CCHA, Study Sessions, 50 (1983), 569-90
The History of Catholic Education
in British Columbia, 1847-1900
by Edith E. DOWN, S.S.A.
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta.
The
development of Catholic education in what is now British Columbia, can be
divided into three time periods:
1847-1900 the
pioneer period.
1900-1970 the
expanding years as a result of a large volunteer service of clergy, brothers,
and sisters.
1970- the present structure now being formulated
as a result of:
• the established roots.
• the desire of Catholic parents to continue
this form of education.
• the financial assistance of the British
Columbia government which, at the present, is lessening the burden and which
is helping to assure the future of Catholic education in this province.
• the Church’s persistent stance on its being
an essential part of the Christian education of youth.
It is
interesting to note that the early missionaries had a sense of purpose, that we
may not be aware of in our present society. In going into underdeveloped
countries for the purpose of raising the standard of living and improving a way
of life for the inhabitants, government officials and missionaries had to
consider the immediate needs of the people. In order of priority, these were
water, nutrition, and then education. In the establishment of an area like
British Columbia neither the government nor the church had any concerns about
water. This land overflowed with rivers and lakes. For nutritional needs, our
waterways and our forests abounded with fish and wildlife. The missionary,
therefore, was not concerned with a “hungry” population.
The
adventurers who came West were drawn by the lure of wealth and pleasure. They
were desirous of making money from the vast resources; they wanted to spend money
under a climate that promised ease and enjoyment. The demands, therefore, of
the early population was for education.
This
immediate need was for schools for children of the Hudson’s Bay Officers, naval
officers, and coureurs de bois. From this influx of settlers, the native people
experienced changes too great to comprehend. They, too, sought help to
education their children.1
To His Excellency, Bishop Modeste Demers,
belongs the credit of establishing the foundation of Catholic Education in this
province. He also carries the distinction of being the first priest to
celebrate Mass on the mainland of British Columbia, on October 14, 1838, at the
Big Bend in the Upper Columbia River.2
Previous to Modeste Demers’ appointment as
first Roman Catholic Bishop to the See of Victoria, on November 30, 1847,
Vancouver Island had heard of the faith through the other zealous sons of the
Church. When Spain set out on her explorations of the Pacific Coast, she was
wont to carry on her vessels one or more Franciscan monks who looked after the
ships’ crews. The monks also sought to evangelize the natives who dwelt in the
vicinity of the various settlements and trading posts which the Spaniards
founded at different points. Thus, in 1789, the Franciscan missionaries reached
Nootka. The two Chaplains, Don Jose Lopez de Nova and Don Jose Maria Dios,
together with four Franciscan Brothers, and the members of the crew, planted a
cross and named the land for Spain.3
Another Spanish Franciscan, Padre Magin
Catala, spent over a year in Nootka. The Island at the mount of Nootka Sound
perpetuates the name and it was mentioned in 1792 in Galiano’s chart.4
The occupation of Nootka by the Spaniards
lasted only six years. Padre Gomez, who succeeded Magin Catala, left after the
British claim was settled in 1795, when Spain withdrew.
One hundred years elapsed before a second
Catholic Church was erected on the Pacific Coast. No signs remain of the fort
and buildings erected in 1789 by the Spanish at Nootka. Nevertheless, Reverend
J.A. Brabant, who was named in charge of this area seventy-five years later,
has left us an account of his findings. He claimed that Spanish numbers could
be counted and Roman Catholic forms of worship and Christmastide customs such
as the procession to the crib were still carried out. The Indians could point
out the position of the Government house, the Chapel, and the burial grounds.5
There is no authentic record of the
Franciscans’ work in Nootka nor of any Catholic priest having visited British
Columbia from 1795 until 1838 when Bishop Demers reached the Big Bend of the
Columbia River. Father P.J. De Smet, s.j. came to the Rocky Mountain country in
1840 and 1841, where he visited and instructed the Kootenay Indians.
At this period in history, the boundary
between Canada and the United States had not been determined.6 The western
territory was under the dominion of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and the western missions
were under the jurisdiction of Joseph Signay, Bishop of Quebec. At the request
of Canadians of the Wilamette Valley in the Oregon Country to have a priest in
their midst, Bishop Signay appointed Francis Norbert Blanchet and Modeste
Demers for that part of the diocese of Quebec which is situated between the
Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. This appointment was accompanied by
specific instructions to
– evangelize the
natives.
– bring Christians
into line with Church teachings.
– spread the gospel.
– study the Indian
languages and prepare a grammar.
– baptize and
substitute lawful marriage for irregular unions.
– establish schools
and catechism classes to ensure the Christian education of youth.
– plant crosses in
all remarkable places.7
Father Norbert Blanchet left the Governor’s
house in Lachine, Quebec, and met Father Modeste Demers at the Red River
Settlement. They were in company with Chief Trader James Hargraves, whose
canoes and packhorses carried the express of the Hudson’s Bay Company from
Montreal to Fort Vancouver.
In a letter to his brother, Father Demers
describes part of his precarious journey through the mountains:
For nine days the
horses went through mire and bog, there they sank up to their sides in dreadful
places, climbed 300 feet up the side of mountains, then down again, then up the
slope of a mountain more than one thousand feet, perpendicular as the side of a
house, everywhere trees down, that the horses had to jump over. Other than that
all went well... 8
Although they left Montreal on Thursday, May 3,
1838, they did not reach their destination at Fort Vancouver in the Oregon
Country until the 24th of the following November. Immediately both priests set
themselves to carry out the recommendations of Bishop Signay. In 1842 Father
Demers accompanied a Hudson’s Bay caravan which took him from Fort Vancouver to
Forts Stewart, Fraser and Babine in northern British Columbia. He became
acquainted with various Indian tribes and learned their dialects. On his return
trip, he visited the Indians at Fort George, Kamloops, and Fort Langley.
In the meantime, with colonization to the
west increasing, the fur trade in this sector of the Hudson’s Bay Company's
vast storehouse began to shift north of the mount of the Columbia River and
changes had to be made. Doctor John McLoughlin, Superintendent of the Columbia
Fur Department, had as his able assistant, Chief Factor James Douglas. When
this department was facing a period of reorganization and adjustment, Governor
George Simpson named Douglas Chief Factor at the new post on Vancouver Island.
In 1843, when the expedition of twenty-two
men left Fort Vancouver for the new post, Reverend Father J.B.Z. Bolduc, a new
arrival from Quebec, was invited to accompany them. Having the consent of the
Vicar General, Reverend Father N. Blanchet, he left for Nisqually, where the
steamer Beaver was waiting.
Fortunately, the Reverend Father Bolduc
left us the description of this event. It would seem that he was a man similar
in temperament to Sir James Douglas. There was a kinship in their admiration of
the vast, silent beauty of the Pacific shores; there was the same steel for
adventure in the face of savage Indians. Father Bolduc tells us:
...the eighteenth
was a Saturday. I consecrated it to the erecting of a temple for celebrating
the day of our Lord. At sunset I possessed quite a vast edifice whose sides of
fir branches rose majestically and whose roof was covered with awning from the
steamboat. Some of the men of the expedition came to visit and compared it to
the tabernacle that Israelites raised in the desert.
Finally Sunday
morning, an hour after sunrise, I prepared for Holy Mass. Already more than
1200 savages of three different nations were assembled around our modest
temple. Our commander, a religious, man, although a Protestant, arrived on the
spot, as well as some Canadian. It was in the midst of this numerous meeting
that our holy mysteries were celebrated for the first time.9
Unfortunately,
Father Bolduc could stay only a few days, his orders being to return to his
mission post on a certain date. He left in an Indian canoe, carrying with him,
as he states, a souvenir of the many acts of kindness extended to him by Chief
Factor Douglas and also by C. Brotchie, captain of the steamer Beaver.
According to Reverend Father Adolphus Van
Nevel, Father Bolduc administered the sacraments to the French Canadians. Also
he preached Christianity to crowds of wondering Indians.10
There is no record of the Catholic Church
in British Columbia after that until the creation of the Diocese of Vancouver
Island. By Apostolic Bulls, dated July 24, 1846, the Vicariate Apostolic of
Oregon was transformed into an ecclesiastical province, comprising the
Archdiocese of Oregon City, the Dioceses of Walla Walla and Vancouver Island.
To the latter See, on November 30, 1947, the Right Reverend Modeste Demers was
consecrated.
The limits of this diocese were changed on
several occasions. In fact, there are four different periods which may be
considered. The original boundaries included the whole of the present province
of British Columbia and the Russian territory to the Arctic. By Apostolic
Brief, dated December 14, 1863, the mainland of British Columbia was erected
into a separate Vicariate Apostolic under the jurisdiction of the Right
Reverend Louis J. D’Herbomez, O.M.I., who on October 9, 1864, was consecrated
Bishop of Melitopolis. This reduced the diocese of Vancouver Island to its
present confines, namely, Vancouver Island and several adjacent smaller
islands.
In 1867, the United States purchased from
the Russian Empire, the territory of Alaska for $7,200,000.00 in gold. Prior to
this, the Catholic priests were forbidden by the laws of Russia to sojourn in
Alaska. When on June 29, 1873, the Right Reverend Charles John Seghers,
successor to Bishop Modeste Demers, was consecrated Bishop of Vancouver Island,
he was also given by the Holy See, charge of Alaska. This, inclusive of the
Aleutian islands, added a territory of 590,804 square miles to the jurisdiction
of Bishop Seghers. Finally, by decree of the Sacred Congregation of the
Propaganda on July 17, 1894, the territory of Alaska became a Prefecture Apostolic to the administration of which
Reverend Pascal Tosi, s.j. was appointed. Thus the diocese of Vancouver Island
was again reduced to its present boundaries. How the diocese became an
archidiocese in 1903 and how, since 1908, it ranks once more as a suffragan
See, belongs elsewhere.11
At the time of the consecration of Bishop
Modeste Demers, on November 30, 1847, Fort Victoria, first of the Hudson's Bay
forts on Vancouver Island, had been established only four years. After the
Treaty of Oregon in 1846, it became the headquarters of the Company on the
Pacific Coast.
Archbishop Herbert Blanchet relates in his
“Sketches,” that Bishop Demers, as first Bishop of the territory west of the
Rockies, in what is now British Columbia, was without a priest at his disposal.
Even by the end of 1853, he had as yet “neither a home nor a modest chapel to
use as a cathedral.”12 Therefore, in 1847, shortly after his
consecration, he had left for Quebec and Europe in search of recruits to assist
with the work in this frontier diocese.
Because of the slow methods of travel, and
the revolutionary conditions in France at the time, Bishop Demers did not
return to Victoria until September 1852 to take possession of his diocese. He
brought with him three priests and a subdeacon, all of whom played an important
role in the early missionary activities. They included Reverend L. Lootens,
Reverend Pierre Marie LeLanier, and the subdeacon, Pierre Louis Deygert.13
At this particular time in the history of
the Catholic Church in British Columbia, the subject of the Catholic School
comes into focus. Since Catholic teaching concerns the education of the whole
man, the school is always found, when possible, near the Church. Therefore, it
is not surprising that such an establishment was found as early as 1849, in
Victoria.
During the absence of Bishop Demers in
Europe, the spiritual interests of the Catholics of Vancouver Island were under
the care of the Reverend Honore Timothy Lempfrit, O.M.I.14 This zealous
missionary was a native of Lixheim, France. He had served as chaplain in the
reserve French Light Infantry in 1828 and had participated in the expedition to
Algiers in 1830. On returning to France after 1832, he spent some time in a
Carthusian monastery. He joined the Oblate Order in February 1847, and received
his appointment to eastern Canada in September of the same year. In September
1848, he left for the Oregon country, where, in the diocese of Archbishop N.
Blanchet, he was under the Reverend P. Ricard, O.M.I., Oblate Vicar of the
Oregon Missions.15
In one of the Colonial reports of Sir James
Douglas there is this reference:
... 16th. While
on the subject of schools, it will interest you to learn, that Father Lempfrit,
a Roman Catholic missionary of the religious order of “Oblats”, having been
deputed by the Archbishop of Oregon City to prosecute his ministry among the
natives of Vancouver Island, was received in this establishment and is now in
addition to his missionary labours, conducting a promizing school, composed of
the wives and children of the Company's Canadian servants, who derive great
benefit and are rapidly improving in respectability, under his zealous
instructions. The Reverend Father boards with us but has hitherto received no
other support from the company.16
Father Lempfrit
received his appointment on March 29, 1849. He was in the diocese by May 4th of
the same year, but did not take up permanent residence until his arrival on
June 6, 1849 in company with Sir James Douglas and his family.17
In another letter to his Superior, Reverend
P. Ricard, at Nisqually, dated September 14, 1849, he states:
...I have begun my
school, they gave me a sort of shed where I live and where I have put up an
altar.18
In yet another
letter to the same, dated November 1, 1849, he says:
...among my pupils
I have six who are receiving lessons in writing and arithmetic. I noticed one
day that you had many little slates for learning how to write, would you please
send me a few as well as some slate pencils.19
In another letter,
written to the Grey Nuns of Montreal on February 9, 1850, who evidently
provided him with some essentials for his church,
he writes:
... We arrived here
on June 6th. The fort was truly crowded and they could give me a lodging only
after a few days. Since there was no church, I was obliged to set up my chapel20
in a large shed at the edge of the water. But since it was too far from the
fort, I obtained a place where I was able to set up a more decent chapel and to
start a little school. For on arriving here I found the poor children of our
French Canadians in the deepest ignorance, not knowing even how to make the
sign of the Cross. I announced that I was going to take charge of their
instructions without at the same time neglecting my poor Indians. From the
beginning I have had from 20 to 25 pupils. Lately, I have fewer because several
have gone to other forts.
I think that within
a short time they will build me a house outside the fort, where I shall be
freer, since the poor Indians are a bit fearful and since nearly all our French
Canadians are living outside (the fort).21
From these
foregoing excerpts it can be concluded that sometime after June 6, 1849, Father
Lempfrit started his school.
Whereas the Reverend R. Staines and Mrs.
Staines, the Anglican colonial teachers from England, arrived in Victoria on
March 17, 1849, there is no evidence in the Hudson’s Bay Archives as to when
their school commenced.22 It is definite, however, that classes were in
progress before January 23, 1850, which was the date that the school building
in the fort was officially opened to students.
From the Hudson’s Bay files dated October
27, 1849, Sir James Douglas states:
...14th. The school
is not yet numerously attended as we have not had time to get all the children
collected from the distant posts of the Interior; we expect to have 34 pupils when
they are all assembled, but we have at present only 15, who are making progress
in learning under the able tuition of Mr. and Mrs. Staines, who I am happy to
inform you, are attentive and give much satisfaction as teachers... 23
From a study of the
Lempfrit letters available and from the replies to a questionnaire sent to the
Hudson's Bay Company London, England, the writer would conclude:
1. That after June 6th and before July
13th, 1849, a Catholic school was in operation at Fort Victoria.
2. That there is no evidence in the
Hudson's Bay records as to the exact date of the opening of Mr. Staines'
school, but that it was prior to October 14, 1849.
3. That Mr. Staines received a stated
amount, 340 pounds plus 100 pounds for the support of the school from the
company.24 Father Lempfrit, on the other hand, relied on the generosity of his
parishioners.25
4. That despite the fact that Father
Lempfrit boarded at the fort, sat at the same table as Mr. Staines “with much
mutual cordiality” and taught the children of the Company’s Canadian servants,
there is no record of any financial assistance given him, although recompense
was considered.26
5. That Catholic Education in British
Columbia commenced simultaneously with that established in the Hudson’s Bay
Fort in 1849, in July, which was evidently the accepted month of the opening of
the school term.
Evidently Father Lempfrit continued his
school in the priest’s house which was eventually built by the Company outside
the fort, until October 8, 1851, when he went up to Cowichan. Records show that
sometime after May 1852 he left for Oregon. In September 1853, he sailed for
France from San Francisco.27 Father Lempfrit’s departure from Vancouver
Island is understandable in light of the fact that he was a member of a
religious order and that he had been loaned to the diocese of Victoria in the
absence of Bishop Demers. The Oblate Order, of which he was a member, was not
established in the diocese until 1858 when it took charge of the church at
Esquimalt. Records of the government and the church refer to Father Lempfrit
as an intelligent and zealous missionary.28 Father Lempfrit
left the Oblate congregation in 1853, and spent some time at Saint-Ines,
California before sailing for France (1853) where he returned to the Carthusian
monastery. He was made curé of Veho 1856-1860. He died at Morville-les-Vic on
January 8, 1862.
Father Lempfrit's establishment of a school
in 1847, stands out as the first Catholic school in this province. (It is the
hope of the author that with the present up-swing of Catholic schools in
British Columbia, his name will be perpetuated on the façade of some Catholic
Educational Centre. )
On the arrival on April 15, 1851 of the two
priests from Europe who preceded Bishop Demers, there is no evidence that the
Catholic School was continued.29 In Bishop Demers’ Report to the Propaganda in
Rome, September 10, 1854, (See Prop. XVI, 1104-1110) he deplored the fact that
there is no school in his diocese.30 Then, in the
census of Vancouver Island taken by Sir James Douglas in 1855, Table II,31 there is still no
mention of a Catholic School.
In a report of the Reverend Edward Cridge,
however, Colonial Chaplain, addressed to the Governor on November 30, 1856,
there is this reference:
...Two boys have
been removed (That is from the Colonial School) and placed at the Roman
Catholic School lately established at Victoria.32
At that time,his
school would probably have been conducted by the clergy. In the Provincial
Archives, however, there is a reference in an unofficial note, to a Dr. O’Shea,
a teacher and ex-miner, who lived several months with Bishop Demers.33 Mention is also
made of this teacher in the Orphans’ Friend, March 1904. With reference
to the first Log Cabin Convent the excerpt reads:
... It was vacated
by the teacher, Dr. O'Shea upon the arrival of the four pioneer Sisters of St.
Ann in 1858...34
Again, in an
article by Williard Ireland, Provincial Librarian, there is this information:
...One of the
earliest Frenchwomen to arrive in San Francisco was Mme. V.C. Pettibeau who is
remembered there for her activity in the field of education. In fact, in conjunction
with two other women in 1853, she opened the first girls’ school in that
city... She transferred her activities to British Columbia in the early months
of the Gold Rush and for a time, at least, taught in the school instituted by
Bishop Demers.35
Therefore, it is
evident that between 1849, when the first Catholic School was established in
British Columbia, until the arrival of the Sisters of Saint Ann, on June 5,
1858, Catholic Education in British Columbia was more or less sporadic. From
this latter date, however, until the present, its continuity can be traced.
If twenty-five institutions of Catholic
education can be counted prior to 1900, two factors made this possible. In the
first place, the clergy assigned to the area, came with the intent of laying
the foundation of the faith. These men were educated in seminaries mainly in
Quebec, France and/or Belgium. They had specific recommendations from their
Bishops and leaders of religious congregations to carry out, not only the
conversion of the Indians and settlers, but also the christian education of
youth.
History records the establishment of these
educational institutions under the auspices of the Catholic Church. The early
demand for education was sparked by the Caribou Gold Rush of 1858. To deviate
momentarily, but to emphasize the demand... in 1857 Modeste Demers went to
Eastern Canada to search for recruits to assist him in his diocese. Victoria
was the centre of the Crown Colony of Vancouver Island, which still had many
aspects of a Hudson’s Bay post. The Catholic population consisted mainly of
employees of the company and their half-breed children. His Excellency was
concerned over the lack of educational facilities for them and also he was
anxious to care for the native children. This was the situation in 1857 when
Bishop Demers left for Montreal. When he returned a year later, an excerpt from
Sister Mary Angele’s diary states:
...Our surprise was
no less great than the Bishop’s. The fort had become a town in his absence.
Some 200 neat-looking houses had been erected and beyond these stretched a sea
of tents. We had been told that some twenty, bark-roofed cabins housed the few
people who had made their homes near the fort and that was all. The Caribou
Gold Rush of ‘57 and ‘58 had made the changes.36
When four Sisters
of St. Ann arrived, they were housed in a log cabin that became their first
school. Students included Elizabeth Williams a California gold seeker’s
daughter, the daughters of the Governor, Alice, Agnes, and Martha Douglas, Emma
and Henrietta Yates, the half-breed orphan, Emilia Morrell, and some colored
children.
The story of that little school has been
written. Its problems of funnelling the select students, the natives, the
orphans and the colored children were among the major dilemmas confronting the
Bishop. Furthermore, at that time in history, Church schools usually had
segregated classes. From the earliest days of Catholicity in Victoria, the boys
had not had advantages parallel to those of the girls. The boy’s day school had
been maintained by the zeal of the clergy. In order to provide Catholic
education for the boys, Bishop Demers gave up a room in his residence. The
overtaxed priests gave their precious time to a very small group of students.
In 1863, the Bishop had erected a brick
building and give the Oblate Fathers the management of it. Reverend Father
Cyrille Beaudre was the first principal. His staff included Father J. McGuckin
and Brother E. MacStay. It was named St. Louis College after Louis Joseph
D’Herbomez, O.M.I.37
By 1864, the increased population not only
of Victoria, but also of the mainland, called for the creation of a new
diocese. Reverend Louis J. D’Herbomez was elected to the Vicariate apostolic of
British Columbia. His See was erected in New Westminster.
Slowly the Oblate Fathers who had been
working on the Island were called to the mainland to fill the needs of the new
Vicariate. By 1866, their work in the Vancouver Island Diocese came to an end.
To compensate for the loss of the Oblate
Fathers, the diocese of Vancouver Island in its need won the sympathies of the
American College of Louvain, Belgium. This institution, founded in 1859, by two
American Bishops, had as its purpose to enable American born ecclesiastics to
pursue the course of theology in Europe and, at the same time, to afford young
men of European nationalities an easy means of preparing for the work of the
ministry in America. The co-operation of the Victoria Diocese was repaid a
hundred-fold for Louvain College had given it two Archbishops, Most Reverend
Charles Seghers and the Most Reverend Bertram Orth; two Bishops – the Right
Reverend J.B. Brondel and the Right Reverend N.J. Lemmens, in addition to
sixteen priests. It was during the life span of these clergy that the Church
established roots on Vancouver Island and its influence was strengthened by the
establishments of institutions for “the christian education of youth.” Clerical
names that contributed and shaped the Church and schools of that time included
John J. Jonckau, A.J. Brabant, J.M. Leroy, A. Van Nevel, and J. Leterme. This
last priest was principal of St. Louis College, Victoria, for sixteen years.
At this period also, during the formation
of what was eventually to become a province, the religious order of Oblate
Fathers of Mary Immaculate were an important influence in the Church’s
development. This religious group of men was founded in France by Eugene de
Mazenod. The story of their movement from France, to Eastern Canada to Fort
Vancouver Oregon, to the Victoria Diocese, and finally for the period of time
covered by this paper, to the mainland of what is now British Columbia, has
been written.38
When the diocesan and religious clergy were
struggling to maintain the foundations of the faith, a third segment of
influence at this time were the Sisterhoods. The religious women, who were
recruited by Bishops Modeste Demers and Louis d’Herbomez and his successor,
Bishop P. Durieu, assumed a major role for Catholic educational instruction in
this missionary country.
These included:
• in 1858, the Sisters of St. Ann, Lachine,
Quebec.
• in 1890, the Sisters of Our Lady of
Charity, of Refuge, Ottawa, Ontario.
• in 1894, the Sisters of Charity of
Providence, Montreal, Quebec.
• in 1896, the Sisters of Child Jesus, Le
Puy, France.
Having established the beginnings of
Catholic Education, the chronological dateline (see Appendix) is indicative of
the expansion in the first fifty years. Because of the diversity of settlers,
an attempt was made from the start to meet their needs. The desires, however,
were often greater than the possibilities.
In the first few years Catholic Education
was confined to Vancouver Island generally, but specifically to Victoria which
was the centre for the Hudson’s Bay Company, the naval base at nearby
Esquimalt, an Indian village and an influx of miners, traders and attracted
settlers. The early beginnings saw whites, Indians, boys, girls, blacks,
orphans and the elite side by side in what were rudimentary classroom
facilities. As the town grew and expansion up the island and to the mainland
progressed, more distinct lines were drawn. Perhaps the greatest advance came
with the development of residential educational institutions for the native
children. When British Columbia became a federated province in 1871 education
of natives came under federal jurisdiction. A provincial department of
education was formed for all other educational requirements. The management of
most Indian residential schools was assumed by the Oblate Fathers which
included the position of principal. Instruction was carried out by the clergy,
lay brothers, and the Sisters.
Because the clergy were overtaxed and their
numbers did not warrant their taking on the responsibility of the school
system, education in the white Catholic schools for girls became the prerogative
of the Sisters. From 1858 to 1890 the only congregation was the Sisters of St.
Ann. At that period in history this group of women, founded in Vaudreuil,
Quebec, in 1852, had a flourishing foundation. Bishop Demers requested their
assistance. From 1858 these religious women voluntarily held the torch and laid
the foundation of a Catholic educational system. In this pioneer time span
covered by this period, they manned the girls’ white schools at the elementary
and high school levels and were instructors in four Indian residential schools.
Boys were registered in elementary schools. In most cases the grade and high
school were owned and operated by the religious congregation but they also
served in the Indian residential schools and in the established parochial
schools. By 1890 the Sisters of Providence commenced instruction in the St.
Eugene's School in Kootenay, B.C. and the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of
Refuge had an orphanage in Sapperton, B.C.
The Sisters of St. Ann have gone down in history as the “Pioneer
Nuns of British Columbia,” the first four numbers were:
Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart, Valois
Sister Mary Angele Gauthier
Sister Mary Lumena Brasseur
Sister Mary Conception Lane
The development of
a curriculum in the first ten years relied mainly on the background of the
instructors and the availability of materials. A study of the texbooks in use
at the time indicates that they were purchased through Hibben’s Bookstore,
Victoria, B.C., which supplied text books to the Hudson’s Bay Fort School.
Their contents included prose, poetry, nature study, history, geography,
physiology, botany, chemistry and philosophy. Senior students learned current
and modern history with such adjuncts as chronological codes and charts,
physical and political geography as well as astronomy. A study of one’s own
language was an important subject. Contests in syntax were conducted so
frequently that correct grammar was the rule. Composition held an honored place,
memory was cultivated by learning excerpts from the classics. Also, penmanship
was well taught.39
Early prospectuses give the account of the
various subjects included. Religion was an important subject in every school
and the clergy directed its content and focus. Materials were available through
the clergy and religious contacts of Europe and Eastern Canada.
As early as 1864, St. Louis College for
boys included the following in its course of instruction.
Greek and Latin Classics
Philosophy - Logic, Metaphysics and Ethics
Physical science,
Astronomy, Botany, Chemistry, Mineralogy Mathematics, Algebra, Geometry,
Trigonometry
Arithmetic, writing, bookkeeping
Ancient and modern history
Geography and use of globes
Modern language, French and Spanish
Drawing
Music, vocal and instrumental.
The story of the progression of Catholic
education from 1858-1900 has been written. It had its roots in this territory
prior to the establishment in 1871 of the Provincial Department of Education.
After that date schools adopted the curriculum of the province. Before this
time, they had been using the curriculum of the Ontario School System.
By 1900 seven of the Schools had completed
elementary classes and one, two or three years of high school. By 1891 students
were writing the first grade eight examinations set by the department of
education.
Public examinations were in vogue at this period
and this became an annual affair in all St. Ann’s Schools. High commendation of
results are recorded.40
Schools that can claim to be the first in
their particular area of the province are:
St. Ann’s, Duncan, B.C. – 1864
St. Joseph’s School, Williams Lake, B.C. –
1867
St. Marc’s School, Kyuquot – 1880
Pioneer Catholic Schools that can boast a
century of educational service to the province are:
St. Ann’s Academy, Victoria, B.C. – 1858-1958
St. Ann’s School, Duncan, B.C. – 1864-1964
St. Louis College, Victoria, B.C. –
1864-1964
St. Ann’s Academy, Kamloops, B.C. –
1880-1980
St. Ann’s Academy, New Westminster, B.C. –
1865-1965
St. Mary’s Mission, Mission City –
1867-1967
The first school of art established in the west
was at St. Ann’s Academy, Victoria, B.C., 1858, and as other St. Ann’s Schools
were established, art was incorporated. An early prospectus indicates that
crayon, oils, china painting and water color were included.
By 1892, the first commercial school was
established and lessons were being given in typing and shorthand. Domestic
science was also included. From there coping with the needs of the time was
extended to all St. Ann’s Schools in the province, as well as the boys schools
under the Oblate Fathers.
One factor that provided stability to both
Indian and most white schools was the added feature – the boarding school. This
made it possible for students from outlying parts of this vast country to
receive the available educational offerings.
The clergy, lay brothers, sisters and lay
teachers that manned the schools at this important historical moment of time
were exceptional. Their sacrificial life in the name of Catholic education was
a contribution that has made possible what our present potential now boasts.
The clergy and lay brothers who were well educated for those times were eager
and foresighted. The sisters were among the most independent and self-reliant
of the early women settlers. The convents attracted a strong-willed and
resolute breed. They separated themselves from the general run of the society
on their own volition to commit their lives to the christian education of
youth. These unsung heroes and heroines planted the roots of Catholic education
in this province.
The early colonial schools were actually
sectarian institutions under the control of the Church of England. The report
drawn up on August 27, 1861, by Mr. Cridge for submission to the Governor
pictures religious instruction on scriptures as the principal subject studied.41
In order to meet the problem of supporting
the Church of England as well as the established schools in 1854 the minutes of
the council for July 12 show an appropriation of 500 pounds “towards finishing
the Church.”
Such a tax on the limited financial
resources of the young colony, as was occasioned by the attempted establishment
of a State Church, aroused public protest; and this abortive attempt exerted
considerable influence in determining the nonsectarian character of the systems
of education later established in British Columbia.42 In spite of this
occurrence the Catholic Church maintained the unique character of its schools.
There is evidence that the first Catholic
schools in British Columbia did not receive exemption from taxation from the
Hudson’s Bay Company nor in 1858 from the Crown Colony. In 1865, a letter from
the Colonial office of London, England gave a negative response to a request
for school tax exemption by Bishop D’Herbomez.43 As the diocesan
clergy, the Oblate Fathers and the Sisters of St. Ann assumed the
administration of schools, their respective organizations funded and assumed
individual corporate ownership of the educational establishments. As previously
mentioned, the administration of Indian residential and day schools became the
responsibility of the federal government under the administration of the Oblate
Fathers.
This concludes the first phase of Catholic
education in British Columbia.
APPENDIX I
CATHOLIC EDUCATION
CHRONOLOGICAL DATELINE
1847-1900
1. 1847 Salmon
House H.B.C., Fort Victoria, B.C.
Priest’s House 227, lot 25,
block
2. 1858 St.
Ann’s Log Cabin School, Victoria, B.C.
3. 1859 Broad
Street School, Victoria, B.C.
4. 1860 View
Street School, Victoria, B.C.
5. 1863 St.
Louis College, Victoria, B.C.
6. 1864 St.
Ann’s School, Duncan, B.C.
7. 1865 St.
Ann’s Academy, New Westminster, B.C.
8. 1867 St.
Mary’s Indian Residential School, Mission City, B.C.
9. 1867 St.
Joseph’s School, Williams Lake, B.C.
10. 1870 St.
Louis College, New Westminster, B.C.
11. 1871 St.
Ann’s Academy, Victoria, B.C.
12. 1876 St.
Joseph’s Hospital, Victoria, B.C.
13. 1880 St.
Ann’s Convent, Nanaimo, B.C.
14. 1880 St.
Marc’s Mission, Kyuquot, V.I.
15. 1880 St.
Ann'’s Academy, Kamloops, B.C.
16. 1888 St.
Ann’s Academy, Vancouver, B.C.
17. 1890 Indian
Residential School, Kamloops, B.C.
18. 1890 Our
Lady of Charity of Refuge Orphanage, Sapperton, B.C.
19. 1890 St.
Eugene’s School, Kootenay, B.C.
20. 1891 Indian
Residential School, Kuper Island, B.C.
21. 1894 Songhees
Indian Reserve School, Victoria, B.C.
22. 1894 St.
Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, B.C.
23. 1898 St.
Mary’s School, Dawson City, Y.T.
24. 1898 St.
Aloysius Protectorate, Victoria, B.C.
25. 1899 Christie
Indian Residential School, Meares Is., V.I.
APPENDIX II
BISHOPS OF THE
VICTORIA DIOCESE 1846-1899
Bishop Modeste Demers 1846-1871
Bishop Charles John Seghers 1873-1879
Bishop Jean-Baptiste Brondel 1879-1883
Archbishop John Seghers 1885-1886
Bishop John Nicholas Lemmens 1888-1897
Bishop Alexander Christie 1898-1899
BISHOPS OF NEW
WESTMINSTER DIOCESE 1864-1899
Bishop Louis J. D’Herbomez O.M.I.
1864-1890
Bishop Paul Durieu O.M.I. 1890-1899
Augustine Dontenwill O.M.I. 1899-1908.
1Theodore, Sister
Mary Theodore, S.S.A., Heralds of Christ the King. Kennedy and Sons,
N.Y., 1939, pp. vii-viii.
2Morice, A.G. C.M.
L, History of the Catholic Church in Western Canada. Volume II. Toronto,
Musson Book Co. Ltd., 1910, p. 297.
3Schoefield, E.O.S.,
British Columbia, Volume I. S.J. Clarke Publishing Co. Vancouver, B.C.
1914, pp. 135-145.
4Walbran, Captain
John T., British Columbia Place Names, 1592-1906. Government Printing
Bureau, Ottawa, 1909, p. 84.
5Ibid., p. 361
6Morice, A.G.
O.M.I., History of Northern British Columbia, Toronto, William Briggs,
1904, p. 224.
7Blanchet, Rev.
F.N., Historical Sketches of the Catholic Church in Oregon, Catholic
Sentinel, Oregon, 1978, pp. 7-8
8Demers, Modeste,
Letter to his brother St. Francis Xavier Mission, Cowlitz Prairie, Oregon,
Provincial Archives, Victoria, B.C.
9Bolduc, J.B.Z., Mission
de la Colombie, Québec. J.B. Fréchette, p. 13.
10Van Nevel, Reverend
Father Adolphus, A Retrospect. Original manuscript. Archives of St.
Ann's Academy, Victoria, B.C., 1913, p. 7.
11Original documents.
Diocese of Victoria. Bishop’s Palace, Victoria, B.C.
12Morice, A.G.,
O.M.I., History of the Catholic Church in Western Canada, Volume II. p.
282.
13Official records.
Bishop’s Residence. Victoria, B.C.
14Blanchet,
Archbishop N., Sketch XXVII, p. 144.
15Archives,
Missionari Oblati Di. Maria Immaculata, Via Aurelia 290 Roma (629), Italia.
16Douglas, Sir James.
Letter to the Governor. Deputy Governor and Committee in London, dated Victoria
27, October 1849. H.B. Archives, London, England, A.II/72/f, 177d.
17Fort Victoria Post
Journal, June 6, 1849. H.B.C. Archives, B. 226/a/I/.
18Lempfrit, H.T.,
O.M.I. Letter to Reverend P. Ricard, September 14, 1849. Archives Deschâtelets,
Ottawa. Folder No. Oregon I a-VI, 3. Translation.
19Ibid., Record No.
Oregon a-VII, 3.
20From the map of the
H.B.C. Fort, 1850, with further reference to this shed, it would be the salmon
storehouse no. II.
21Lempfrit, N.T.,
O.M.I., Letter to the Grey Nuns of Montreal, February 9, 1850. Deschâtelets
Archives, Ottawa. Oregon No. 2, v-1, 2.
22Reynolds, R.A.,
Secretary to the Hudson’s Bay Co., London, England, Letter to Sister Mary
Margaret, January 31, 1961. Archives, Sisters of St. Ann.
Victoria, B.C.
23Douglas, Sir James,
Report to the Governor, Deputy Governor and Committee, London, Victoria,
October 27, 1849. H.B.C. Archives, London, England,
A 11/72/fo.
177-177d.
24Letter of H. T.
Lempfrit to R.P.P. Ricard, O.M.I., Deschâtelets Archives, Oregon 1, a-vi-3.
25Barclay, Archibald,
Secretary, Letter to Sir James Douglas, December 31, 1852.
26Lempfrit, H.T.,
O.M. L, Letter to Father Ricard, November 1 1849.
27Moresby, Fairfax,
Record Office Transcripts. H.B.C. Vol. 721-725, 1822-1852, p. 337. Provincial
Archives.
28Records.
Deschâtelets Archives. Oregon 1. a-vi-3.
29Records of Sir
James Douglas, April 1851. Provincial Archives.
30Report to the
Propaganda. Rome, September 10, 1854. Deschatelets Archives, Ottawa.
31Colonial Office
Library, London, England, Lib/11/10.
32Report of Reverend
E. Cridge, Colonial Chaplain, to the Governor, November 30, 1856. Provincial
Archives, Victoria, B.C. Folder No. 395. No. 1.
33Provincial
Archives, Victoria, B.C., H. B. Sa 21.
34“St. Ann’s Convent
and Young Ladies’ Academy,” B. C. Orphans’ Friend. Victoria, B.C., March
1904, Vol. 1, No 4, p. 6
35Ireland, Willard,
“The French in B.C.” B.C. Historical Quarterly, Vol. XLI, No. 2,
Victoria, B.C., April 1949, p. 7.
36Gauthier, Sister
Mary Angele, S.S.A., Journal 1958. Archives of the Sisters of St. Ann,
Victoria, B.C., p. 12.
37The Orphans’
Friend, Historical Number, p. 18.
38Whitehead,
Margaret. The Caribou Mission, Victoria, B.C. Sono Nis Press, 1981, pp.
11-38.
39Down, Sister Mary
Margaret, S.S.A., A Century of Service. 1858-1958, Victoria B.C., Moriss
Printers, 1966, p. 48.
40Examinations at
Saint Ann’s Convent School. “The British Colonist.” Thursday, July 25,
1861, p. 3.
41Short and Doughty, Canada
and Its Provinces. Archives Edition, Vol. 22, p. 401.
42MacLean, Donald
Alexander, Ph. D. Catholic Schools in Western Canada, pp. 25-26.
43Letter from
colonial office to Bishop D’Herbomez. (Wood).