Christmas in Victoria a century and a half ago 鈥� in 1867, the year of Canadian confederation 鈥� would not have been quite so merry without the arrival of the bark Mercara.
The ship had sailed from Liverpool in the middle of June, making its way across the Atlantic Ocean, through Le Maire Strait to get around Cape Horn, and then up the Pacific coast to Victoria.
Its arrival in Victoria on Monday, Dec. 2, was cause for celebration. Many merchants had been waiting for the Mercara to arrive, and many citizens had been waiting for the fancy goods and fine foods that were being delivered to local stores.
It was big news, then, when the Mercara was brought alongside of Janion, Green and Rhodes鈥� wharf at the foot of Johnson Street. Crews quickly went to work unloading crates, and retailers took to the pages of the Daily British Colonist and Victoria Chronicle to declare what they had to offer.
The Mercara was the most important arrival that fall. The Superior, which sailed from San Francisco, also brought goods to help us celebrate the festive season.
Fellows, Roscoe and Co. boasted that its shipment on the Mercara had included Lea and Perrin鈥檚 sauce, bottled fruits, assorted pickles, shoe and saddler鈥檚 thread, linseed oil, white lead and paints, copper sheets and twine of all kinds.
Wilson and Rickman, at the corner of Fort and Douglas streets, advertised 50 chests of U.S. tea, 100 boxes of muscatel raisins, 100 boxes of lemon peel, 100 boxes of orange peel, 100 boxes of shelled almonds, 100 boxes of fresh peaches in tins, and much more.
Hicks and Russell, grocers on Government Street, offered for sale English cheese and Coleman鈥檚 English mustard and starch, as well as oatmeal, jams, jellies, marmalade and Keen & Co.鈥檚 mixed spice.
But Christmas 1867 was not just about shopping.
On Christmas Eve, the Park Hotel offered free admission to its Grand Christmas Ball on Dec. 24. 鈥淭here are enough ladies to form two sets of Quadrilles connected with the hotel,鈥� the hotel boasted. Supper came first, then dancing started at 8 p.m.
鈥淐hristmas Day was rationally and reverently observed by our citizens,鈥� the Colonist reported. 鈥淭he town was unusually quiet for a holiday, and no instance of a breach of the peace has come to our knowledge.
鈥淭he churches were well attended in the morning.鈥�
In the afternoon, John Weir, a blacksmith from Dungeness, Washington territory, and G.C. Gerow of Victoria celebrated the day with a shooting competition. The two men fired their rifles at a target from a distance of 150 yards. Fifteen shots were allowed, and when the targets were checked, Weir was the winner by a wide margin.
On Boxing Day at Alhambra Hall, George Edwards sang 100 songs in succession, a feat that was greeted with much applause.
And then, with Christmas out of the way, life got back to normal in Victoria, in the colony of British Columbia.
FROM 1867
The season of holiday enjoyment and merry-making is upon us once more, and today our readers will celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Him who, 1,867 years ago, appeared to save mankind.
The anniversary of the advent of the divine deliverer of the human race is one worthy of being commemorated as a season of happiness and thanksgiving. It is a time when all should lay aside the toils and anxieties of busy life and give themselves up to social happiness and festivities.
In older countries, the return of Christmas is welcomed with a genial glow of pleasure by all classes. From the lord in his castle to the humblest peasant in his cot, the season is fraught with interest and happy events.
Why, then, should not we, in remembrance of the joyous days we have spent in our distant homes, at the family gatherings and merry-makings, gather here around the well-filled board and dedicate at least one day to the enjoyment of social intercourse and to the cultivation of a feeling of brotherly love and kindly feeling toward our fellow beings? The longest life is but 鈥渁 span,鈥� and some who are with us today will be hurried away into eternity ere another festive season rolls around.
Why, then, should we not, burying forever past resentments and heartburnings, join hands with those with whom we have differed during the year, and pledge a renewal of that love and tender regard which He whose natal day we celebrate has commanded us to bear one to the other?
Even those among us whose lot has been hard during the past 12 months 鈥� who have lost friends and relatives, or who have suffered from reverses of fortune 鈥� will doubtless experience a mournful pleasure in meditating upon the occurrences of the past while they look hopefully toward the future in store for our young colony 鈥� a future full of the brightest promise.
Amid the general enjoyment, we trust that any who stand in need of the necessities of life 鈥� the poor and the sick 鈥� will not be forgotten; that those who have will give from their plentitude to those who have not, and make glad the hearts of any near them who are without the means to take part in the festivities incidental to the day.
We wish our readers, as well as all who are not our readers, a MERRY CHRISTMAS.
The Daily British Colonist and Victoria Chronicle
Dec. 25, 1867
