On the Street Where You Live: Sailors, Solicitors, and Stargazers of Early Victoria

Today, the streets of Victoria are busy thoroughfares. Yesterday, they were simple trails, used by the Hudson's Bay Company men and the First Nations people who traded with them and helped build their fort. Then came the gold miners, followed by the bankers and businessmen, sailors and saloon-keepers, poets, postmasters, architects and astronomers. They're remembered in Victoria's city's streets . . .and every street name tells a story: Courtney Street is a misspelled memorial to Captain George W. Courtenay, whose Constance was one of the first of Her Majesty's vessels to sail into Esquimalt Harbour in the 1840s. Fan Tan Alley provides a tantalizing glimpse into 1800s Chinatown, where Fan Tan gambling dens existed alongside brothels and opium factories that fuelled the gamblers' fortunes. Rattenbury Place is named for the ill-fated architect who designed the Empress Hotel and the Parliament Buildings. Danda's knack for colourful, no-nonsense writing makes history come alive. You'll sympathize with the characters she writes about, enjoy them and through their eyes experience 19-century Victoria in a way you've never experienced it before.