Quesnel, British Columbia: Douglas Marr Brown Arrives in Town (1914)
Credit: Company Sergeant-Major Douglas Marr Brown in Siberia CWM 19920041-003_17e George Metcalf Archival Collection Canadian War Museum
In 1914, Douglas Marr Brown leaves his teaching position in Wolfson Bay and travelled 40 kilometers to Quesnel to become the senior teacher at the town’s public school. Originally from New Brunswick, D.M. Brown decided to move out west in search of new opportunities in beautiful British Columbia.
Credit: Quesnel Cariboo Observer, December 20, 1913
Through his letters home between 1914-1916, we follow his life as he settled into the growing Cariboo community. His correspondence reveals his active social life, his contributions to the community, his experiences as a teacher, and the friendships he made before eventually leaving to serve his country in the First World War.
History of Quesnel, British Columbia
The area now known as Quesnel has been home to the Dakelh (Carrier) people, who had lived in the region since time immemorial. The name Dakehl means “people who travel by water,” which signifies the importance of the Fraser River and how it was an essential transportation route and a vital source of food. When European fur traders arrived in the early nineteenth century, they established trading posts that became the place where Indigenous peoples and Europeans exchanged furs and goods.
Quesnel, British Columbia circa 1900 – Credit: BC Archives Reference D-00076
Quesnel’s population increased during the Cariboo Gold Rush of the 1860s when thousands of prospectors travelled through the community on their way to the rich goldfields of Barkerville and the Cariboo. While the Fraser River remained the primary transportation route, the Cariboo Waggon Road was built to connect the Fraser Canyon to the Cariboo. Along this route, Quesnel remained an important stopping point.
Pack Train Leaving Quesnel Circa 1890s – Credit: BC Archives Reference B-07266
When the gold rush was over, many people remained and transformed Quesnel into a community that had schools, churches, businesses, and local government. By the time Douglas Marr Brown arrived in 1914, Quesnel had become an important centre for education and transportation. His letters provide a firsthand account of his daily life in the community.
The community did not incorporate as a town until 1958 and in 1979 became a city. Quesnel’s primary industry is forestry with agriculture, tourism, and mining. Today, Quesnel is home to approximately 10,000 residents.
Becoming Part of the Community
A Busy Social Calendar
Credit: Quesnel Cariboo Observer, February 13, 1915
When Douglas Marr Brown arrived in Quesnel in 1914, he wasted no time becoming a part of the community. He was thousands of kilometers away from his family in New Brunswick but quickly developed a large circle of friends. Outside of his work in education and at the hardware store, Douglas participated in many community organizations.
BC Express in Front of the Post Office – Credit: BC Archives Reference D-00746
In his first letter home, he shows what life was like in the early twentieth-century Quesnel, and it was not a feeling of isolation. In a single week, Douglas attended church services, went to dinner with fellow teachers and the Anglican minister, participated in church social events, rehearsed with the local amateur theater company, and served on the programme committee of the church guild. Rarely did he spend an evening alone, instead his quieter evenings were still spent visiting friends and playing cards.
One Year Later
By January 1915, Douglas was no longer the new teacher in town. He was the principal of the school and a very active member in the community. He had taken on additional responsibilities such as helping high school students with their exams and working at a local hardware store. In this article, it notes the Crosina children from 153 Mile House which connects this series to the last series on BC History Diary.
Credit: Quesnel Cariboo Observer, June 26, 1915
Outside the classroom, he remained active in theater, church parties, bridge parties, and other community groups and events. His second letter reflects how he has firmly established himself in the Quesnel community.
Credit: Quesnel Cariboo Observer, March 28, 1914
Letters
Douglas’ Letter to Mamma – January 31, 1914
January 31, 1914
Dear Mamma,
Believe me, you may consider yourself lucky to get a letter this week at all. Have been most frightfully busy. Shall try to tell what I have been doing. On Sunday evening went to Presbyterian church and heard the Reverend Stoll hold forth. As church goes in at 7.30 it was about bed time when I got home.
But I have been but I have neglected to tell you about Saturday. Was invited up to the shack of the other teachers to supper. Miss. Robertson’s sister, who teaches a few miles outside was there, and Mr. McClure, Bank Clerk, (Miss Gammon’s “steady”) and Mr. Foote, of the assessor’s office were there also. We had a very fine supper and in the evening several others dropped in and we had music. Spent a very pleasant evening.
On Monday, I was invited to the Anglican minister’s for supper and spent the evening there. Four of them are “batching” in the rectory. Have a very nice house.
On Tuesday evening there was another series of lantern slides in the church and I was present. After the meeting went over to the manse and had cake and cocoa.
Wednesday evening the amateur theater company had their first practice of that. What intensely interesting and very amusing farce entitled “The Private Secretary”. I am “Harry” the fast young man.
On Thursday there was a meeting of the programme committee of the Guild at Mrs. Wells’. Your honorable servant being convener of that committee, he was there. After the business was disposed of we had some good coffee. Quite a treat after the hotel variety.
Last night I had offlayed and went up to the billiard hall. Played six games and lost two of them.
Received Papa’s letter yesterday, -no Thursday. Hope you are beginning to get mine now. We have mail only twice a week and it takes three days for it to get to Ashcroft. Then it is apt to be delayed getting through the mountains. Probably be a couple of weeks reaching you. While I think of it, would you please bundle up those four paper covered French back De Brisay Systems and send them to me. Think they are in my book chest on the bottom shelf.
Everything going here O.K. Able to sit up for short periods and take a little nourishment three times a day.
From your loving son, D.M. Brown.
Credit: Quesnel Museum & Archives. Purchased with the assistance of the Friends of the Quesnel Museum
Douglas’ Letter to Papa- January 24, 1915
New Cariboo Hotel
Quesnel, B.C. Jan’y 24, 1915
Dear Papa,
This week I shall have to make up for last week’s deficiencies and am already doing so in one respect – I am getting this letter started in proper time. We shall presently see if the other deficiency is made up – that of being too short. Oh, yes, I am not like some people – I realize my few imperfections. Had two letters from home in yesterday’s mail – one from Mamma written on the 3rd and one from John written on the 10th. Do not know whereMamma’s w have strayed.
Glad you are up home again and comfortable. You ought to be able to exercise considerable of the stiffness out of yourself there. John says that you are sporting more of a beard than Uncle Milton usually carries. Did he know you at all?
As I intimated in the note which I wrote, I have been pretty busy. I shall now proceed to tell you what occupiedmy time. First I have about thirty-five pupils to look after and some of the work that of the third reader is work that I hate. Well that keeps me busy until three o’clock. Then I am taking the High School pupils for about an hour and a half so that they will have a chance on their exams next summer. After that I go to the store where I am busy until six o’clock. That makes a pretty full day, doesn’t it? Now for the evenings, we shall take the past week as typical. On Monday night there was practice on the new play we are getting up. The play is “Dandy Dick” and is to be given on the 16th of next month. Yours truly is to be a butler. Have considerable memorizing to do for it, and do not know when I shall find the time.
On Tuesday was to a social at the Presbyterian Church. Could not very well get out of going. Would much rather have gone skating.
On Wednesday was to a bridge party. Has a nice evening, a good game, and agreeable partner and pleasant opponents. What more would one require? On Thursday there was another rehearsal of the play so did not get up to the club. (We are having two rehearsals each week.) On Friday there was Lodge. Last night was down to the rink and then some of us had some coffee in one of the restaurants. So the week was spent. Do you wonder that I plead “no time” to all my correspondents?
The weather here is continuing to be delightful. It has been a wonderful winter so far and now that the days are longer it doesn’t seem so bad if we did get a cold snap. We haven’t had one since that time in December when I moved.
The house here is very comfortable and it is so nice to have a bath room with lots of hot water We have electric lights now also, which bring the hotel quite up to date.
Business here is rotten. It is making me gray financing this hardware store but “I should worry” I suppose. It isn’t my business anyways. But it is simply impossible to get money from the ranchers until they sell their stuff and they have not done so yet. Better time coming, though. If the P.G.E. would only let their tiecontracts.
Understand they are beginning to do so now. Hope we get a few of the contractors to outfit. We need the business. How did you find Uncle Lish and Aunt Maggie when you got home? Is Aunt Maggie any better or just about the same? John must have had a great trip down. Got passed over most of the way, didn’t he? Wish I were working on a railroad. Have spent more money travelling than on any other single thing I believe.
Glad Mamma likes her birthday present. Tell her the little knife underneath is not silver, but only an ordinary kitchen knife for peeling potatoes and scraping carrots. Suppose you have been compelled to use it for a butter knife.
Given there is nothing else to waste paper over. Don’t you think I have pretty well made up for last week’s note? Hope you are feeling a lot better. If you could only get the soreness out you could get hold of one and of a crosscut saw with John and that would take out the stiffness.
So long, From your loving son, D.M.Brown
Credit: Quesnel Museum & Archives. Purchased with the assistance of the Friends of the Quesnel Museum
This collection was purchased by the Friends of the Quesnel Museum and donated to the Quesnel Museum & Archives. The letters are transcribed verbatim from original manuscripts held at the Quesnel Museum & Archives. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation have been preserved to maintain the integrity of the original documents. Editorial introductions and historical context have been added to assist modern readers and to situate the letters within the broader social and historical landscape of twentieth-century British Columbia.
Why Letters Like These Matter to British Columbia History
The Douglas Marr Brown letters offer a detailed record of a young teacher arriving in a new town and eager to join his new community. With each letter home to his family, we get a personal look at what life was like in Quesnel for the teacher in the 1910s. Preserved today at the Quesnel Museum & Archives, the Douglas Marr Brown letters are kept so that future generations can know the history of British Columbia and its people.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to the Quesnel Museum & Archives, Elizabeth Hunter, and the Friends of the Quesnel Museum for making this project possible.
In 1915, teacher Douglas Marr Brown has settled into his role as a senior teacher at Quesnel’s public school. As he became established in the community, his letters home to New Brunswick shifted from first impressions of the town to more about his daily life. They reveal his busy social calendar, life in…
