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A fine example of one of the great 19th Century Bird Eye Views of Victoria, British Columbia.
This fascinating large-scale view captures Victoria from the perspective of the Strait of Juan de Fuca looking northwards. The city is featured following a period of rapid growth, but before the construction of the grand buildings, such as Francis Rattenbury's B.C. Legislature (built between 1893 and 1897) and the Empress Hotel (completed 1908).
What makes this view of particular note is the exceptional combination of pictorial detail and detailed geographical information shown.
The key below identifies 63 places or buildings of interest and all the main streets are labeled. Key sites include: 8. Hudson's Bay Co's Store; 9. Canadian Pacific Nav. Co's Office (the main passenger shipping line); 22. City Hall; 23. Law Courts; 27. Colonists Office (the premises of Ellis & Co., where this view was printed); 32. Jewish Synagogue; 33. Victoria Opera House; 36. Provincial Government Building (From 1860 the provincial legislature met in this 2-story wood building); 56. Lieutenant Governor's Residence; 57. Beacon Hill Park; 62. Mount Baker (the distant volcanic peak in Washington State).
Victoria was founded by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1843 as Fort Camosun, but was soon renamed Fort Victoria, in honor of Queen Victoria. When the crown Colony of Vancouver Island was established in 1849, a town was laid out on the site and made the capital of the colony. With the discovery of gold on the British Columbia mainland in 1858, Victoria became a boomtown, being the main port, supply base, and outfitting center for miners on their way to the Fraser Canyon gold fields. It's population grew from 300 to over 5,000 in a matter of days. Victoria was incorporated as a city in 1862.
In 1866 when Vancouver Island was politically united with the mainland, Victoria remained the capital of British Columbia. B.C. and would join the Canadian Confederation in 1871. In 1886, with the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway terminus on Burrard Inlet, Victoria's position as the commercial center of British Columbia was lost to the city of Vancouver. Neverthelss, the city contunued to prosper as the provincial capital and a major center of tourism, as visitors were attracted to the fine climate and scenery and the genteel English environment.
Ellis & Co.'s fabulous work is one of the great 19th Century views of Victoria, following H.O. Tiedeman's View of Victoria, Vancouver Island (London, 1860) and Eli Sheldon Glover's Bird's-eye view of Victoria, Vancouver Island, B.C. 1878 (Victoria, 1878).
The view is rare, as J.W. Reps records just 8 examples in institutional collections (4 in Canada and 4 in the United States).
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