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Portraits
#2688
Date:
1854
Source: Brian Kennedy, donor
Photographer: _________
Information:
Mr. and Mrs. James Kennedy. Howay and Scholefield mention in R
971.1 B777 "British Columbia: from the earliest times to the present
- Biographical u.3," p.551, that Mrs. Kennedy nee Caroline Stone
was the first white woman in New Westminster. This is confirmed
in Margaret McDonald's thesis, "New Westminster, 1859-1871," R971.1
M145n. McDonald says, "Mrs. James Kennedy, the first white woman
to come to New Westminster, lived for some months in a tent erected
on the banks of the Fraser near the foot of Mary Street." (p.30).
James Kennedy was born Dec.9, 1817 in Ireland and died Nov.23,
1902. He was trained in architecture and lived in the United States
as well as in Toronto, Ontario. He also spent time in the gold
field of Australia, and in Cape Town, South Africa. In 1859, Mr.
and Mrs. Kennedy reached New Westminster via Panama. They took
up residence at the time when the settlement was first begun by
the Royal Engineers and was known as Queensborough. Kennedy did
school teaching, road contracting, ranching and built many of
the city's first buildings. He superintended the building of the
Dominion government's post office as well as designing and building
a number of business blocks which were destroyed in the great
fire of 1898. Along with his sons, the Kennedy Brothers, he was
interested in the publication of the Daily and Weekly Columbian.
He also supervised the building of the Provincial Asylum for the
Insane. He was a skilled horticulturist with one of the finest
orchards in the city. This photo was taken on the Kennedy's wedding
day.
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