Our Story
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Robert Dunsmuir
Joan Dunsmuir
James Dunsmuir
Alexander Dunsmuir
Effie Dunsmuir
Elizabeth Hamilton Dunsmuir
Emily Dunsmuir
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Robert Dunsmuir was born in 1825 near Kilmarnock, Ayrshire into a family of coal masters, who rented mines from the land-owning aristocracy. In 1850, they decided on very short notice to take a three-year contract with the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1855, the Hbc and Governor James Douglas granted Robert Dunsmuir and one other man the right to prospect and mine coal independently. Ten years later, in 1869, Dunsmuir found a rich seam of coal near Nanaimo. It was the richest coal seam to be discovered on Vancouver Island.
Joan was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland in 1828. At the age of 19 she married Robert who was 22. Joan was 9 months pregnant with Elizabeth and gave birth 8 days after the wedding. Robert and Joan decided on short notice to go to Canada with two toddlers while Joan, then 22, was also pregnant with James. In all Joan raised two boys and eight girls and gave birth to her last child, Maude, at the age of 45.
James was the oldest of the boys and along with Alexander helped Robert establish and build the businesses. Unlike his father who was quick witted with a sharp tongue, James was a quiet retiring man with modest ambitions. After the death of his father he and Alex struggled to gain control of the Dunsmuir empire. A few years later, when Alex died, James lost his drive to continue running the railway and mines and started planning for his retirement.
Alexander was the more capable business man of the two boys and his father often relied on him help out with a crisis. Alex was sent, at the age of 25, to San Francisco to run the family sales offices. While there he discovered that business was conducted over drinks at the Merchant Exchange as much as in the office. This practice contributed to the demise of Alex who died at the age of 46 due to complications brought on by his alcoholism.
Annie Euphemia (Effie), Joan and Robert's seventh daughter had a manic quality to her. Effie would ride all day then dance until four in the morning and still her energy would not leave her. At the age of 32 she married Somerset Arther Gough-Calthorp. Shortly after the marriage Effie was institutionalized for mental illness and spent her remaining years there.
Elisabeth, the oldest Dunsmuir daughter married John Bryden who was a trusted employee and friend of Robert's. He continued to enjoy a special relationship with James and Alex and was perhaps the only brother in law that the boys had any degree of respect for.
On July 14, 1886 Emily married a local militia captain by the name of Northing Pinckney Snowden. They acquired 12 waterfront acres in Victoria and built their home "Ashnola". Unfortunately for Emily her husband came to the marriage infected with syphilis and when his behavior became too erratic they slipped away to England were he was admitted to the Holloway Sanatorium.
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Robert and Joan had two sons and eight daughters plus one child who died in infancy. As the Dunsmuir fortune grew, the family eventually moved from Nanaimo to Victoria and took up residence in 1885 in a house named Fairview situated near the Legislative Buildings. Robert at this point had been elected and was serving as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Nanaimo. James, the elder son, took charge of the mining operations in Nanaimo, and Alexander, the younger son, lived in San Francisco and managed the sales and shipping office. Dunsmuir coal now moved to market on Dunsmuir rail and in Dunsmuir ships and the business empire also included: collieries; an iron works; a saw mill; a quarry (the source of the sandstone for the exterior of Craigdarroch); a dyking company; a theatre; and extensive real estate.
In 1887, two years after the last spike had been driven on the E&N railway, and five years after he started accumulating 28 acres of property, Robert Dunsmuir gave the orders to start building Craigdarroch. There were still three Dunsmuir daughters who were not married and the mansion would be the perfect venue to launch them into married life. Unfortunately, he died in April 1889 before the house was completed. After Robert's death, Joan spent some time travelling in Europe. Her sons oversaw the completion of the construction while she was in Europe and Joan, with her three unmarried daughters and two orphaned grandchildren, took up residence in 1890.
Robert's death brought strife to the family. Contrary to oral promises made to his sons, he left his entire Estate and business holdings to his wife, Joan. This was a blow to both James and Alex (then in their thirties) who had worked in the family business all their lives. It took seven years of negotiations with Joan before she would give her sons title to the San Francisco company. It took another three years before she agreed to their terms to purchase the Wellington Colliery. With this settlement, Alex Dunsmuir felt secure enough in his financial future to marry Josephine, a divorced woman that he had been living with as man and wife for close to twenty years. Their married life only lasted six weeks; Alex passed away on January 31, 1900 while they were in New York on their honeymoon.
After the death of Alex, a costly quarrel over his Will again divided the family, setting Joan and her daughters against James. This quarrel triggered a lawsuit that went all the way to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London (in those days equivalent to the Supreme Court of Canada). James, who was Premier of British Columbia at the time the action was announced, was very much in the public eye. A story in the New York Times announced: "Premier sued by his Mother". As a result of the legal action, Joan and James did not speak for years. When she died in 1908 having lived in Craigdarroch for 18 years, the local newspaper reported that James (then serving as Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia) was not expected to attend her funeral. At the last minute he changed his mind and did attend. During the service, he broke down and wept.
If you would like more information on the family why not purchase a copy of The Dunsmuir Saga from our Museum Gift Shop
Soon after Joan Dunsmuir died at Craigdarroch, her daughters sold the Castle to local real estate developer Griffith Hughes. The 28-acre estate was then sub-divided and the Castle raffled. The lucky winners were Solomon Cameron and Parker Clarke. Cameron's brother, Thomas A. Cameron lived here until his death in 1917. Eventually, Solomon Cameron lost the Castle to the Bank of Montreal over unpaid debts. Craigdarroch's institutional life began and continued into the 1970's before being taken over by The Craigdarroch Castle Historical Museum Society.
Craigdarroch was extensively renovated by the federal Department of Soldiers Civil Re-establishment (DSCR) prior to opening as a military hospital in September, 1919. The original kitchen was replaced and internal walls reconfigured on almost every floor. New sinks, bathrooms and hydrotherapy facilities were installed.
An article in the local paper read:
"A review of the numerous beautiful spots throughout Canada selected by the Department of Soldiers' Civil Re-establishment could hardly discover anything more wonderful than the picturesque pile erected by the late Hon. Robert Dunsmuir about 30 years ago in what was then, as now, a point of vantage so far as viewing the city and surrounding landmarks are concerned... Whole walls have had to be torn down to extend some of the rooms to dimensions such as would follow out any practical scheme; repairs made necessary by the long period of desuetude which the building has suffered have been carried out..."
The Daily Colonist, September 3, 1919
Tourists visiting the Castle today will see that some of the work done to accommodate the military hospital has been removed. The mandate of the Society is to restore this Victorian era mansion to the way it was when Joan Dunsmuir and her daughters lived here. Admission to the Castle will show visitors where walls have been restored and woodwork recreated. The restoration of this legendary attraction is on going and has taken more than 30 years to get it to its current condition. Craigdarroch Castle is a "must see" for any visitor to Victoria.
Please click on the link for more information on the Hospital
Founded in 1903 as an affiliate of McGill University in Montreal, Victoria College had been dissolved in 1915 when a new university, the University of British Columbia was established in Vancouver, B.C. A local lobby group, spear-headed by Victoria College founder Dr. Edward Burness Paul, was successful in having the College reinstated in 1920. The re-opened College was housed in the new Victoria High School building (located near Craigdarroch Castle) but the situation was not ideal for either the high school or the College. When Dr. Paul learned that the Craigdarroch Military Hospital would be closed, he seized the opportunity to propose Victoria College as a new tenant for Craigdarroch. His proposal was accepted and preparations were started for the move.
At the Castle, the rooms that once housed recuperating veterans were modified again to accommodate the first cohort of students. For example, the double drawing room became a classroom for the instruction of English and History. The library was converted into the Registrar's Office. The formal dining room, fitted out with slatted benches, became the math classroom. The college library was housed in the fourth floor dance hall. Bedrooms on the second and third floors were converted either into classrooms, common rooms or offices.
From 1921 to 1944, enrolment in Victoria College seldom reached more than 250. In 1945, however, 128 servicemen returning from World War II increased enrolment to 400. Every available space was commandeered for classroom and study purposes, even food services were suspended so the kitchen could be converted into a classroom. By 1946, the level of enrolment reached 600, an intolerable number for the building. Health & safety issues became a major concern. As an interim measure, an army hut was moved onto the grounds and converted into two classrooms but the need for new premises was critical. After students staged a protest march to the Provincial Legislature Buildings to bring their plight into the public eye, it was agreed that Victoria College would be moved into the campus of the Normal School (for teacher training) that had also been recently vacated as a military hospital. The Victoria School Board, which had purchased Craigdarroch Castle from the Bank of Montreal in 1929, then decided to move their offices into the Castle and when the College vacated, more modifications were made to create office space.
Please click the link for more information on Victoria College
