In the mid-1800s, Victoria grew from a fur-trading post into a provincial capital—the jewel in British Columbia's golden crown. Meanwhile, many of the early residents, happy to leave the Hudson's Bay Company behind, followed simple trails from the fort or discovered new routes of their own. In her first book, Danda Humphreys introduced readers to some of the people who forged those pioneer pathways. Now she takes us another step back in time to the roads and railways that connected the original city's core to today's suburbs.
From Saanich to Sooke, street names tell stories of intrigue and adventure:
Rowland Avenue, named for the farm labourer with a sinister sideline: hangman for the HBC.
Joan Crescent, where coal baron Robert Dunsmuir's widow once resided in solitary splendour in a castle called Craigdarroch.
Sidney Avenue, close to where the Brethour brothers donated land for the northern terminus of the "Cordwood Express," first train to link the city with the Saanich Peninsula and the islands in the Strait of Georgia.
In this second book in her On the Street Where You Live trilogy, Danda once again combines her passion for the past with a penchant for lively prose to bring you stories about Victoria's pioneers. You know the streets; now meet the people—their lives, their loves and the legends they left behind.
