A book we have just been looking through is very interesting. It is not a regular printed book with a story or pictures to follow, but rather is an old ledger-type book, thick, heavy and dusty, with parts of the cover sloughing off, marked “visiting book” on the front cover.
Inside the book all the pages are the same, with space for the name of a visitor, date and address. A great many visitors signed in between Oct. 13, 1876 and July 5 or 9, 1881. The heading across the top of each page defines the book for us with the words, in a wonderful early font, “The Lieutenant Governor.”
This was the visiting book of Albert Norton Richard, the second lieutenant-governor of B.C. from June 27, 1876 to July 19, 1881, following Joseph Trutch and preceding Clement Cornwall. Much of this large volume is blank, as we would presume that the book was removed from official service when this particular term of office came to an end.
The six years of names recorded in the book certainly could tell many stories. Who visited with regularity? Where were they from? Were there any groups? The names in many cases can be related back to early newspaper stories that frequently tell why the person or persons were in Victoria and a visit to government house was in order. All of them could be interesting leads.
One well-known gentleman was a regular visitor particularly on Victoria Days when he would attend, his name Matthew Baillie Begbie. What we do find out from this guest book or register is that he wrote clearly and signed in as Matt B. Begbie.
Jan. 1 was a day when many people of importance and others were invited to start off the New Year by visiting the lieutenant-governor. This Jan. 1 event, called a levée, continues to this day.
Officers of the British Navy stationed at Esquimalt also visited the lieutenant-governor regularly along with senior crew members. Among the many vessels listed are HMS Amethyst, HMS Rocket and HMS Daring.
There is a lot for us to follow up on to see what stories lie hidden behind the names. There are people from New Westminster, probably in Victoria to meet with government officials, who also “dropped in” on the lieutenant-governor. Wonder what Robert Dickinson, Ebenezer Brown, Captain Jemmett and John Robson were doing there on the same day? We will see what can be found.
The book came into our possession as part of a large stack of old boxed materials ultimately destined for the garbage or the recycling bin. How it came to be in that particular pile, we have no idea. We will see to its appropriate placement at government house and the provincial archives in due course, but for now, what stories will the book and its names tell?
