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- 228 REMINISCENCES OF OLD VICTORIA
CRAIGFLOWER SCHOOL HOUSE.
With respect to what has appeared in the paper lately re " Craigflower School House," the following may be interesting :
In early days (1856) Rev. Edward Cridge held services at stated times in the school house, and later on services were held regularly by the chaplains of H.M. ships stationed in Esquimalt harbor, and later on by Rev. (now Bishop) Garrett and Rev. C. T. Woods.
I quote from Mr. Cridge's diary, which is mentioned in his Christmas story of " Early Christmas in Victoria," that on August 24th, 1856, he held a religious service in the school house with Mr. Cook, the gunner, and Mr. Price, midshipman of H. M. S. Trincomalee.
In the Victoria Gazette of August, 1858, Rev. Edward Cridge, acting for the Governor, examined the pupils and presented the prizes to the following : Jessie McKenzie, William Lidgate, Christine Veitch and Dorothea McKenzie.
The first master of the school was J. Grant; the second Claypole, and afterwards Pottinger, Newbury and Pope.
With respect to the building itself, I might say that it was built under the direction of Mr. McKenzie, of Craigflower. The lumber used in its construction was manufactured from fir trees on the ground in a mill built by mechanics sent out from England.
The residence of the late Mr. McKenzie, which stands to the west of the Craigflower bridge, was also built of lumber sawn in this mill, and not of redwood imported from California, as stated lately. There are several men and women living to-day who attended this school in the early sixties.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
VICTORIA'S FIRST Y.M.C.A.
THE Colonist has been handed the following self-explanatory matter, bearing upon the founding in this city of a branch of the Y.M.C.A., which is of especial interest:
" Dingley Dell, September 29th, 1911.
" R. B. McMicking, Esq., President Y.M.C.A.
" Dear Sir,?In searching through the files of the Colonist of 1859 for items of forgotten lore that might be of interest to our early pioneers, I came across the enclosed interesting account of the forming of a branch of the Young Men's Christian Association in Victoria fifty-two years ago (September 5th, 1859), and am sorry I did not remember it sooner, so that it could have been read at the opening exercises, but ` better late than never.' I shall accompany it with some comment.
" In the first place, it is likely that all those present on that auspicious occasion are gone to their everlasting rest, with the notable exception of our dear friend, the Venerable Bishop Cridge, who is within a few weeks of entering on his ninety-fifth year. His has been in-deed a life of doing good, for he, in early days, was at the head of all good work for the betterment of man-kind. The chairman on that occasion was Colonel Moody, R.E., who had lately arrived in the colony with the sappers and miners.
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