My husband and I recently walked to the Mount Elphinstone Pioneer Cemetery, a difficult-to-reach old graveyard on a lower and steep slope of Mount Elphinstone. The sign has long since deteriorated but persistence in finding this hidden gem rewards hikers with a long, shady pathway underneath tall trees to discover a delightful clearing where many pioneer families repose.
Although the cemetery is now closed, families with plots can still bury relatives there – we saw a gravestone from 2012. Footing must be watched in clambering among the graves since the hillside is very steep. An aging sign exhorts visitors to show respect, and perhaps the residents were happy to be remembered the day we went and visited every grave including one for an infant. We were the only people there and the cemetery looked seldom visited. An archival piece I recently read states that it dates back to May 1916: “First internment was Maggie Lehman, 1919, a teenaged girl who died from Spanish influenza.”
Pioneer families buried in the cemetery include the Chamberlains (George Gibson’s descendants), Wyngaerts, Armours and Fletchers. Elphinstone residents will recognize the name Kearton and for the reader who wanted to know more about street names, I assume that Thomas Kearton must have lived in the vicinity of the road named after him. Like many roads in Elphinstone, Kearton stops and starts again further along. There was even a gravestone with what looked to be Japanese characters. Additional photos can be found at www.coastreporter.net/photos-videos.
Mentioned before in this column is the fruit cannery on Henry Road that processed berries. The Howe Sound Co-operative Canning Association, formed in 1921, processed mainly strawberries and also raspberries and possibly other berries. Marilyn Giesbrecht, who documented the local farmers’ institute (1911-1990), told me that the strawberry jam produced in this little plant for Malkins, won the top prize (gold star) in the strawberry jam division in England. Unfortunately, by the 1950s the price of berries was too low for farmers to continue making a living – a lesson we should remember about the high cost of low prices. The building became a soft drink depot for a time before being converted to its current use as a family home. My guilty pleasure these days is watching the British show Escape to the Country - I love how old barns, churches and other historic buildings are converted into beautiful homes, so I’m delighted that the old cannery is now a residence!
Please contact me at elphin@coastreporter.net if you have Elphinstone news to report.
