The inaugural visit of Prince William and his family to Victoria is particularly meaningful to a local family with connections to the Royal Family and past visits.
Ann Thomson said she was excited to see the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in her hometown because her great-great-grandparents worked for the Royal Family.
“She was a lady in waiting for Queen Victoria and he was a captain in the horseguard,” said Thomson, who owns the craft shop Stampers on Quadra Street.
Thomson and her two daughters stood at the cenotaph last Saturday to watch the royal couple arrive to a welcome from thousands of people on the legislature grounds.
The couple placed a wreath in honour of Canadian military service at the cenotaph.
“I couldn’t believe they were right there,” Thomson said. “It was strange to think it’s a 150 years later and we’re watching Queen Victoria’s great-great-great-great grandchildren.”
Thomson said she always knew about the royal connection on her mother’s side, but didn’t delve into the details until her husband, Steve, started looking into her ancestry online.
“Little stories have always been passed down since I was a kid,” said Thomson, whose maternal family has lived in Victoria for five generations.
She discovered a number of family members who still live in Ontario, where her great-great-great grandparents settled with 3,000 acres of land in the Muskoka region, a gift from the Queen.
“We went out and met some of the descendants. It was amazing to see they shared similar facial features to us,” Thomson said.
The family line can be traced to Matthias Moore and Susan Fielder Moore, who moved to Canada in the 1860s and had 10 children — including Fanny, who is buried at Ross Bay cemetery.
“We still have Matthias’s diaries. He was dedicated to writing in them everyday,” she said. Other memorabilia from her ancestor includes his sword, medals and a prized spinet.
“We have little details about him, like he had to dye his red hair black so it wouldn’t clash with his uniform,” she said.
Thomson said her great-aunt Nellie Moore Jones, who lived in Victoria until her death in 1984, kept in touch with the family in England and the Royal Family.
“When Prince Edward was here, he went to visit her in Metchosin,” said Thomson, who is still trying to find the photo of that meeting.
