Rambles Around Old Victoria
The Nature Writings of Rev. Robert Connell
This blog shares the weekly newspaper nature column writings and illustrations of Rev. Robert Connell (1871-1957) who loved, studied, and taught about the nature and history of Victoria, Canada.
Born to Scottish parents in Liverpool, England, Connell moved to Canada at the age of 17. In 1896 while living in Calgary he was ordained as a priest in the Church of England and in 1901 he moved to Victoria, BC, where he later became deeply involved in Provincial politics, serving as the first leader of the BC CCF (now NDP) from 1933-9. He taught art and botany classes at Victoria High and St. Michael’s University Schools and was a member of the Victoria Natural History and Island Arts and Crafts Societies. He was an accomplished artist and a life-long student and devotee of the natural world.
Recent Posts
A Nature Miscellany (On a Vacant Lot)
Rev. Connell’s observations and reflections on some undeveloped urban/suburban natural spaces in and around Victoria 81 years ago and what he found growing there. From the Victoria Daily Colonist, June 2nd, 1940- This week I am bringing together a few isolated observations with little other thread or unity than their background in a very beautifulContinue reading “A Nature Miscellany (On a Vacant Lot)”
At Woodside by the Sea
“Some homes are destined for happy occasions, for large house parties and banquets, and any excuse at all for social entertainment with every guest entering into the festive spirit to ensure a jolly good time for all concerned”. Follow Rev. Connell to the historic farmhouse in Sooke, thus described by a contemporary writer, and thruContinue reading “At Woodside by the Sea”
Buttercup Time at the Uplands
From the Victoria Daily Colonist, May 10, 1942. Every Victorian knows the spring display at the Uplands when the camas and the buttercups are out in full bloom and all of that still wild part is an almost unbroken sheet of gold and purple-blue. There you have a precious bit of the past, for longContinue reading “Buttercup Time at the Uplands”
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