The photograph shows a boatload of visitors going to Stag Bay, transport provided by the small gasboat in the background. During George Freeman's years at Stag Bay, he used this '"little green boat" for necessary commuting between Stag Bay and Lund, not only for personal needs but also for logging camp needs for repairs, medical emergencies, etc.
Wilfred Manson is standing on the gasboat in the back.
In the rowboat, L to R: Colin Campbell, Fraser Campbell (brothers), Jean Manson and Dorothy, Florence McKay with oar, Gwen Campbell and Thelma, Mrs. Colin Campbell behind Hazel McKay, Etta McKay.
The photograph shows a boatload of visitors going to Stag Bay, transport provided by the small gasboat in the background. During George Freeman's years at Stag Bay, he used this '"little green boat" for necessary commuting between Stag Bay and Lund, not only for personal needs but also for logging camp needs for repairs, medical emergencies, etc.
Wilfred Manson is standing on the gasboat in the back.
In the rowboat, L to R: Colin Campbell, Fraser Campbell (brothers), Jean Manson and Dorothy, Florence McKay with oar, Gwen Campbell and Thelma, Mrs. Colin Campbell behind Hazel McKay, Etta McKay.
Fonds consists primarily of photographs and slides taken by Mary Weiler. Textual records include correspondence, several issues of the "Log" of the Columbia Coast Mission, and material about Victor Von Donop, for whom Von Donop Inlet is named.
Fonds is arranged in five series: 1: Photographs, 2: Correspondence, 3: Von Donop, 4: Ephemera, and 5: Books.
In April of 1947 Otto and Mary Weiler were recently returned from London, and they were war weary---Mary was recovering from tuberculosis, and Otto from injuries sustained in the army, and like most people in those days, they were left strapped by the Depression and the War--- but they had a dream. They chartered a boat, and traveled up the BC coast, seeking a place where they could live---in their words---"a happy, romantic, bohemian life".
Otto John—always known affectionately as Ottie---was born in Victoria, BC on March 27, 1903, to a well-to-do mercantile family. His grandparents, John and Christiana Weiler, arrive in Fort Victoria in the early 1850's from Germany by way of San Francisco, where they established a successful furniture factory and other businesses. Reminders of the Weiler family still exist in Victoria, most notably the six-story Weiler Building at the corner of Broad and Government streets, originally a grandly-appointed department store, and the Weiler cenotaph in Ross Bay cemetery.
Mary was born Mary Agnes Campbell on March 13, 1915, in Enderby, BC. Her grandparents were pioneers who arrived in the North Okanogan to farm in the 1880's. The family moved to New Westminster in 1921. After high school Mary studied nursing at the Royal Jubilee hospital in Victoria, and then departed for France, having decided to work her way around the world. When war broke out, however, she was evacuated from France at Dunkirk, and immediately joined the British army. She served a nurse in London for the duration of the war, and here she met Ottie, a major with the Canadian Scottish regiment. There were married in 1943, and both went back to their respective postings with the army, looking forward to the day when they could live together.
When Ottie and Mary sailed into Whaletown Bay, they were immediately enchanted by the house on the point, half-built and occupying 5 rocky acres of waterfront. They were urban and idealistic, and ready to throw themselves into life on a remote island. At first they turned their hand to fishing commercially. Their boat was twelve-foot clinker built inboard; a salmon license cost a dollar. In 1949 they were hired by Cece Stubbs to manage the Whaletown Store. When Gary and Velma Bergman bought the store in 1956, Ottie was offered the position of Whaletown postmaster, a job he held until a few months before his death.
Mary was an artist—a talented and serious one. In spite of the isolation of Cortes Island in those days, she made a name for herself as a British Columbia artist of note, showing her work widely and selling internationally. Her studio was the dining-room table, surrounded by a swirl of children, and her paintings and prints were created in the midst of the gardening, fishing and canning necessary to country survival.
Ottie was a writer---he had been a journalist before the war---and was a passionate gardener, fisherman, hunter and forager who tirelessly explored the trails and homesteads on the north end of Cortes, and beachcombed all his firewood.
They were both dedicated to community service. Ottie was Justice of the Peace, a thoughtful counselor once famously referred to by Gilean Douglas as 'a Justice who really practiced peace' and he also served on the boards of the Whaletown Community Club and other organizations for many years. Mary acted as a community nurse, as well as teaching First Aid classes, holding monthly clinics, and canvassing for the Canadian cancer society. She taught annual art classes and workshops for adults and children, and in the late '60s, she and Ottie opened a summer art gallery in their Whaletown home---the Garden Gallery---as a showcase for local artists and craftspeople.
Ottie and Mary had four daughters---Christina, born March 23rd, 1951; Brigid, born June 6th, 1953; Alexandra (who, however, has always gone by the nickname “Johnny”) born May 5th, 1955; and Sarah, born September 27th, 1958.
In 1973 Ottie died after a short illness, and Mary didn't want to stay in their dream home without him. In 1974 she sold the house and said farewell to Whaletown. Mary Weiler went on to many more adventures—studying, travelling, and always making art---and died in Victoria in1999.
[by Brigid Weiler, March 10, 2016]
Custodial History
This material was created or collected by Mary and Otto Weiler and donated to CIMAS by their daughter Brigid Weiler. The first accession was in 2003 (Accession #2003.002). There are two accruals: #2009.002 and #2017.001.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists primarily of photographs and slides taken by Mary Weiler. Textual records include correspondence, several issues of the "Log" of the Columbia Coast Mission, and material about Victor Von Donop, for whom Von Donop Inlet is named.
Fonds is arranged in five series: 1: Photographs, 2: Correspondence, 3: Von Donop, 4: Ephemera, and 5: Books.
Photograph of the Clinic building in Whaletown, with the Rectory to the right and a picket fence at the edge of the dirt road in front of the buildings.
Photograph of the Clinic building in Whaletown, with the Rectory to the right and a picket fence at the edge of the dirt road in front of the buildings.
Item is a Christmas card with a photograph on Whaletown as seen from the opposite bluff. The front says "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - John Nagel".
Item is a Christmas card with a photograph on Whaletown as seen from the opposite bluff. The front says "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year - John Nagel".
Teacher Don McDevitt with group of Whaletown pupils holding ribbons and trophies.
L to R: Pat McCoy, Johnny Weiler with Jeannie Matthews in front, Sheryl Matthews, Brigid Weiler with Janice Maclean in front, Mr. Don McDevitt with Ian Maclean in front, Heather Maclean.
Teacher Don McDevitt with group of Whaletown pupils holding ribbons and trophies.
L to R: Pat McCoy, Johnny Weiler with Jeannie Matthews in front, Sheryl Matthews, Brigid Weiler with Janice Maclean in front, Mr. Don McDevitt with Ian Maclean in front, Heather Maclean.
Photograph of Santa and students holding their Christmas presents.
L to R: Heather Maclean, Johnny Weiler, Philip Bergman, ? Santa, Janice Maclean, Gary York (?), Ian Maclean, ?, Jeannie Matthews, Sheryl Matthews, Ricky Matthews. Kneeling in front: Doug McCoy, Barbie McCoy.
Photograph of Santa and students holding their Christmas presents.
L to R: Heather Maclean, Johnny Weiler, Philip Bergman, ? Santa, Janice Maclean, Gary York (?), Ian Maclean, ?, Jeannie Matthews, Sheryl Matthews, Ricky Matthews. Kneeling in front: Doug McCoy, Barbie McCoy.
Back Row L to R: Kim Hogan, Janice Maclean, Nita Prestley, Johnny Prestley.
Middle row L to R: ?, Ernie Halliday, ?, Kelly Hogan, Eugene Hogan, Jeff Hogan, Jeannie Halliday(?).
Front row: Nancy Jenkins, teacher
Back Row L to R: Kim Hogan, Janice Maclean, Nita Prestley, Johnny Prestley.
Middle row L to R: ?, Ernie Halliday, ?, Kelly Hogan, Eugene Hogan, Jeff Hogan, Jeannie Halliday(?).
Front row: Nancy Jenkins, teacher
Photograph depicts the pupils at the second Whaletown school beside the corner of the school. The photograph was taken by Evelyn Dow, who taught there from February 1928 to June 1929. This school was built in 1918 near the corner of Coulter Bay Road and Carrington Bay Road, and was used (with improvements) until 1950.
Top Row: third from left, Lorna Borden; second from right, Doris Houghton-Brown
Middle row: second from left, Ken Houghton-Brown, third from left, Vernon Borden; far right, Marion Borden
Front row: far right, Claude Borden
(IDs by Terrill Marlow, Marion’s daughter, Rob Borden, Vernon’s son, and Joan Bevington, Ken Houghton-Brown's daughter).
Photograph is from an album created by Evelyn Dow and was donated to CIMAS by her niece, Sharon Thomas.
Scope and Content
Photograph depicts the pupils at the second Whaletown school beside the corner of the school. The photograph was taken by Evelyn Dow, who taught there from February 1928 to June 1929. This school was built in 1918 near the corner of Coulter Bay Road and Carrington Bay Road, and was used (with improvements) until 1950.
Top Row: third from left, Lorna Borden; second from right, Doris Houghton-Brown
Middle row: second from left, Ken Houghton-Brown, third from left, Vernon Borden; far right, Marion Borden
Front row: far right, Claude Borden
(IDs by Terrill Marlow, Marion’s daughter, Rob Borden, Vernon’s son, and Joan Bevington, Ken Houghton-Brown's daughter).
Verso says "Easter Egg Hunt 1966. Johnny Weiler (back); Janice Maclean, Heather Maclean, Ian Maclean (back), Philip Bergman, Doug McCoy, Sarah Weiler (kneeling)
Verso says "Easter Egg Hunt 1966. Johnny Weiler (back); Janice Maclean, Heather Maclean, Ian Maclean (back), Philip Bergman, Doug McCoy, Sarah Weiler (kneeling)
Photograph of teacher Don McDevitt and Sarah Weiler blowing out the candles on a birthday cake inside the Whaletown school. Mr McDevitt and Sarah had the same birthday.
L to R: Don McDevitt, Janice Maclean, Jeannie Matthews, Johnny Weiler, Heather Maclean, Sheryl Matthews in behind Heather, Philip Bergman, Doug McCoy, Ian Maclean, and Sarah Weiler.
Photograph of teacher Don McDevitt and Sarah Weiler blowing out the candles on a birthday cake inside the Whaletown school. Mr McDevitt and Sarah had the same birthday.
L to R: Don McDevitt, Janice Maclean, Jeannie Matthews, Johnny Weiler, Heather Maclean, Sheryl Matthews in behind Heather, Philip Bergman, Doug McCoy, Ian Maclean, and Sarah Weiler.
Photograph of a First Aid class taught by Mary Weiler in the Whaletown clinic. Amy McKenzie is bending over a "patient"; Diane Hansen is at far left, with other women seated along the wall.
Photograph of a First Aid class taught by Mary Weiler in the Whaletown clinic. Amy McKenzie is bending over a "patient"; Diane Hansen is at far left, with other women seated along the wall.
Photograph of a First Aid class taught by Mary Weiler; there are two beds with "patients" being attended by women. Hazel McCoy and Diane Hansen are seated far left; other women are seated along the walls.
Photograph of a First Aid class taught by Mary Weiler; there are two beds with "patients" being attended by women. Hazel McCoy and Diane Hansen are seated far left; other women are seated along the walls.
Photograph of the clinic building, with the Rectory beside it. Note the lack of telephone and electrical lines, which indicates the date is between 1950 and 1969.
Photograph of the clinic building, with the Rectory beside it. Note the lack of telephone and electrical lines, which indicates the date is between 1950 and 1969.
