Victoria and Vancouver Island

These collections highlight local history of the City of Victoria and Vancouver Island. See also:


Changing face of University of Victoria campus lands

Early watercolour image of UVic campus
Early watercolour image of UVic campus

Virtual exhibit of the history and development of the University of Victoria campus to 1999.

This website holds the content of the pamphlet The Changing Face of University of Victoria Campus Lands (ISBN 1-55058-204-6), edited by Jane Turner and Don Lovell, published by the University of Victoria Archives, Copyright © 1999.

Curious lives, harmonious gardens: the Peggy and Nicholas Abkhazi archives

Detail from watercolour
Detail from a watercolour

This digital exhibit includes selections from the records of Peggy and Nicholas Abkhazi held in the University of Victoria Archives.

It includes material relating to the interwar period, World War II and the design and creation of the Abkhazis' internationally renowned rhododendron garden on Fairfield Road in Victoria, now owned by The Land Conservancy of BC (TLC). The material digitized includes diaries, postcards, photographs, objects and watercolours.


Maclure architectural drawings

plan thumbnail
Architectural drawing detail

Architectural plans by Samuel Maclure (1860-1929) for homes in Victoria, other BC locations.

Maclure received commissions from many prominent Victoria and BC businessmen and politicians.

Provincial Normal School oral histories

Provincial Normal School - image ref 006.0608
Provincial Normal School

These sound recordings are part of the Provincial Normal School Oral History Interview collection, held at the University of Victoria Archives.

The Provincial Normal School (PNS) was established in Victoria, BC, in January 1915, to provide preliminary and advanced courses in teacher training.

In 1978, Judith Windle conducted 19 interviews in which former instructors and students discussed their experiences while at the PNS.

UVic historical photographs

campus construction 1965, cropped thumbnail
Campus construction, 1965

The UVic historical photograph collection consists of photographs acquired by the University of Victoria Archives of the University of Victoria and its predecessors, the Provincial Normal School and Victoria College.

Victoria College student life

cropped image of the first graduating class from Victoria College
First graduating class from Victoria College

See the life and times of students during the Victoria College era (1902-1963).

The selections from the Victoria College fonds provide evidence of student academic and social life, student journalism and student activism.

Completed as part of the Schoolnet digital collections program.

Victoria's early history collection

Government Street, ca. 1910
Government Street, ca. 1910

A selection of early Victoria and Vancouver Island maps, books, pamphlets and ephemera, together with archival material drawn from the Sylvester fonds.

Frank Sylvester was an early Jewish settler to Victoria, involved in the fire department and the negotiation of labour contracts.


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