First female lighthouse keeper1/17/2024 ![]() ![]() At first, she was paid $960 instead of $1,200 like the man who did the job on nearby Trial Island. Croft helped Brinn run the station, and when he became ill, she took over.Īfter he died in 1901, she was given the job, becoming what’s believed to be the first woman lighthouse keeper in Canada. His daughter, Mary Ann Croft, and her two daughters, Edith and May, lived with him. The island is a few kilometres east of Victoria, B.C., in what we now call the Salish Sea. In 1886, Richard Brinn was named the first keeper of the lighthouse on Discovery Island. But I’m going to be a lighthouse keeper just like grandpa and mama.”Įveryone mentioned in this story is real. Let’s go have some supper.”Īs they once again entered the fog, May whispered to Edith, “If you move to the city, I’ll come visit. “The foghorn will be fine now, thanks to you. The door opened and a ray of lantern light fell into the room in front of their mother. “I’d miss the waves and the birds and walking along the beach to see what’s washed up.” “And there’d be neighbour girls for us to play with and we wouldn’t have to help in the garden or clean the windows around the light.” “Do you ever dream of living in Victoria or Vancouver? We could go to an actual school instead of doing lessons by mail.” Her eyes grew dreamy. They settled in, waiting to make sure the signal continued to sound. Some people thought foghorns sounded sad, but at this moment, it was the most beautiful thing they could imagine. The sisters grinned at each other in relief. It heated up the water until it turned to steam and pushed a long, low warning signal out through the fog and over the rocks and water. Inside, the coal fire soon chased the dampness away. All of a sudden, the building, with its big trumpet-like horn sticking out from what looked otherwise like an ordinary little house, loomed up in front of the girls. Would the path ever end? The fog was already making everything darker than usual, and evening would soon fall. The Premier’s captain had brought the ship safely past the rocks, but it was a story that no one at the Discovery Island lighthouse ever wanted to repeat. They’d been just little when the SS Premier had needed a signal on a foggy night, and for some reason, the horn hadn’t sounded. They took the path at something between a walk and a run. Good thing they knew every rock and stump on the point. The waves now sounded soft and far away, and the sisters could only see a short distance ahead. As soon as they stepped outside, they could see the damp grey starting to close in around them. “You look after your signal and I’ll look after mine.”Įdith and May grabbed their raincoats. “Go on now!” She gathered one daughter under each arm for a quick hug. I learned how to run this station from a good teacher. “Not to mention the sailors,” she replied tartly. “And if you’re sick, then the girls and I are really in trouble.” If you get wet, you’ll catch a cold.” He sighed. Ships will be counting on us tonight and we will not fail them.” You two run over to the other building and make sure the fog signal is working. “I’m going up to check the wick on the light. Just then the door opened and Edith and May’s mother came in, wiping the white paint off her hands with a rag. “I think you’d better see what your mother needs first.” ![]() For most of the past few weeks he’d been too ill to do anything but lie down. Even that showed he’d made a big improvement. Their grandfather was sitting up on the chesterfield in the kitchen. “Sorry, mama!” Edith puffed when they burst into the neat white home attached to the lighthouse. That’s why their mother had been calling them! The fort forgotten, the girls ran back toward Sea Bird Point. ![]() “Maybe we can bring quilts and sleep here some night.”Įdith looked out to the ocean. May crawled into the nearly finished shelter. Making a driftwood fort was much more fun, and they knew she’d just want them to help her paint the lighthouse.
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