A new window into Victoria's early days

Photo Gallery on the Times Colonist

Showing A new window into Victoria's early days

This week's donation of documents dating back as far as 125 years from the real estate firm Pemberton Holmes is giving the B.C. Archives a fresh look at the city's history. Here are some of the files they're going through.

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Archivist Ann ten Cate examines binders full of mortgage records.
Photograph by: Adrian Lam ,Times Colonist

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Early photos of the Pemberton Holmes offices on Government Street.
Photograph by: Adrian Lam ,Times Colonist

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An article in the Daily Colonist identifies the firm's founders.
Photograph by: Adrian Lam ,Times Colonist

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Colourful for-sale signs date as far back as the early 1900s.
Photograph by: Adrian Lam ,Times Colonist

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This map from 1907 shows the property lines of the day. Note the large undeveloped tracts in Oak Bay and Saanich.
Photograph by: Adrian Lam ,Times Colonist

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Manager of archive collections Don Bourdon finds a selection of old portraits among the donated records from the Pemberton Holmes real estate firm.
Photograph by: Adrian Lam ,Times Colonist

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Portraits of founders Joseph D. Pemberton, Frederick B. Pemberton and Maj. H. Cuthbert Holmes were among the donated items.
Photograph by: Adrian Lam ,Times Colonist

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Some of the business record dockets, c. 1919.
Photograph by: Adrian Lam ,Times Colonist

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A selection of photos showing various properties and projects undertaken by Pemberton Holmes.
Photograph by: Adrian Lam ,Times Colonist

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Kathryn Bridge, B.C. Archives' manager of centralized access, flips through a letter press book containing the firm's outgoing correspondence.
Photograph by: Adrian Lam ,Times Colonist