The Newcomers’ Club experienced a special day on August 17.  It is not often that one has the opportunity to tour the birthplace of Emily Carr, and then be greeted by Molly Raher Newman, an artist, historian and painter who, in costume, portrays Emily Carr.  After Emily Carr sang us a welcome song as we stood on the front steps of Carr House, we were lead on an insightful and fascinating tour through the James Bay world of Emily Carr.

First, we were told a brief history of the Carr family.  Emily’s father owned land in James Bay.  After his death, Emily and her sisters took plots of land near the family home.   Two of the sisters built homes on nearby St Andrew’s Street which still stand today.  The third sister kept her lot as a garden.  Emily herself built her residence on Simcoe Street with the plan to run it as a boarding house.  Emily was to live in this home for 20 years and it is this residence she made famous in her book of short stories called The House of All Sorts.  Emily Carr’s home on Simcoe Street is now privately owned and currently has four rental units.

What made this part of the tour so memorable was the fact that Molly – in the role of Emily – read us parts of stories from the book and recounted many anecdotes about Emily Carr’s life.  One of the most memorable was the fact that Emily struggled as both an artist and a landlady. Her schemes to make money included breeding dogs.  Still, Emily Carr struggled.  Indeed, it was the mention and the comments about her art in her books that finally ignited interest in her paintings.  This recognition came late in her career.  Emily Carr died before she knew how great her impact would be in the art world.

We then proceeded to Beacon Hill Park which is just steps from the House of All Sorts.  There, we had a pleasant stroll and followed a meandering stream until we came to the Emily Carr Bridge. This bridge was built in Emily’s memory by her sister Alice.  The bridge is tucked away from the busier paths in Beacon Hill Park.  Here, in a tranquil setting, Molly read us further excerpts from the writings of Emily Carr. Appropriately, these readings reflected the relationship between herself and Alice as well as pointing out that it was Emily Carr who coined the phrase “Victoria is more English than the English.”

Our last location on a day of perfect weather was The James Bay Inn where Emily Carr passed away on March 2, 1945.  The James Bay Inn has both a restaurant and a pub so we all joined Molly for lunch.

The Carr House and The House of All Sorts are major attractions in Victoria and the horse-drawn carriages and pedicab guides point out these sites to people from around the world.  For the Newcomers walking tour, however, we had the added pleasure of meeting Emily Carr, having her tell us her own story and then dining together.

Thanks to Glenn Soares for organizing this informative event.

Report submitted by Peter Lowens.