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How glass arrived in Barkerville sidebars to history by willow arune
W
andering around Barkerville is stepping through time. On one of my visits I was struck by a thought about its construction. Certainly the surrounding hills provided the timber needed for building and blacksmiths could provide hinges, nails and other hardware. Indeed, the surrounding hills were denuded and what trees you now see are new growth. But most of the buildings have windows made of glass. Glass is fragile and heavy, especially in bulk. Given the conditions that existed when Barkerville was flourishing, how did the pioneers get glass for their windows and businesses and at what cost? Trying to find the answer to those questions became a two-year hunt. Fur traders added panes of glass to the supplies brought overland to the Hudson’s Bay trading forts that were sparingly used. Needless to say, glass panes brought this way made them very valuable. Back then, few countries made window glass for export. In the area surrounding Barkerville certainly lots of sand and quartz could be found. Could some glass be actually made in Barkerville? Possible but no likely. The alternative was to bring window glass from the few mass produc-
Handout photo
Barkerville Historic Site is seen here in full swing during their summer season. ers of glass in England and the Continent. The main producers of glass in the 1860s were to be found in Great Britain, Belgium and a much smaller amount in France. The largest producer was Pilkington Glass of St. Helen’s, near Liverpool. It was a private company until 1972. The trip of window glass from St. Helens to Barkerville would be long and arduous. By canal from St. Helens to Liverpool, loaded onto sailing and steam ships to cross the Atlantic and then – there being no Panama Canal – around Cape Horn and South America or perhaps unloaded in New York and going across North America by the first transcontinental railway to San Francisco.
From there by steamer to Victoria and across the Straight of Georgia to New Westminster. Loaded onto horse drawn wagons, the glass would have to travel on the new Douglas Highway to Quesnel, perhaps travelling part the way by paddlewheel steamship. The last stage of the trip would be by wagon to Barkerville. Given the heavy weight of bulk window glass, the cost of transporting it would be very high, all of which would be passed on to those in Barkerville. The Pilkington archives would provide records of the start of this voyage and the records and ship’s logs of Lloyd’s of London and the British Maritime Museum some detail of the ships that carried
window glass cargos. In the San Francisco Maritime Museum, at least one ship carrying window glass is recorded. We do have one letter that speaks of the high cost of the last part of these journeys. Father Reynard had arrived in Barkerville with his family just prior to the fire that all but destroyed the town. He organized the building of St. Saviour’s Church that remains in Barkerville today. The church needed window glass and an order for that glass was presumably made with one of several glass dealers in Victoria. The normal window glass of church might be stocked in Victoria or ordered from suppliers in San Francisco. There appears to be no record of where the stained glass of St. Saviour’s came from. It may have been assembled in San Francisco or England. The one letter that gives us a hint of the high cost of window glass arriving in Barkerville was sent by Father Reynard to B.C’s Attorney General after the glass had arrived in Barkerville. The cost of freighting the all window glass from Victoria to Barkerville was six times the cost of the glass that has been bought in Victoria; the price of the window glass in Victoria included the shipping costs from Liverpool to San Francisco and then to Victoria. The Hudson’s Bay Company opened in Barkerville just before the massive fire that almost totally destroyed the town. When it reopened, amongst the goods it carried was window glass in 10x12-inch panes, generally sold by the boxload. The is no record of the price demanded.