Agassiz-Harrison Museum

The Hazeley Letters

Follow along as we learn about the Wright siblings who travelled from Liverpool, England to Agassiz, British Columbia in 1896. This collection of letters, photographs, and stories from May, Cecil, Jack, and Harold Wright let us see into their daily lives in Canada. From being chased by chickens to a connection to the Titanic, their stories are being told here for the first time, and you won’t want to miss a moment.

From above of stack of letters with sealing wax spread out near bouquet of pink roses on wooden desk

The Beginning

  1. Letters from British Settlers: Their Journey to Canada (1896)
  2. Setting Sail on the RMS Majestic (1896)
  3. A Stay at the Grand Union Hotel (1896)
  4. Victorian Siblings Journey from England to Canada (1896)
  5. The Victorian Siblings Travel Across Canada By Train (1896)
  6. A Victorian Girl’s First Days in Agassiz, British Columbia (1896)
  7. Settling Into Life in Agassiz (1896)
  8. 2nd Lieutenant Harold Purton Wright(1896)
  9. Victorian Tea Time in the Canada in (1896)
  10. The First Planting Season in Canada (1896)
  11. Gold Fever, Church Building, and Pioneer Life in Agassiz, BC (1896)
  12. Life in 1896 Agassiz: Mining Hopes, Farming Plans, and the Mysterious Sister Francis (1896)
  13. Letters from Hazeley Ranch (1896)
  14. Repairing the Farm, Building the Church, and Picnics in the Harrison: Hazeley Letters (1896)
  15. Picking Fruit and Raising Rafters: May’s Letters from Agassiz (1896)
  16. Skunk Trouble, Haying Season, and Angels on Mt. Cheam(1896)
  17. Harold Wright’s July 1896 Letter: A Drowning in the Prairie (1896)
  18. Disasters and Daily Life in Agassiz, BC, 1896: Floods, Train Crash, Wagon Accident, and Mosquito Plague (1896)
  19. The Great Excursion to Agassiz, British Columbia(1896)
  20. Autumn in Agassiz (1896)
  21. Gold Mines and a Winter Trip to Yale, B.C.(1896)
  22. ‘Frozen Solid’: The Wright Siblings’ First Winter in Canada (1896)
  23. The Odd Fellows Ball: Dancing Until Dawn in Agassiz, British Columbia (1896)
  24. A Victorian Christmas in Canada (1896)
  25. New Year’s in Canada in (1897)
  26. Winter Life in Agassiz, British Columbia(1897)
  27. Harrison Lake: New Visitors and Mining Excitement (1897)
  28. Gold Mining in British Columbia 1897: Peril in the Mountains and Trains Through Agassiz (1897)
  29. Family Tension & Chinatown in Agassiz, B.C. (1897)
  30. Observation Cars, Mining Camps, and Settler Life (1897)
  31. Victoria, British Columbia in 1897: Travel, Church, and Social Life (1897)
  32. Life in Victoria and Agassiz, BC (1897)
  33. The Final Chapter of the Hazeley Letters: How the Story Ends (1897)