really rule the Rockland Bluffs, when it was built?

Nick Russell, a heritage researcher (Glorious Victorian Homes) and reformed journalist, will add a few personal anecdotes to a richly illustrated talk.