|
Helmcken House Collection
About the historic site
Dr. John Sebastian Helmcken, the first pioneer doctor in Victoria, arrived in 1850 to work for the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Victoria. Two years later, he and his wife Cecilia (eldest daughter of Sir James Douglas) built a home, which remains today as the oldest existing private home in Victoria. The original three room log home was built using the Hudson Bay Construction method, or post-on-sill construction. Helmcken House is located next to the Royal British Columbia Museum and Thunderbird Park in downtown Victoria, and managed by BC Heritage Branch. For visitor information, visit the Heritage Branch web site at www.heritage.gov.bc.ca
About the collection
The Helmcken House collection contains many original household items owned by the Helmcken family, such as furniture and medicine chests, as well as 300 medical instruments. Artifacts are on display in many rooms of the house, just as they would have been arranged in the 1800's. Display cases in the second floor medical room hold hundreds of Dr. Helmcken's medical instruments, c. 1850. This collection has been described as the finest medical kit collection in all of Canada.
About the web site and on-line collection
The Dr. J. S. Helmcken Pioneer Doctor and Legislator web site showcases Helmcken House and its inhabitants, and what life was like in Victoria during the colonial years. A virtual tour of Helmcken House lets you visit each room, which are full of period objects accompanied by narrative text. Biographies and archival photographs of family members are located in the family album, which includes Dr. Helmcken's father-in-law, Sir James Douglas. Also included are digitized architectural plans, and a chronology of the efforts to restore the house.
|
|
