BCGS Book Reports

BCGS Book Reports

VANCOUVER VOTERS, 1886 (an excerpt from The British Columbia Genealogist, Volume 25 No. 1, March 1996)

This book of family histories is the result of a project begun to commemorate the Centennial of the city of Vancouver. aside from producing a genealogical volume to honour the centennial, the British Columbia Genealogical Society has seen this event as instigator for a project of on-going growth and lasting Value to the archives, and to many family histories of early British Columbians. The value of recording the memories and details of pioneer families at this time, when early members are still with us, is immeasurable. The resulting archive will be a blessing to generations of future family historians.
The focus of this project is on the Families of the first voters in Vancouver. the basis used has been the 1886 Voters List of Vancouver. Although this was the first list generated, in reality it was created in October 1886, after the first civic election. No record exists of who voted in the first election and much controversy surrounded the whole affair.

An attempt has been made to gather as much material as possible on each of the 528 persons listed, and to trace their descendants. The "modus operandi" of the researchers on this project has generally been to use the City of Vancouver Archives vast resources in conjunction with old newspapers and cemetery records, all with the object of fleshing out the bones of the pioneer and finding the modern family. Subsequently, existing descendants were invited to participate by filling out a questionnaire. All correspondents have been encouraged to provide as much detail as they wish and have been given the opportunity to edit their resulting family history for accuracy, omissions and confidentiality.

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