1910-1913 Prelude to War |
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Canada and the World |
Victoria |
1910 |
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| Mar 4 – Avalanche at Rogers Pass | |
| May 4 – Royal Canadian Navy established by Naval Service Act | |
| Aug 15 – Vancouver Exhibition (later the PNE) opens | |
| May 6 – Edward VII dies of pneumonia. George V becomes King. | |
| Oct 11 – First long distance transmission | Oct 22 – Songhees agreement moves reserve lands from downtown Victoria. |
| Nov 7 – HMCS Rainbow, the first warship in Canada’s Pacific fleet arrives at Esquimalt. See images of HMCS Rainbow in the archive here | |
| Dec 31 – New reserve lands for Songhees purchased at Esquimalt. | |
| William Gibson built the first aircraft engine in Canada in Victoria. It was installed in a Gibson twin plane. Read more about William Gibson here | |
1911 |
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| Census Return – Population of Canada 7,206,643 | Census returns. Victoria has grown from 20,816 in 1901 to 31,620 in 1911 |
| Sept 21 – General Election – William Borden’s Conservatives defeat Wilfred Laurier’s Liberals on the issue of Reciprocity with the United States | City lets contract to pave 30 miles of streets. Large new dry dock to be built at Esquimalt. |
| June 22 – Coronation of George V | Oct 24 – Contract let for construction of Victoria High School |
| Dec 14 – Roald Amundsen reaches the South Pole | |
1912 |
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| Jan 18 – Robert Scott and 4 others reach the South Pole – none survive. | |
| Feb 12 – China becomes a republic with the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty. | |
| Apr 14 – RMS Titanic sinks on her maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg off Newfoundland. | |
| Olympic Games in Stockholm. George Golding (10 K walk) and George Hdgson (400 m and 1500 m swim) win gold for Canada | |
| Aug 17 – Ontario issued a Circular 17 which banned the use of French in Ontario schools beyond the first two years of elementary school. | Sept 3 – 88th Regiment (Fusiliers) formed in Victoria. See images of the 88th Victoria Fusiliers in the document archive |
| Sept 2 – First Calgary Stampede | Sept 27 – Duke and Duchess of Connaught and Princess Patricia visit Victoria |
| Sept 16 – Miners at Cumberland declared a “holiday” to protest the firing of a miner. Canadian Collieries locked them out and hired Chinese and recruits from Britain and the US as strike-breakers. | |
| Oct 14 – First crossing of Canada by automobile | Oct 5 – decision made to build the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Saanich. View images of Saanich here |
1913 |
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| Immigration to Canada reaches an all-time high with over 400,000 arrivals. | Great new Hudson’s Bay Department Store to be built at Fisgard and Douglas |
| May 15 – The Conservatives government imposes closure on debate for the first time in Canadian history to pass the Naval Aid Bill | July 25 – HMS New Zealand welcomed to Victoria. The ship was New Zealand’s contribution to the Royal Navy |
| June 17 – Stefanson’s Arctic Expedition sails from Victoria | Aug 6 – The first death involving an airplane in Canada occurred at Victoria, BC, when American barnstormer John M. Bryant was killed. |
| Aug 15 – 50th Regiment (Gordon Highlanders) authorized. Lt Col Arthur Currie appointed as first CO. | |
| Nov 17 – National Transcontinental Railway, completed from Winnipeg, via Sioux Lookout, Kapuskasing, Cochrane and Québec City, to Moncton, NB. | Oct 17 – The Panama Maru carrying 56 East Indians arrives in Victoria. Read an article published in the Victoria Daily times about the arrival of the Panama Maru here |
| Dec 29 – Royal Theatre opens with production of Kismet | |
