The Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria is pleased to announce the completion of its project "Pioneer Square: Sharing the Knowledge".

Pioneer Square (Old Burying Ground) is an historic corner of Victoria that has been far too long forgotten and ignored as the final resting place of many of Victoria?s early pioneers.

A grant from the BC150-Heritage Legacy Fund allowed the Society to bring together all known information about Victoria?s second cemetery to the Society?s Web site www.oldcem.bc.ca. The new Web pages include a searchable database of some 1300 burials, the history of the cemetery, reports on conservation projects, and a photo gallery of over 250 archival images and current views of the cemetery and its grave markers.

The Old Cemeteries Society is proud to offer this exciting and informative new resource to the community.

For more information or to leave your comments call our office 250 598 8870. For an immediate reply, call Wilf Bruch at 250 383 7514

Sunday, April 19th, 2009

2:00 to 4:00 pm
Newcombe Conference Hall, Royal BC Museum

Speaker: Margaret Horsfield

Topic: Voices from the Sound: Chronicles of Clayoquot Sound and Tofino 1899-1929.

Author Margaret Horsfield will give a lively talk on the colourful characters she encountered in her research through original diaries and letters from the region. Well known for her publication Cougar Annie's Garden, Margaret uses primary sources from the B.C. Archives and the Mount Angel Abbey in Oregon to document the lives of the residents and missionaries who worked along the west coast of Vancouver Island.

For more information contact Ann ten Cate, Outreach Coordinator, BC Archives, (250) 387-2970 or Ron Greene, Secretary of the Friends of the BC Archives at (250) 598-1835. These events are free for Friends of the Archives, $5.00 for non-members, payable at the door. Call in advance for information about handicap access.

The Victoria Historical Society meeting on Thursday, March 26, 2009, will feature speaker and author Greg Dickson. He will give an illustrated talk around The Trail of 1858 and the events around the goldfields on the Fraser River, the subject of his recent book, co-written with Mark Forsythe.

The meeting takes place at 7:30 p.m. in the James Bay New Horizons, 234 Menzies St., Victoria. All are welcome, and the admission is free. For more Information phone 250-480-1061

The Victoria Historical Society meeting on Thursday, February 26, 2009 will see historian Richard Mackie offering a lively look at the company that helped shape the first British colonies in a talk titled "Here Before Christ: The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in B.C." The meeting will take place at James Bay New Horizons, 234 Menzies Street, Victoria, beginning at 7:30 pm. Visitors are welcome and there is no charge for this event. For further information, call 250-480-1061.

The Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria 2009 cemeteries tours and excursions schedule is available.