The Creation of
British Columbia's Parliament Buildings
I live in British Columbia, surrounded by its natural beauty. Trees grow in abundance and fresh water lakes flow endlessly. Monumental Mountains dominate the skyline covered with white snow most of the year. Wild animals roam through my back yard, keeping the peace we have established. And the architecture of B.C. is as astonishing as any other throughout the earth.
What I mean by architecture is not the square buildings they build today or the rectangular skyscrapers that seem to reach into the sky. What I mean by architecture is the magnificent red brick, stone structures all around us. And there is none more beautiful than the Neo-baroque style architecture of British Columbia's Parliament Buildings.
The historical narrative we are given on the construction of B.C.'s Parliament Buildings on the 12 1/2 acre site in Victoria is as redundant as any other building at this time. You can find it word for word on any historical site and Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Columbia_Parliament_Buildings
https://visitorinvictoria.ca/the-parliament-buildings-victoria-bc/
We are told at the beginning of the narrative, that from 1856-1860, The Legislature of the Colony of Vancouver Island met at the old Victoria fort that was built in 1843 by the Hudson's Bay Company- briefly known as Fort Albert and renamed Fort Victoria in 1843 after Queen Victoria. The site was originally a trading post called Camosun (the native word was "camosack" meaning 'rush of water'.) Wikipedia quote:
In 1860-1898 the B.C. Legislature met at what is known as 'The Birdcages'
https://www.victoriaheritagefoundation.ca/Neighbourhoods/jamesbayhistory.html
So in Wikipedia we have the Birdcages burning down in 1957, but then we are told by the heritage site they were demolished sometime in 1890's- no exact date available that I could find, presumably in 1897 when the new legislature was built as the above picture says.
Fine then, lets toss out Wikipedia, so we can conclude that the beautiful house known as 'The Birdcages' was torn down in the 1890's. The branching history of Governor James Douglas, the one who built the glorious house, is a good story of corruption. I encourage you to go read it.
After the authorization of the 'Parliament Buildings Construction Act' in 1893 and with a population in Victoria of 16,841 from the census of 1891, the Legislative Council did what every other city did at that time, they held a contest to choose the architect.
Francis Rattenbury, a recent 25 year old English immigrant, entered the contest. He signed his drawings with the pseudonym "A B.C. Architect" and progressed to the second round. Then he signed his drawings again with "For Queen and Province" and won the competition.
We're told that despite many problems,
the new British Columbia Parliament Building took 4 years to build. After hauling tones and tones of granite from Nelson Island at the mouth of Jervis Inlet on the Sunshine Coast that would have been
used in the construction of the buildings, and over budget at the cost of $923,000, it officially opened for operation on February 10 1897, becoming the home of The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia to this day.
Rattenbury was hired again to be the architect of the new Legislative Library of British Columbia that was constructed between 1912 and 1915.
Many statures stand around on the grounds today. The most notable are the life size, gold covered replica of Captain George Vancouver standing on top the bronze plated, central dome. He looks at the backside of the epitome of evil herself Queen Victoria on the Cenotaph grounds.
Despite the questionable history and debatable construction photo, British Columbia's Parliament Buildings are definitely one of the most architecturally beautiful buildings ever created.
