Guilby Park

       Probably should really be named Colby Park; unknown who Guilby was I have not been able to find out nothing about him / her.

But Guilby Park it is today

       The Colby’s received tentative approval to subdivide in May of 1953, and in July the planning department was okay with Colby’s 24-foot wide road around the park, by August a plan of the subdivision ( Plan 18364 ) had been created and deposited in the Land Registry office in September 1953, by January of 1954, approval was given to go ahead, with the Colby Subdivision with 16 lots, surrounding a central park was given.

      Rather nice when you look at the surrounding area today, that the park was part of the subdivision plan.  And lucky for the residents that the city did not sell it like they had with so many of the parks in the area prior to and including the 1950’s.


Guilby Street to the west; Richard Street to the east; Edgar Avenue is the southern boundary, and Shaw Avenue is the northern boundary (2014 aerial photo )

Clellan Lawrence Colby was born on the 16^th of January 1885 somewhere in Nebraska, U.S.A. -  and he died at home at 634 Rochester Avenue where he had lived since 1929, on the 17th of October 1960. He had retired in 1955, after being involved locally in trucking, and top-soil sales, for 25 years. He had lived in B.C. for 32 years, and been living in Canada for 50 years. His father was Ambrose Colby.   Clellan is buried in Forest Lawn cemetery, in Burnaby.

        The 1911 census finds Clellan  farming in the Tramping Lake --- Battleford, Saskatchewan  area, somewhere in Township 38 Range 22  W3

      By the 1916 census he is married to Bertha, and farming somewhere in the Township 36 Range 18 W3  Grandview, Saskatchewan area.
The census states that Clellan immigrated in 1909, and Bertha in 1908.
 
Bertha Elizabeth Richards; Bertha Elizabeth Colby was born on the 24^th of December 1885 in England – 13 August 1957 at home.   Bertha was also buried in Forest Lawn cemetery in Burnaby, by Bowell & Sons, funeral directors

Clellan and Bertha appear to have had two daughters:
 Betty Hazel Colby ( Mrs. Betty Hazel Dodd ) was married to Wilbert Ross Dodd (1900 - 1982)
and Nola Colby ( Mrs. Nola Cox ) who was married to John Charles Cox, they lived at 636 Shaw Avenue, which is part of the Colby Subdivision.

        So I guess the family gave up farming at the start of the Depression and moved to the Coast like so many of the Prairie peoples; and it is interesting that the family home appears to be still standing, and in good condition, if the outside is used as an indicator.

Bel-Air apartment fire

A still unsolved arson crime from 1993, that caused two deaths, is in the news.

Made it into the newspapers far away from the Lower Mainland.

Cariboo Observer  3 November 1993 page 5

Fire kills two and destroys apartment

Port Coquitlam - A fierce fire Sunday morning killed two people and destroyed a Port Coquitlam apartment building.
The building was home to over 50 people who are now homeless.
Killed in the fire was Agda Louise Easingwood, 65, who became separated from her husband as they fled the building.
Firefighters later found her collapsed in a hallway.
Firefighters found a second body in the building late Sunday, afternoon, that of a 20 year-old woman. Her name has not been released and both women are believed to have died from smoke inhalation.
The fire started, at about 3 a.m. in the front lobby of the 32-suite Bel-Air Manor at 2191 Tyner St. Fire officials suspect it may have been deliberately set.
"We believe it to be suspicious, but we are cheeking that out at this time," said Port Coquitlam Fire Chief John Baillie, adding the description of the fire suggests an accelerant such as lighter fluid. Bailie said the fire spread quickly through the 80-year old building. "It does not look like there were any fire stops whatsoever. We didn't have a hope in hell of stopping this once it got inside," he said.

--30--

And a call by the RCMP for any leads in 2015

Coquitlam RCMP hope for new info on old fire that killed two women
Coquitlam Mounties still seek answers 21 years after fire killed two

And the official call by the local Coquitlam RCMP renew call for witnesses in unsolved homicides from 1993.    File # 1993-43287

 
After the fire the building was removed and a new building replaced it in 1994, after which  the address was changed  to 2120 Central Avenue, Port Coquitlam. Previously it was 2191 Tyner Street, Port Coquitlam.

The arched doorway in this photo was the lobby,
which faced onto Tyner Street

 Agda Louise Easingwood 

Agda lived on the second floor in #220 with her husband Albert Edward Easingwood
She was born in Barriere, B.C. on the 20^th of February 1928, and died on 31^st of October 1993, she is buried in the Port Coquitlam Cemetery. ( Death certificate One – Two )

Memorial at Port Coquitlam cemetery

Her parents were Ernst Waldemar Scmidt (21 March 1896 Streese, Germany – 5 November 1962 ) and
  Agda Elvira Rosen  ( 20 September 1901 Wetaskiwin, Alberta – 20 March 1987 Surrey, B.C. ) They were  married in 1926 at Chinook Cove, B.C.
other siblings of Agda are: Allen Edward Schmidt and Joanne Schmidt, possibly others.

 Valerie Michelle Diner

Valerie was born in North Vancouver, B.C. on the 22^nd of November 1972; her parents were John Diner, and Patricia Noreen Pritchard.
  ( Death certificate: One – Two )
Valerie worked at one of the local Mohawk gas stations. She lived in apartment #213.   A young life lost.

NOTE: The Bel-Air Apartments contained a warren of halls, totally built from wood, numerous renovations throughout its life; an accident waiting to happen; but in this case an arsonist did the deed, and sadly caused the deaths of two souls.  At the time the rumour was that the owner wanted everyone out.

      This fire reminded me of another fire, totally unrelated, almost across the street from the Bel-Air apartments, that happened 17 years earlier, when a friend, Thomas Regan Choboter, (New Westminster, B.C. 31 January 1960 to 1 August 1976 ) lost his life to an accidental fire in the family home, ( 2250-2260 Tyner St. ) that was abandoned after the fire and replaced by an industrial building 2 years later.  Leaving his mother Darlene Maddess, step-father Vern Lawrence and brother Rick Choboter to mourn his loss.  Sadly another brother died young; Raymond Drew Choboter 10 Nov 1961 PoCo -  13 January 1994 Coquitlam. Their father was Dave Choboter .
Regan Chobotor is the name he went by, and he is commemorated with a memorial marker in the Port Coquitlam cemetery.

Re-Settlement and Cultivation of Land in British Columbia

I came across this booklet, and have transcribed it, added links, photos, and what little information I could find about the author (next to nothing )
Re-settlement and cultivation of land in British Columbia, (PDF)  1915, the author was William Sinclair (Scotland,1840 - 1917, Coquitlam, B.C.) who lived somewhere between Como Lake and Mundy Park, he gained a Crown Grant in 1902, and lived the rest of his life there.  The booklet may possibly be the first published book by a Coquitlam resident, not sure, certainly early.

Also the same revised copy but at the Internet Archive: 
Re-settlement and Cultivation of Land in British Columbia

Coquitlam Mountain plane crash

On June 17, 1955  Frederick Hill Atkinson, a student at Columbia University, was flying a Cessna 120 registration number N72843  from Sea Island to Cranbrook., B.C.

     He sadly crashed the plane into Coquitlam Mountain, also sometimes erroneously known as Mount Coquitlam. Reported to be located on the eastern side of the mountain at 49° 23' N;  122° 42' W although according to those coordinates it is another unnamed mountain nearby, to the east of Coquitlam Mountain  ( Google Earth KML file ) His body was recovered two days later on Sunday, June 19, 1955.   From what I have been told in the past, the remains of the aircraft were recovered.( but it is unknown if that is just a story to keep people away from the crash site, since it is located inside the watershed.  A person could identify any parts found by downloading the 1954 Cessna parts catalogue for the 120-140 series (PDF))
He was born in New York on the 22^nd of May 1935, and at the time of the fatal crash his address was  150 East 52^nd Street, New York, New York.

A Cessna 120 similar to the plane that crashed; the Cessna 120 was first built in 1946, and was the first all metal aircraft from the Company.

The Vancouver Sun Atkinson. Passed away suddenly June 17, 1955, Frederick Hill, in his 21^st year, beloved son of General and Mrs. Frederick G. Atkinson, vice-president of R.H. Macy & Co. Inc., New York, N.Y. Survived also by his grandfather, Mr. Van Dyke Hill, and his grandmother, Mrs. Bransford L. Hill, both of New York City.  Funeral service was held in Simmons & McBride Funeral Chapel, Broadway at Maple St., Friday morning, followed by cremation.

The Vancouver Sun: Tuesday, June 21, 1955, page 9
Dad Says Flier Died on too-Wide Turn

New Westminster  —  "He made too wide a turn. If it had been tighter he would have been OK."
With soldierly calmness that the father of a 20-year-old United States airman described to a coroner's jury here Monday his theory of the crash on Coquitlam Mountain Friday that claimed the life of his only son.
The witness was Brigadier-General F.G. Atkinson of New York, a USAF reserve officer and vice-president of Macy's department store.
He was testifying at the inquest into the death of his son, Frederick Hill Atkinson, whose body was found on Mount Coquitlam near the wreckage of his plane Sunday.
The dead pilot left Sea Island airport for Cranbrook, but had apparently turned back because of thickening weather just before the crash.

Frederick’s father’s obituary from the New York Times May 8, 1991

Frederick G. Atkinson, Ex-Macy executive, 86

         Frederick Griswold Atkinson, a former vice-president for personnel at R.H. Macy & Company, died on Sunday at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida. He was 86 years old and lived in Palm Beach.
He died of heart failure, a funeral home representative said.
Mr. Atkinson joined Macy's in 1940 after heading employment and training at Proctor and Gamble in Cincinnati and working in personnel at the Cities Service Company.
He was named director of personnel and industrial relations at Macy's in 1947, a vice president in 1948 and a director in 1966. He retired in 1970.
During World War II he served with the Air Transport Command and later was a brigadier general in the Air Force Reserve. He was also a consultant for several Federal agencies and for the New York City Police Department.
Mr. Atkinson was active in the Episcopal Church and was a director of General Theological Seminary. He was also a director of Roosevelt Hospital and an honorary life member of the American Management Association.
He is survived by his wife, the former Joyce Mallory Hill, and two sisters.

Lois Eileen Milne

 UPDATE:        Lois Milne - Celebration of Life
              Will be held on Saturday March 22 from 11 AM to 3 PM, at the  Heritage at Leigh Square
We celebrate the life of one of the founders of PoCo Heritage, who recently passed away. Those who knew Lois are invited to attend.   Location of the Port Coquitlam cultural and heritage society in Google Earth (KMZ file)

☆☆☆☆ ☆☆☆☆ ☆☆☆☆ ☆☆☆☆ ☆☆☆☆ ☆☆☆☆ ☆☆☆☆

Sadly we lost our persistent historical preservationist a few days ago, after a short lung infection, that was going around in the care home, that she called home for the past few years.

The Tri-City News, Wednesday 26 February 2014, page A11

 Lois Milne, who passed away last week at the age of 83, was a driving force
for the preservation of Port Coquitlam heritage, including the creation of a PoCo history book. 

MILNE WORKED TO PRESERVE POCO HISTORY

"Words cannot express my gratitude to Lois Milne, president of the Port Coquitlam Heritage and Cultural Society.

Whew! She set a pace that had me puffing.

- from Acknowledgements in the book Port Coquitlam: Where Rails Meet Rivers by Chuck Davis (published 2000 )

The city of Port Coquitlam is mourning the passing of a long-serving volunteer whose efforts ensured the city’s past will be preserved for future generations.

Lois Milne, who died Feb. 19 at the age of 83, is remembered as a dedicated volunteer whose passion for Local history helped create the Port Coquitlam Heritage and Cultural Society.

“it is still a shock to me that Lois has passed away.”said Pippa Van Velzen, past president of the society ”She was my friend and mentor She was Port Coquitlam’s encyclopedia. Her incredible memory for names and dates was amazing. “Lois was a founding member of Heritage but that wasn’t all that she was involved in,” Van Velzen said. I first met her on the Community in Blooms committee. We got on like a house on fire! It was her passion that encouraged me to become a member of Heritage.”

Coun. Michael Wright, the city’s longest serving politician, remembers Milne as one of PoCo’s most active volunteers whose legacy will be the preservation of city history in a museum and archives, now housed at Leigh Square. 

      Wright noted that Milne worked at the reference desk at Terry Fox Library and it may have been having to answer questions from patrons that led her to getting involved in heritage preservation.

Mime was also involved in helping authors such as Chuck Davis and Edith Chambers in recording PoCo history in local books.

       Milne’s involvement in heritage preservation dates back some time, when materials were stored on the top floor of PoCo’s northside fire hall, Wright said. Many of these materials are now stored at Heritage at Leigh Square, which opened to much fanfare last year.

         Milne was also involved with the May Day Committee, the Friends of Terry Fox Library, Wilson Centre Advisory Committee and, when she moved into Amica at Mayfair she became chair of the residents’committee, Van Velzen said. 

      For her work, Milne was honoured with a volunteer award from the city and with the Governor Generals Caring Canadian Award.

According to the family, a celebration of life will be held but no date has been set. Milne, a mother of five daughters, was predeceased by her husband Keith.     dstranberg@tricitynews.com

Obituary from the Tri-City News 

 

MILNE, Lois Eileen (nee Frankish) 

       Lois passed away on February 19, 2014 at age of 83. She is predeceased by her husband Keith and granddaughter Sarah. Lois will be sadly missed by daughters Linda (Ron), Sue (Jim), Brenda (Doug), Kathy (Joe), Heather (Bryan); brother Allan (Vivienne); grandchildren Nerissa (Ben), Devan, Jeremy (Nikki), Nick, Lyndsay, Katy and great grandchildren Sophia and Jacob.

        Lois was one of the founders of the Port Coquitlam Heritage and Cultural Society, and was the go-to volunteer for many task forces after her retirement at Terry Fox Library. Her friends and colleagues shall miss her. Many thanks to the friends and staff at Amica Mayfair as well as staff at Eagle Ridge and Royal Columbian Hospitals. Private family burial. A Celebration of Life shall be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, it would be Mom’s wish that you give to the charity of your choice. 

Lois's  obituary in the Vancouver Sun, where you can post your thoughts.

✞ - 30 - ✞

 Lois's parents were her mother,  Clara Charlotte MacLeod, ( 1900 - 1966 )

father, William Thomas Frankish, ( 1899 -  1986 ) who was a psychiatric nurse at Essondale/ Riverview hospital.
 ( I did not know this, but the Frankish name is familiar from my researches into Essondale. )

Her husband William Keith Milne, ( 1922 - 1996 ), who went by his middle name Keith.

All buried in Port Coquitlam Cemetery, as I guess Lois will be.

        I was wanting to talk with her about some local history, no chance now. But I knew that she would have been very interested since her husband Keith Milne, worked at Huntington Rubber mills, and I know lots about the beginning company Gregory Tire and Rubber Company, but very little is to be found about the Huntington Rubber Company, and I was hoping that she would have known.

A passionate supporter of saving, protecting our local history, she will be missed.

Port Moody incorporation

April 7th, 1913 is when the legislature, allowed Port Moody to incorporate.

The Daily Colonist, ( Victoria )  18 September 1912

Port Moody a city

Former terminus of Canadian Pacific will be incorporated―large area included.

Port Moody, the original terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway, called after the commander of the detachment of Royal Engineers which came to the province in the early days; is to become a city. Application was made by the government by petition by the residents and land-owners, and an interview was had with the attorney-general some time ago by a committee of those who desire the change.

A difficulty which arose on the case was that the people wanted to have included in the limits of the new city an area of some 3,500 acres, or the whole territory between Coquitlam and Burnaby at the head of Burrard Inlet. The limit of land which can be included in a city under the ordinary charter is 2,000 acres, but as the people affected were able to show over the fifty per cent of property-holders in the whole area sought to be included the government informed them that no objection would be raised if a private bill was applied for the next session and the legislature saw fit to grant the request to include the larger area.

It is understood that a bill will be applied for to this end. Apart from the particular of the area the new city will, of course, be governed by the Municipal Act under which all municipalities except Vancouver operate. There are two canal projects on foot to connect Port Moody with the Pitt River and so on to the Fraser. One of these follows the old route surveyed by Colonel Moody forty years ago and lately revived by Mr. Gilner, of Vancouver, and the other is a proposal of a private company which has not yet got far enough with its plans to make any announcement.

[ This canal idea, repeats itself at least five times through the years. One proposal was authorized by  the Municipality of Coquitlam in 1910, Kilmer & Holland created a quick plan of the scheme.  John Ham Kilmer (1861-1938) would go on to be Port Coquitlam's engineer for many years. Prior to working for Coquitlam, Kilmer worked for North Vancouver, and is remembered by there with the naming of Kilmer Creek .

Plan of proposed dam, locks and wharves, Second Narrows, Burrard Inlet
1910.  Kilmer and Holland, engineers & Surveyors; Coquitlam Municipality.

Sketch of proposed interurban canal and harbour development for Greater Vancouver, B.C.

 1910 Engineer's Office, Municiplity of Coquitlam
{ Although no names appear on this document, it is obvious that it was created by the makers of the first drawing } ]

Map of the incorporated area, bold lines define the boundary.

A good overview of Port Moody's incorporation challenges can be found on the village of Belcarra's website, entitled:  Port Moodys first attempt to incorporate  (PDF)

No mention of those who were opposed to incorporation in that article though, there was oppositition.

Criminals in Coquitlam

While doing a search "Pitt River" I came across this:

Well that piqued my interest, this is way back in 1918 a big deal back then.

Here is a good part of the story nearly all from the newpapers of the time.

 The Daily Colonist   10 Sept 1918

VANCOUVER ROBBER KILLS HOTELKEEPER

Another Member of House Party Shot and Died From Wounds Last Night—Police Have Arrested Suspect.

VANCOUVER. Sept. 9.—Thomas J. Roberts, proprietor of the Grand Hotel, and one of the best known of the city's pioneers, was shot and killed on Saturday evening by a masked robber with whom he had grappled to avoid handing over a diamond ring which the bandit had demanded. The tragedy occurred shortly before 11o'clock at 1304 Jervis Street near the corner of Harwood, a fairly large residence, surrounded by a thick screen of trees.

A second victim of two of the robber's six shots was Henry Eames, aged about 50, manager of an upcoast logging camp. He is so seriously wounded that slim hopes are entertained for his recovery.

The police have one suspect under arrest the most important evidence so far obtained is from A. Harradine, a taxi driver who conveyed a fare to Broughton Street; a block away from the scene of the murder, on Saturday night the man left the taxi with orders to await his return. He came back in ten minutes, became much agitated when the driver had difficulty in starting the car and finally was conveyed downtown, where he disappeared in the alleyway alongside the Alcazar Hotel, on Dunsmuir Street east of Homer.

The house where the shooting took place is occupied by Oscar Olesen, his housekeeper, Mrs. McLennon, and her children. Eight men were in the drawing-room when the robber's unheralded arrival took place. Five or six members of the party were playing a card game. They and several neighborhood friends were in the habit of coming in once or twice a week to spend the evening at cards.

Fleet of Maxwells Auto Stand, Seymour Street;  cars for hire at $1.50 per hour and up.

date: March 1918  photo: Stuart Thomson.   Van Archives  A17663

The taxi driver was Archibald Stephen Harradine, (1879-1972), good chance that he is in this photo.

Story of Shooting

The robber first demanded a ring from O. Jay, who handed over a three-stone ruby which encircled one of his fingers. Then the robber turned to Roberts with: "Now, hand over that ring," motioning to a large solitaire which the hotel man wore on the third finger of his left hand. It happened that this ring fitted very tightly Mr. Roberts made an effort —real or assumed—to remove the ring and failed. Then he held out his hand with the words: "Here, take it off yourself, if you want it so badly." Suiting the action to the words, which were the last he uttered, Mr. Roberts stepped towards the highwayman.
The robber reached forward and in a fraction of a second the men had grappled and the robber began to shoot. Cartridges found later showed the weapon to be a .33 calibre automatic. At least five probably six shots were fired. The first went wild across the room and crashed a window. Another went through the floor. Another struck Mr. Roberts head just in front of the ear and he slipped to the floor. A fourth shot pierced the opposite wall near the ceiling and two others struck Eames.
Mr. Roberts was one of the most familiar figures amongst the younger business men of the city. He was 47 years of age; coming to Vancouver from New Brunswick thirty years ago. He has been continuously with the hotel of which in recent years he was proprietor. He leaves a wife and two daughters of 10 and 8. His brother, Harry Roberts, is proprietor of the Beaver Transfer Company. Two sisters live in British Columbia, Mrs. T. Mambrick, of Comox and Mrs. Roy W. Brown. Mr. Roberts death is the first break in a family of thirteen.
J.F. McCabe, held as a suspect in the Jervis Street murder case, appeared before the magistrate today and was remanded until September 16, McCabe was in court on August 14 last, when according to the police records, he was fined $26 and costs for having morphine in his possession.
The  coroner’s jury late this afternoon returned an open verdict following the examination of  witnesses.

[  Thomas  "Tommy" Joseph Roberts  was born in Red Rapids, New Brunswick 12 June 1874. Son of Charles Roberts and Jane Crock. Came to B.C. in 1887.  d. 7 September 1918, 44 years old.  buried at Mountain View cemetery, Vancouver, B.C.  Married in 1905,  to  Pauline Margaret Roach, (1880-1929)
Sisters: Phebe Roberts; Lucy Ann Roberts; Harriet Roberts; Mary; Emily; Elizabeth; Margaret; Theresa
Brothers: Harry Roberts; Charles Roberts
Tommy Roberts owned the  Grand Hotel, 24 Water Street.
And also the  Roberts block, 307-311 West Pender Street, which was built in 1908    ]

Grand Hotel, 22-28 Water Street, 1929

 photo: W.J. Moore.  Van Archives A09208

Bar inside the Grand Hotel, ca,191?    Second right: Tommy Roberts

 Thomas  "Tommy" Joseph Roberts

 C.H. Jones & Son Limited, Pioneer Brand. Grand Hotel.
Date: May 1928. photo: Stuart Thomson. VPL 8966

Grand Hotel 1911 Insurance map, Plate 3

More history about the Grand Hotel, at the Changing Vancouver blog.

 Alcazar Hotel at the northeast corner of
Dunsmuir and Homer Streets,opened in 1913. Demolished in 1982
date: 5 July 1937. photo: W.J. Moore. Van Archives A08993

Shows the location of the Alcazar Hotel, and the Roberts Block.
1912 Insurance map Plate 6

Interior of British Columbia Cattle Co. Limited - 202 Carrall Street. ca.1890   Van Archives  A24911
(L to R): Tommy Roberts, Tom Langham, Harry Graham, George Causton, Harry Reading and Alfred Coughtrey.  This store was in the same block as the Grand Hotel

---o---

The Daily Colonist 11 September 1918

MURDER IS STILL AT LARGE

Inquest on Second Victim of Vancouver Gambling House Tragedy Throws No New Light on Identity of Criminal

Vancouver, B.C., Sept., 10. --- The death of Harry Eames led to another searching examination of witnesses at the inquest conducted by Dr. Jeffs today, but again the verdict that the man died from gunshot wounds inflicted by some person unknown had to be recorded. Additional witnesses were called, but little fresh light was thrown on the double murder. The new testimony went, in fact, to strengthen the story told from the beginning that a masked man entered the house and when he was grappled with, shot to kill.

 "There is absolutely no evidence to throw suspicion on any members of the party so far as I can see," said Coroner Jeffs in summing up the evidence. He had thought that perhaps some of these men were keeping something back, but having heard them again it did not seem to him they were holding anything back.
Mr. R.L. Maitland, city prosecutor, again conducted the examinations, and thought he was off on an important clue when the impression was left after hearing the evidence of Dr. Mahony that Eames had been very reserved in his statement and that others had visited the hospital to see him after being brought In on Saturday night.

"I asked him if he had any idea who the man was who had shot him, but he would not answer me," said the doctor. He believed there were others who came up to see Eames beside the police officials, but he was not sure if they saw Eames. Chief of Police McRae helped to clear this point up. The chief said that he got an account on Saturday from the various people who were around the card table, including Eames at the hospital. It was not an exhaustive account he got from Eames, because under the circumstances he did not press him, but it was a very fair account, and it was substantially the same as that related by the other men.
Olson, he pointed out, was taken into custody the night of the shooting and kept in custody until he had given his evidence the previous day.

As to the men who saw Eames at the hospital on Saturday night, they were the police officers who went up with Eames, and also Cameron, who went up in the evidence. Cameron, who was one of the card players, testified at both Inquests.

When W.W. Steele was again called to the witness stand, Coroner Jeffs told him he was particularly impressed with the candid way he gave his evidence the previous day, and he wanted him to rack his brain to see if he could not collect anything else that would help in the capture of the murderer. Mr. Steele again gave a detailed account of what happened in the room when the masked man made his Imperative demands, but could not improve on the evidence of identification.

[ Hiram Albert Eaman  born: 24 August 1869 Ontario. d. 9 September 1918, age 49  buried in Mountain View cemetery, Vancouver, B.C., as Harry Eames.
1871 census Cornwall, Ontario. with his parents:  Hiram Jacob Eaman and Margaret Ellen Gardner
1891 census finds him in Brownsville, Surrey,B.C. working as a bartender, and the following year in New Westminster working as a  machine hand at McGillivray's works. He has proved difficult to trace,  fault primarily being with the various miss-spellings of his name.  ]

Police Chief William McRae mounted on horseback 1917

  photo: Stuart Thomson. Van Archives  A16229

William McRae Deputy Chief of police.

 ca.1914 or 1915   Van. Archives A34696

 The City prosecutor at the time was :  Royal Lethington "Pat" Maitland, K.C. (1889-1946)

photo: 1941. Van. Archives A34776

The coroner Thomas William Jeffs,( 1858 - 1923) Physician, coroner, City alderman,(1906), police Commissioner (1907) moved to B.C. in 1894 Built a home in 1907-8, at 1240 Salsbury Drive
   He was known for his distinguished, but outspoken manner; impartial  and common sense approach to getting to the truth of the matter being investigated.

Witness: William Wilson Steele, (1884-1967) on his death certificate, it says he retired in 1946  after running the Arctic Club (718 W. Pender) for forty years; AKA the Cave in later years. In 1903 at Nanaimo,  he was working as a druggist for Harry James Rogers, and married  Henrietta Gibson Bell, (1885-1969)
1902 directory, for Nanaimo.  lists his father, Father W.W. Steele as proprietor of the Grand Hotel in Nanaimo.

---o---

The Daily Colonist, 15 September 1918

Outlaw Operated Here—Local police records show that the outlaw now, being sought by a posse of Vancouver police and believed to have been the man who murdered two prominent Vancouverites in a private gambling establishment on Jervis Street there last week followed his criminal career in Victoria.

     Known now to the Vancouver police as George Layton or George Leaf, the man was arrested here and convicted under the latter name, with a number of aliases, in November, 1914, on a charge of stealing $40 from John Oleson; and with being in possession of instruments for housebreaking. He served a six months term and, the local records show, subsequently he was convicted at Calgary of theft and was sentenced to two years In the penitentiary, from which institution he could have been released only a comparatively short time ago.

The crime scene 1304 Jervis Street;  insurance map 1912 of area.   Today the original home has been replaced by a large apartment complex known as 1330 Jervis Street   Plate 16

---o---

The Daily Colonist, 25 September 1918

POLICE CLOSE IN ON GEORGE LEAF

Vancouver, Sept. 24. —That the fugitive George Leaf had been located in the Pitt River district and was practically surrounded by a cordon of officers who were steadily closing in on him was the report received in the city this morning.
While the exact location of the hunted man was not given, it was stated that he had been seen entering a house in the district and had obtained food there from, afterwards making his way carefully through the bush to the place where he has been hiding.
Reinforcements were sent out from police headquarters early today, and the officers are now said to be gradually closing in on their man, who, they expect, will fight to the death before surrendering himself.

---o---

The Daily Colonist, 5 October 1919

GEORGE LEAF DIES BY HIS OWN HAND

Vancouver, Oct. 4—A desperado known in Los Angeles under the name of Nyland and In Vancouver as George Leaf, who killed himself in Los Angeles last Sunday to avoid capture after a gun fight with the police, has been identified as the man held responsible by the local police for the murder here thirteen months ago of Thomas J. Roberts and Harry Eamen, who were shot in a card game.
The man's real name is thought to be Lehtenen.

---o---

The Daily Colonist, 7 October 1919

VICTORIA RECORDS ESTABLISH IDENTITY

Desperado who, eluded capture in Los Angeles by suicide had police record here—Suspected of Murder,

To criminal Identification records of the Victoria detective department can be given credit for the identification of Nyland, a desperado killed in Los Angeles, with the George Leaf, wanted in Vancouver for the murder, over a year ago, of Thomas J. Roberts and Harry Eamen in a Jervis Street gambling resort ever since the murder at Vancouver thirteen months ago the police of that city have been looking for Leaf.
   
     They insisted he was the murderer of Roberts and Eamen, though the murder mystery for some reason or other was never fully cleared up, and time and time again it was asserted in the press of that city that all the facts concerning the shooting were not brought out.

Last week at Los Angeles In a running gun fight with police officers a burglar was wounded. To avoid capture he deliberately shot himself with his own revolver, and was dead when the pursuing policemen reached his side. The desperado was known in Los Angeles under the name of Nyland, but has been identified as Lehtenen or Leaf. The identification was accomplished through photo and finger prints of Leaf as supplied to the Vancouver police by the Victoria authorities shortly after the Vancouver gambling house murder.

Leaf, alias Samson, alias Anderson, alias Necthern, alias Lehtenen, was arrested here on November 17, 1914, for theft of $40 from the person of John Olson. He was dismissed on that charge, but upon the charge of being in possession of burglar's tools he was sentenced to six months. The next heard of him was at Calgary, where he was sentenced for theft.

Leaf's photo and finger prints were taken when he was sentenced here, and when the Vancouver police were searching for him for his alleged participation in the shooting of Roberts and Eamen, the Victoria records were supplied. Circulars bearing his photo and finger print classification were circulated far and near, and it was by that means that the Los Angeles police made their identification of the desperado Nyland.

A standing reward of $1,000 for the arrest of Leaf was offered by the Vancouver police following his escape from that city. But so far as any publicity was given to the case there has never been forthcoming anything from the police there to show why they considered that it was Leaf who shot Roberts and Eamen. True, Leaf was then residing in Vancouver and, it was alleged, when the police posse were chasing a suspect in the woods near Vancouver they got a good look at him and he answered the description of Leaf. But the latter got away and was last seen; it was stated, In Montreal. Now comes word that he has terminated his career at Los Angeles.

The mystery continues to this day, what exactly was this fellows name?