Victoria's Victoria

There's nothing like student labour to get things done at low or no cost. The University of Victoria has taken advantage to develop a great local resource by way of project work for a course "History 481: Micro History and the Internet." Gradually since 2002 research from this and related courses, as well as contributions from members of the larger community, have been added to the Victoria's Victoria website.

The jewels in the crown for genealogy are four indices to tens of thousands of summarized transcripts of newspaper articles:

A general index to the British Colonist (also called the Daily Colonist) from 1858-1921 (years 1894-1899 incomplete but in process);
A specialized index to stories related to the West Coast of Vancouver Island in the British Colonist (also called the Daily Colonist) from 1858-1921;
A specialized index of stories related to the Boer War the British Colonist (also called the Daily Colonist) from 1899-1915;
A specialized index to stories related to buildings, builders, building trades, architects etc... from 1858 to c. 1900.

Many of the people mentioned are of British origin. It's another place you may turn up that wayward ancestor who was never heard from again.

Apropos my recent Timelines blog entry, there's also a timeline for Victoria on the site, covering 1592 - 1925.