Point Ellice Collection of Household Victoriana

Introduction

elcome to the virtual tour of Point Ellice House and Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia. Point Ellice was the 19th century home of Peter and Caroline O'Reilly and their children, Frank, Kathleen, Mary Augusta and Jack. The house remained in the O'Reilly family for three generations, becoming a provincial historic site in 1974. Point Ellice is also nationally designated and is considered Western Canada's finest collection of Victoriana in it's original setting.

To have a look at "the finest collection of Victoriana", you can search our Collections database where there is information on about 4,000 Point Ellice artifacts with pictures of about 10% of the collection. We will be adding more pictures as time permits. If you don't know what you want to look at but would like to see a sampling of the Point Ellice Artifacts, visit each room of the House Tour and click on Artifacts at the bottom of the page. You will see a 'contact sheet' of objects in that room.

While visiting this website, take a virtual House Tour with the Chinese Houseboy. This will give you a chance to see the collection in it's original setting and to see how Victoria's Victorian elite lived. Listen to the Chinese Houseboy gossip with the English maid about Kathleen O'Reilly's romances with Captain Stanhope and Captain Robert Scott! Check out the Gossip section for more family member's histories and lots of beautiful, archival photographs of family activities and changes to the house over the years.

No visit to Point Ellice is complete without a good look at the Point Ellice Garden. This is a beautiful, restored garden and we have included lots of information on our research resources - archival photo's, 19th century seed catalogues, Victorian gardening tools, heirloom roses and some amazing discoveries during garden restoration. Of particular note are the heritage Roses - many can be dated to a garden plan written by Peter O'Reilly in 1889!

If you want more fun in the garden, visit our Fun and Games section, to learn the rules of Croquet. While there, teachers will be particularilly interested in the lesson plan for A Mystery of the Old Suitcase - a "whose-is-it" program for Grades 3 - 8. Look for more student Research Topics for teachers to check out on the the bottom of the Index page.

In the Current Issues section read about Point Ellice ghost stories and have a look at the gravestones of O'Reilly family members buried at Ross Bay Cemetary in Victoria.

Finally, have a look at the Team/Sponsors section - the people who created this site and the people who funded the project (hurrah & thanks!)

E-Mail your comments, questions and research discoveries to the Curator of Point Ellice House at jennifer.iredale@gems4.gov.bc.ca

Questions or comments: Troy Whitbread, Team Manager - whitbret@tbcisb1.tbc.gov.bc.ca
Last updated: 15 October, 1996
Sponsored by: Industry Canada
Produced by: Schoolnet Digital Collections Team
Content provided by: BC Heritage Properties, Province of British Columbia