Coal Mining History of Vancouver Island
For over 100 years Scottish, English, Italian, Croatian, Japanese and Chinese miners dug the coal that lies under the surface of Vancouver Island from Ladysmith to Port Hardy. Generations of miners worked without the protection of a union; they died by the hundreds in floods, explosions and cave-ins. Their families survived on the strength of the community. One Scottish miner became the wealthiest man in British Columbia—and the most hated.
Six classes: Monday 18 March to Monday 29 April, 10:00am – fee $60.
Course fees are by course and payable at the door at the first class.
Instructor: Lynne Bowen
Writer/lecturer Lynne Bowen has an M.A. in Western Canadian History from the University of Victoria. She has lived on the Island for over fifty years. Three of her seven books, Boss Whistle, Three Dollar Dreams and Robert Dunsmuir Laird of the Mines tell the story of coal mining on Vancouver Island. Another of her books, Whoever Gives Us Bread, The Story of Italians in British Columbia, includes an enlarged treatment of the role of Italian miners across the whole province.
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