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- VICTORIA ILLUSTRATED. 75
THE PORTRAITS.
FOLLOWING is a brief reference to each of the public and business men whose portraits are given in this work :
The Hon. Hugh Nelson, Lieutenant-Governor, is an Irishman, having been born in 183o in Larne, County Antrim. He arrived in British
Columbia in June, 1858, following mercantile pursuits until 1866, when he became a member of the firm of Moody, Dietz & Nelson,
lumber-men, Burrard Inlet, finally retiring from business in 1882. He represented New Westminster in the B. C. Legislature for a short
time previous to confederation, being in 1871 and 1872, during his absence from the Province, returned to represent New Westminster in
the House of Commons. He was one of the promoters of union with Canada, and received a diploma of honor for services in connection with
the International Fisheries Exhibition in London, in 1883. He sat in the Senate from December, 1879, until February 8th, 1887, when he
was appointed Lieutenant-Governor.
Hon. John Robson, Premier, Provincial Secretary and Minister of Mines, was born in Perth, Ont., in 1824, of Scottish parentage. He has
been prominently connected with the New Westminster and Victoria press ; was elected mayor of the former city in 1864, and re-presented
the district of that name in the Legislative Council from 1856 to 187o, in which latter year he was returned for Nanaimo, his connection
with which he maintained until 1875. He was returned for New Westminster District at the general election of 1882, and continued to sit
for it until 189o, when, having been the choice of both New Westminster and Cariboo, he chose to sit for the latter constituency. On the
death of Hon. A. E. B. Davie he was called upon by the Lieutenant-Governor, and succeeded in forming a strong ad-ministration, which has
since continued in office.
Hon. C. E. Pooley was born at Upwood, Huntingdonshire, England, in 1845. He was appointed Deputy-Registrar-General in 1863, subsequently
becoming Registrar of the Supreme Court. He was chosen to represent Esquimalt in the Assembly in 1882, and has retained his seat ever since.
He was appointed Speaker of the Legislature in 1887, which he resigned in August, 1889, to become President of the Legislative Council.
He is a barrister-at-law, etc.
Hon. J. H. Turner, Provincial Minister of Finance, was born in Ipswich, England, in 1834. He arrived in the Maritime Provinces close upon
forty years ago, coming to British Columbia in 1862. He was elected to the City Council of Victoria in 1872, where, having served two terms
as councillor, he had the honor of occupying the mayor's chair three times in succession. He is head of the wholesale house of Turner,
Beeton & Co., and has occupied a number of honored positions in the gift of his fellow citizens. He was returned to the Legislative Assembly
for the City of Victoria in 1886, and has served as Finance Minister and Minister of Agriculture during therespective administrations of
Hon. A. E. B. Davie and Hon. John Robson.
Hon. Forbes George Vernon is a native of Ireland, his birthplace, in 1843, being Clontarf Castle, County Dublin. He received a commission
in the Royal Engineers in 1863, but without joining his regiment came over to British Columbia, where he acquired large agricultural and
mining interests. He became member in the Legislature for Yale in 1875, and from 1876 to 1878 was Commissioner of Lands and Works. He was
not a candidate to Parliament in 1882, but in 1886 and 1890 he again was the recipient of the confidence of the electors. In 1886 he was
appointed Commissioner of Lands and Works, which portfolio he has since retained.
Hon. Theodore Davie was born at Brighton, Surrey, England, in 1852, and was called to the bar of British Columbia in 1877, being appointed
Q. C. in 1888. He was first returned to the Legislative Assembly for Victoria City at the election of 1882, succeeding his brother, the Hon.
A. E. B. Davie, as Attorney-General in August, 1889. He was elected for Cowichan at the elections of 1890.
Hon. David Williams Higgins, Speaker of the Provincial Legislature, was born in Halifax, N. S., in 1834, and in 1855 settled in San
Francisco, where he devoted him-self to journalism, being prominently connected with the establishment of the Call. In 1858, being
possessed by the gold fever, he started for the Fraser River, whence on his return trip he became connected with the Victoria COLONIST,
of which he was editor and proprietor, but abandoned journalism when, in 1886, he was elected to Parliament for the Esquimalt District,
and became Speaker, in succession to Hon. C. E. Pooley.
Mayor Grant, M. P. P., was born at Alford, Scotland, in 1841. He came out to Ontario with his parents in 1855, arriving in British
Columbia in 1862, being associated with Mr. G. B. Wright, the well-known contractor. He was at the Cariboo and the Peace River Mines for
some five or six years, and also had much to do in constructing and superintending the building of public roads. In 1876 he became member
of a business firm in Cassiar, to which he still belongs. Until the last general elections he had been member for Cassiar in the Provincial
Parliament ever since 1882, but in 1890 he became the choice of a majority of the citizens of Victoria, of which he has been the Chief
Magistrate since 1887.
Alderman W. D. McKillican was born at Vankleet Hill, Ontario, in 1836, and began the duties of life as a carpenter. After traveling through
the Western States, without finding a resting place, he reached the Kootenay, but mining had few charms for him, so he pushed on to Victoria,
where he arrived in 1871, entering at once on the business of contracting. The firm of McKillican and Anderson, as it to-day exists, was
formed in 1878. Mr. McKillican has been for six years in the City Council, a portion of which time he has served at the head of the
Electric Lighting Committee.
MR. F. ELWORTHY, Sec'y Board of Trade.
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