The British Isles Historic Society Special Christmas Edition 2019 May you have the spirit of Christmas, which is Peace, the gladness of Christmas, which is Hope, and the Heart of Christmas which is Love. May your Christmas be joyous, filled with moments of love, laughter and goodwill. Happy And may the year ahead be full of contentment and joy. Wishing you a healthy Christmas and prosperous, Happy Christmas!! The Officers and Members of the The British Isles Historic Society Merry Christmas Happy Christmas Merry Christmas began as a saying in the 1500s. It was recorded in a letter as a wish that God would send the recipient a “mery Christmas”. It was solidified as a capitalized greeting by Charles Dickens in his great work A Christmas Carol. Queen Elizabeth II, for whatever reason, did not use Dickens’ phrase. Instead, she used the phrase Happy Christmas in her broadcasts to her subjects. After her use, the term gained popularity and is still the most common form in Great Britain and Ireland. Christmas Day The prominence of Christmas Day increased gradually after Charlemagne was December 25, the date of the Nativity crowned Emperor on Christmas Day in 800. In the 3rd century, King Edmund the Martyr was anointed on the date of the nativity Christmas in 855 and King William I of was the subject of great England was crowned on Christmas Day 1066. interest. Around AD 200, Clement of King Richard II of England hosted a Alexandria wrote: Christmas feast in 1377 at which There are those who twenty-eight oxen and three hundred sheep have determined not were eaten. only the year of our However, in 17th century England, Lord's birth, but also the some groups such as the Puritans, strongly day; and they say that it condemned the celebration of Christmas, took place in the 28th year of Augustus, and considering it a Catholic invention and the in the 25th day of [the Egyptian month] "trappings of popery" or the "rags of the Pachon [May 20] ... Further, others say that Beast". In contrast, the established Anglican He was born on the 24th or 25th of Church "pressed for a more elaborate Pharmuthi [April 20 or 21]. observance of feasts, penitential seasons, and Various factors contributed to the saints' days. selection of December 25 as a date of The Restoration of King Charles II in celebration: it was the date of the winter 1660 ended the ban, but many Calvinist solstice on the Roman calendar and it was clergymen still disapproved of Christmas about nine months after March 25, the date celebration. As such, in Scotland, the of the vernal equinox and a date linked to the Presbyterian Church of Scotland discouraged conception of Jesus (now Annunciation). the observance of Christmas, and though The winter solstice, hiemal solstice or James VI commanded its celebration in hibernal solstice, also known as midwinter, 1618, attendance at church was scant. The the winter solstice is the day with the Parliament of Scotland officially abolished shortest period of daylight and longest night the observance of Christmas in 1640, of the year, claiming that the church had been "purged of all superstitious observation of days". It was December 25 was the date of the not until 1958 that Christmas again became a winter solstice on the Roman calendar. They Scottish public holiday. chose Jesus to be born on the shortest day of the year for symbolic reasons, according to In the UK, Christmas Day became a an early Christmas sermon by Augustine: bank holiday in 1834, Boxing Day was "Hence it is that He was born on the day added in 1871. which is the shortest in our earthly reckoning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas and from which subsequent days begin to increase in length. He, therefore, who bent low and lifted us up chose the shortest day, yet the one whence light begins to increase." Linking Jesus to the Sun was supported by various Biblical passages. Jesus was considered to be the "Sun of righteousness" prophesied by Malachi: "Unto you shall the sun of righteousness arise, and healing is in his wings." Have you, your Barkerville, B.C. family or friends made plans for the week of Feb. 17th to 23rd. 2020 yet? “Welcome to the British Isles” Heritage B.C. Week William "Billy" Barker “Bringing the Past into the Future” (1817–1894), was an English prospector who The British Isles Historic Society invites was famous for being one you to participate in our events and activities. of the first to find a large amount of gold in the The Province, (British Columbia), Cariboo of British the Cities (Vancouver, Victoria, Burnaby, Columbia. He also Port Moody, New Westminster, etc.), founded Barkerville which is preserved as a streets, avenues, homes, buildings and historic town. Barker was born in 1817 in Historic sites were built by and named by March, Cambridgeshire, England and was immigrants from England, Scotland, baptised on 7 June 1817 in St Wendreda's Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and the Isle of Church, March. As a child he worked as a Man. It is our intention of celebrating the waterman on the waterways of England. Heritage of these first British Isles He married Jane Lavender in Earith, newcomers to Canada. Cambridgeshire in 1839 and had one We would like to invite you to participate daughter named Emma Eliza. Lavender died in a British Feis of music, dancing, singing in the workhouse in Doddington, and foods during Heritage Week, Cambridgeshire, in 1850. February 17th. to 23rd. 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Barker_prospector) We plan on featuring British foods of England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man and Cornwall. James Bowman Lindsay From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Use this as an opportunity for you to James Bowman Lindsay celebrate your British Heritage, (8 September 1799 – 29 your Traditions and your Customs. June 1862) was a Wear clothes, caps, badges and flags that Scottish inventor and will identify your country in the author. He is credited with early British Isles. developments in several fields, Won’t you join the party? such as incandescent lighting and telegraphy. “May the Blessings of Christmas be with you, May the Christ Child light your way, Lions Gate Bridge built by Guinness Family of Ireland May God’s holy angels guide you, And keep you safe each day.” development of British Columbia and British History Vancouver Island. Born at Alnwick in Northumberland, England. In British Columbia The Orpheum Designed by Scottish Brock House architect Marcus Priteca, Brock House is the theatre officially an authentic Tudor opened on replica heritage November 8, 1927 building on Jericho as a vaudeville beach. house, but it hosted Philip Gilman, a mining engineer from its first shows the England, purchased the waterfront lots in previous day. 1906 and 1909, making his estate two and a The old Orpheum, at 761 Granville half acres with over 300 feet of sandy Street, was renamed the Vancouver beach waterfront. In 1911, he engaged the Theatre (later the Lyric, then the noted architect, Samuel Maclure to design International Cinema, then the Lyric once the house and in March 1912 contracted more before it closed for demolition in construction to the firm of Coffin & 1969 to make way for the first phase of the McLelland. Pacific Centre project). Hastings The New Orpheum, which was the biggest theatre in Canada when it opened Mill in 1927, with three thousand seats, cost $1.25 million to construct. Benjamin Marcus Priteca FAIA Hastings Mill was (December 23, 1889 – October 1, 1971) was a sawmill on the south born in Glasgow, Scotland shore of Burrard Inlet Priteca met Seattle vaudeville theatre and was the first owner Alexander Pantages in 1910 and commercial operation around which the won from him a commission to design the settlement that would become Vancouver San Francisco Pantages Theater (1911), the developed in British Columbia, Canada. first of many so-named vaudeville and Founded in 1865 by Edward Stamp, the motion picture houses in what would sawmill operated until its closure in 1928. become one of the largest theater chains in In 1867, Captain Edward Stamp North America. He also built the Pantages theatre in Vancouver. began producing lumber in Stamp's Mill at the foot of what is now Dunlevy Avenue The Beatty after a planned site at Brockton Point proved unsuitable due to difficult Street Drill currents and a shoal. Stamp's efforts in Hall developing the mill are summarized by The Beatty Robert Macdonald in Making Vancouver: Street Drill Hall Class, Status and Social Boundaries, 1863- is a Canadian Forces 1913: armoury located at 620 In 1865 he formed a company in Beatty Street in England, backed by capital of $100,000 , to Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the produce lumber in British Columbia. home of The British Columbia Regiment Edward Stamp (1814–1872) was an (Duke of Connaught's Own), English mariner and entrepreneur who Cont. page 6 contributed to the early economic … … The Beatty Street Drill Hall The 15 Most Influential an armoured reconnaissance reserve regiment, the oldest military unit in British People of All Time Vancouver, and the most senior militia in William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) the province. William Shakespeare has not just The building was designed by conquered the English land, but all around the architect T.W. Fuller and opened on 30 world. He is considered as the greatest writer of September 1901 by the Duke of Cornwall all time. (later King George V). Sir Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965) Thomas Fuller (March 8, 1823 – Winston Churchill spent his life serving September 28, 1898) was born in Bath, the British people.