Helmcken House Victoria, BC
N 48° 25.170 W 123° 22.021
10U E 472844 N 5362992
In the heart of downtown Victoria, surrounded by many other attractions, it serves as one of the best ways to get in touch with Victoria’s rich colonial history. Helmcken House will open for visitors on scheduled dates. Please check the Royal BC Museum on-line events calendar.
Waymark Code: WM1Z08
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 08/06/2007
Views: 122
Helmcken House was built by Dr. John Sebastian Helmcken, a surgeon with the Hudson's Bay Company. It is one of the oldest houses in British Columbia still on its original site. Dr. Helmcken set up house in Victoria when he married the daughter of Governor James Douglas in 1852. He went on to become a statesman and helped negotiate the entry of British Columbia into Canada, as a province. The good doctor's original 19th century medical kit is among the interesting items on display.
Over 150 years ago, a young English doctor. John Sebastian Helmcken, traveled from his home in England, around Cape Horn to the young Hudson Bay Company Fort Victoria. As Victoria’s first academy-trained doctor, he quickly became prominent in the small colony and his status grew when he married the eldest daughter of Governor Sir James Douglas. A surgeon by skill with the Hudson's Bay Company, he went on to become a statesman and helped negotiate British Columbia's entrance into confederation with the Dominion of Canada.
In 1852, he built a log cabin with three rooms for his new wife. Over the years it expanded to 10 rooms as it became home for their seven children for 87 years. In 1941, it was opened to the public as a museum and the oldest house in British Columbia on its original site.
Helmcken House gives one the sense that the family may still live there. Crowded with many of their personal items, it offer such things as the doctor’s collection of antique medical instruments, reputed to be the largest collection in North America, reproductions of the family photo album, and a large number of personal letters. Dr. Helmcken’s bedroom sanctuary is in perfect condition feels lived in, as does the Dining Room with the family’s piano and the well-used card table.
Link to the Homestead: [Web Link]
History if no Link:
http://www.victorialodging.com/helmckenhouse/index.html
Structure Type: Log Cabin
Additional Parking or Point of Interest: Not Listed
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Visit Instructions:
A clear picture of the Homestead, Marker or Plaque taken by you. And if you like a picture of you and GPS at the marker.
No Copyrighted images please.