Ross Bay Cemetery
Monday, August 14, 2006
Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria is a heritage site where many BC famous and colourful characters are buried. We have walked past it and directly through it, but have never taken the opportunity to look around. I borrowed the Historic Guide to Ross Bay Cemetery from the Library and planned a walk including a look through the cemetery.
We met at the Ladner Park-and-Ride at 6:30 a.m., gathered into one car and drove to Tsawwassen terminal for the 7 a.m. Victoria ferry. Doris and I had our usual shared All-Aboard breakfast on two plates and were fed and rested by the time we reached Swartz Bay. We took the bus from outside the terminal and got off as it turned left off Douglas Street just before the Empress. It was just about 10 o’clock. Crossing back over Douglas Street, we followed the south side of the Empress through its rose garden to reach the Inner Harbour at the Legislative Buildings. We made our way west along the street-level walkway. Traffic was arriving for the MV Coho, which was preparing to leave for Port Angeles. We continued past the terminal, taking a path through a small park to drop down to the walkway at the harbour’s edge. We went around Laurel Point, where I had done consulting work in my early BC years for the CIL Paint Factory there. The old Songhees lands opposite also showed massive change. Little passenger ferries were active as were seaplanes landing. Passing around apartment blocks, we came out to the road. We followed Kingston Street and St. Lawrence, then crossed a small park area to reach Dallas Road.
We kept to the water side of the road, looking out over Ogden Point pier; MV Coho was passing on its way to the Olympic Peninsula. At an entrance to the pier’s parking, we looked in at the area where the Tally-Ho horses spend the night after towing tourists all day. In another block we came to a coffee shop at the head of the kilometre-long Ogden Point breakwater. We went in for our first rest stop. I remembered a previous stop here when I learned that on the previous day a man had been blown off the breakwater by heavy winds. Television often shows the high waves breaking over the Dallas Road seawall nearby when Victoria is having high winds.
.
After the break, we followed the seaward sidewalk and took the path into Holland Point, the gumweed flowering on all sides. We continued through the park until we reached a point opposite the end of Douglas Street. A sign said Mile Zero, marking the start of the Trans Canada Highway. Our path now followed the coastline below Beacon Hill Park, passing Finlayson Point on its way. We could see the large totem pole on the hill above us on the left. We looked across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the hazy Olympic Mountains on the other side. We reached the end of the park at Cook Street, then followed down the hill to Clover Point for a lunch stop. A walk along the seawall for one long block then led us to the road where we crossed and entered Ross Bay Cemetery.
.
We made our way through pathways to our first objective - Emily Carr. We found her grave under a tree on the north side near Fairfield Road. From here we walked around to see James Douglas, Robert Dunsmuir, Matthew Begbie and Billy Barker. On our travels, we passed memorials to interesting characters such as Rebecca Gibbs, a black immigrant from the Southern States, and Isabella Ross, whose farmland now forms the cemetery.
It was now time to return towards the Empress so we headed west up May Street and clambered up Moss Rock, which was on the right hand side (a steep access route is near its western end). We made our way back again down to May Street and stopped off in the Moss Rock Café for tea. We were glad of a rest now as the weather was continuing hot. A walk along May Street into Beacon Hill Park and through to Douglas Street and the Empress took us to the ferry bus stop.
Return to Further Walks
We met at the Ladner Park-and-Ride at 6:30 a.m., gathered into one car and drove to Tsawwassen terminal for the 7 a.m. Victoria ferry. Doris and I had our usual shared All-Aboard breakfast on two plates and were fed and rested by the time we reached Swartz Bay. We took the bus from outside the terminal and got off as it turned left off Douglas Street just before the Empress. It was just about 10 o’clock. Crossing back over Douglas Street, we followed the south side of the Empress through its rose garden to reach the Inner Harbour at the Legislative Buildings. We made our way west along the street-level walkway. Traffic was arriving for the MV Coho, which was preparing to leave for Port Angeles. We continued past the terminal, taking a path through a small park to drop down to the walkway at the harbour’s edge. We went around Laurel Point, where I had done consulting work in my early BC years for the CIL Paint Factory there. The old Songhees lands opposite also showed massive change. Little passenger ferries were active as were seaplanes landing. Passing around apartment blocks, we came out to the road. We followed Kingston Street and St. Lawrence, then crossed a small park area to reach Dallas Road. 
We kept to the water side of the road, looking out over Ogden Point pier; MV Coho was passing on its way to the Olympic Peninsula. At an entrance to the pier’s parking, we looked in at the area where the Tally-Ho horses spend the night after towing tourists all day. In another block we came to a coffee shop at the head of the kilometre-long Ogden Point breakwater. We went in for our first rest stop. I remembered a previous stop here when I learned that on the previous day a man had been blown off the breakwater by heavy winds. Television often shows the high waves breaking over the Dallas Road seawall nearby when Victoria is having high winds. 
.
After the break, we followed the seaward sidewalk and took the path into Holland Point, the gumweed flowering on all sides. We continued through the park until we reached a point opposite the end of Douglas Street. A sign said Mile Zero, marking the start of the Trans Canada Highway. Our path now followed the coastline below Beacon Hill Park, passing Finlayson Point on its way. We could see the large totem pole on the hill above us on the left. We looked across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the hazy Olympic Mountains on the other side. We reached the end of the park at Cook Street, then followed down the hill to Clover Point for a lunch stop. A walk along the seawall for one long block then led us to the road where we crossed and entered Ross Bay Cemetery.
.
We made our way through pathways to our first objective - Emily Carr. We found her grave under a tree on the north side near Fairfield Road. From here we walked around to see James Douglas, Robert Dunsmuir, Matthew Begbie and Billy Barker. On our travels, we passed memorials to interesting characters such as Rebecca Gibbs, a black immigrant from the Southern States, and Isabella Ross, whose farmland now forms the cemetery.
Her epitaph read:
Dear Mother Earth!
I think I have always
specially belonged to you.
I have loved from babyhood
to roll upon you, to lie with
my face pressed tight down
on to you in my sorrows.
I love the look of you and
the smell of you and the
feel of you. When I die I
should like to be in you
uncoffined, unshrouded,
the petals of flowers against
my flesh and you covering
me up.
I think I have always
specially belonged to you.
I have loved from babyhood
to roll upon you, to lie with
my face pressed tight down
on to you in my sorrows.
I love the look of you and
the smell of you and the
feel of you. When I die I
should like to be in you
uncoffined, unshrouded,
the petals of flowers against
my flesh and you covering
me up.
It was now time to return towards the Empress so we headed west up May Street and clambered up Moss Rock, which was on the right hand side (a steep access route is near its western end). We made our way back again down to May Street and stopped off in the Moss Rock Café for tea. We were glad of a rest now as the weather was continuing hot. A walk along May Street into Beacon Hill Park and through to Douglas Street and the Empress took us to the ferry bus stop.
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