THE GROWTH OF COMOX

The Governor sends Commander R. G. Mayne to the Comox Valley.  He reported that the Valley was the most promising spot for an agricultural settlement on the island. There was plenty of fine land and there was good anchorage for ships of any size.

The Robbs pre-empted land which we believe was 160 acres for James Robb and 100 acres for William( his son) (Sections 53 and 56). They looked around and selected land on the bay where they felt would be the logical place for ships to arrive and dock. They selected this heavily treed slope of land over open farming land because they thought this would be the most likely place for a town to emerge and for a shipping hub. The land near the water edge was quite open and very fertile for the planting of vegetables.

A smallpox epidemic was said to have been spread from a sailor from San Francisco to the indigenous work camps around Victoria. The disease spread up the coast as workers returned home from the work camps. Thousands of indigenous people died within a few months. More than one-third of the indigenous population on Vancouver Island perished. In the Comox area there were three groups of indigenous people to be encountered by the settlers. The Comox (whose original name was Sa-thool-tuch) were resident here. The Puntledge (originally Pentlatch) the other permanent residents were on the brink of extinction from the small pox epidemic and moved in with the Comox in 1862 and deserted their village about a mile up the river from the Comox. The third group were the Eucletaw (Lekwiltok) came from Cape Mudge and were the most southerly group of the Kwakwaka’wakw. They possessed herring and salmon fishing sites along the…

In January the settlers petitioned Governor Douglas for cattle and seeds. The Government sent the steamer Emily Harris with a load of shorthorn Durham cattle. The steamer arrived as close to the Indian Village as it could and pushed the load of cattle off into the water and they were guided ashore by canoe. We believe that several…

George Ford (Section 41) and Henry Horatio Mauge (Section 40) both married indigenous women and both left the valley to raise sheep on Hornby Island.

From 1862 the dairy was mostly supplied by Gordon Mitchell’s cattle and the small herd of Durham cattle that arrived in the spring of 1863 from Victoria. William Blaksley and John Baily walked to Victoria and procured a herd of young cattle and brought them back to Comox by boat. George Drabble applies for 100 acre pre-emption (Section 29) which was land that had been vacated by Mr. Harney. Subsequently, Drabble vacated the land a few months…

Reginald Pidcock sold 100 acres to Bishop Hill and the Anglican Church (mission Hill) and moved across to the west side of the River and took up most of the land which is now Courtenay. In 1870’s Pidcock built the Comox sawmill on the Courtenay River.

George Drabble returns to Comox.

George Mitchell died In Testate. He was shot and killed by an unknown indigenous man. Mitchell was in a drunken state and was waving a gun around and so fearing for his safely the man shot and killed Mitchell. The justice system upheld his plea of self-defence. Hart & Holden Store and the Burrage Stores Close. Hudson Bay Company leased both the Hart & Holden Store and the Burrage Stores. A. G. Horne operates the two stores for the Hudson Bay Company until 1877.

The settlers petitioned the Government to make Comox a “fence district”. There were so many pigs running loose that they were becoming a nuisance and somewhat dangerous as they were quite wild so legislation for obligatory fencing of livestock was requested.

Surveying was begun for planning a winding back road up from Courtenay.

The Baynes Sound Coal Mining Company was incorporated with prospect holes on the Tsolum River. They built a three mile long railway crossing the Island Highway at Rosewall Creek.  They hauled about 1500 tons of coal out but were unable to market the product.

In October only 10 of the 60 settlers had families. Union Coal Company began taking coal from Coal Creek. By 1874 they had built a tramway to Royston but the cost of the project became too high and they stopped work. John Fitzgerald’s Scottish wife Anna and Australian born son Joe arrived. Thomas Beckensell the nephew of Charles Green arrives.

First marriage in Comox Valley was between Florence Harmston and Samuel Cliffe.

There were only three mowers in the valley. Most of the hay harvesting continued to be done by scythes.

Matthew Piercy and George Greive arrive from New Brunswick with wives and children. Matthew Piercy bought the rest of the John Wilson farm. He lived next door to Crawford the school teacher. Joe Rodello builds is new store on the right side of the Wharf. He engages the services of George Drabble to survey a road through his property up from the Wharf. The Wharf was built at Comox by Joe McPhee and John Wilson.

Drabble surveyed for a connecting road from Courtenay up over Comox hill to the Wharf (Comox Avenue).

James Dunsmuir offers to purchase William Robb’s farm to use as a shipping point for coal. It is said that William Robb asked $80,000.00 for the property so Dunsmuir went to Union Bay to acquire a shipping corridor. Had the coal shipping corridor been located on the Robb property this would have certainly changed the complexion…

The Wharf Hotel was built by Joe Rodello (later renamed the Elk Hotel). The hotel was leased to John Carthew from 1878 – 1880. Later when George McDonald bought the hotel in 1880 it became the social centre for the community.  George had seven daughters (many sources said there were 8 daughters but we have not been able to identify an 8th) who were all musically…

The Lorne Hotel was built and named for the Marquis of Lorne, the husband of Princess Louise, at the time he was the Governor General.  Built by John Fitzpatrick, the hotel served as a community gathering centre, maternity ward, and funeral parlour. It was purchased by Sam and Florence Cliffe in 1883.

Alex Urquhart had been the farm manager for the John Wilson Farm. He bought the McFarlane farm including the Crawford Ranch.

Rodello’s store burnt down. The Elk Hotel was sold to George McDonald it became a very popular entertainment spot. The enlisted men who came off the navy ships migrated into the Elk; the officers went to the Lorne.

Anderton family arrives in the Valley, William and Helen Anderton.

Archie Pritchard set up a lumber camp on the Trent River below Union Bay and Walter Piercy started a logging operation south of Union Bay. Logs were hauled over greased skids to the tidewater where they were towed away by boats often the Beaver. This was the starting of another important economic boom to the Comox Valley. …

Florence Mary (Harmston) Cliffe and Samuel Jackson Cliffe bought the Lorne.

The first St. Peter’s Anglican Church was built on land donated to the church by William Robb. The requirements of the donation were that the Church be built at a cost of not less that $2,000.00 and that the structure (framing and roof on) must be completed within 40 days.  The conditions were met and the building cost $2,218.00. Census- Eric Duncan was assigned the task of taking the census in the country between Union Bay and Campbell River excluding Cumberland. He reported that the total was just under 1000 in his section.

First newspaper was started in Courtenay by an American named Whitney and called “The Comox News”. He moved himself and the newspaper to Cumberland in 1896 and later sold the business to W. B. Anderson and one of the Campbell Brothers.

The Union Coal Company in what is now Cumberland was mining 700 to 1000 tons per day and employed 600 men. This gave a great economic boost to the Comox Valley. The farming community had its first local market.

The Dominion Telegraph office begins operation from a small building beside the Elk Hotel. The area is renamed Comox-Atlin, formerly Augusta Bay, or Robb`s Landing by the locals.