Scots in BC Project

Individuals of Scottish descent have played a vital role in the
history of British Columbia.  Before the province was established,
Scots like Simon McTavish and John Fraser ran the fur-trading
companies that commissioned fellow Scots like Alexander Mackenzie and Simon Fraser to explore the west in hopes of finding a route to the Pacific Ocean.  The first governor of BC, James Douglas, was of Scottish origin, as was the first mayor of Vancouver, Malcolm Alexander MacLean.  Scottish entrepreneurs in lumber, mining, fisheries and canning also left their mark on the province, as did many unrecorded men and women.  

Scots in BC website: With a $5000 grant from the Department of English, the Centre for Scottish Studies is currently building a web resource that will highlight the history of the Scots in BC.

The web site will serve both as a scholarly tool for researchers wishing to undertake projects related to the activities of Scottish immigrants to BC and as a general resource for members of the public.  It will include information and will feature digitized copies of the archival material in the possession of the Centre (for example, historical photographs of pipe bands across the province and minute books of Scottish socieites like the Sons of Scotland Ladies Auxiliary Camp Lochnagar 1946-).

Website coming soon!

Simon McTavish and his family, about 1903. Frank McTavish and
Helen Nerenhausen with Chester, Oscar and Walter McTavish.