If you have lost touch with family or friends, here's some thoughts on tracking them down:

• A good general database can be found at LocalDir.com
• If you are looking for someone who works in the provincial government, try the government directory.
• The University of Victoria hosts directories of students, alumni, faculty and staff.
• Canada Post can help you find postal codes and other info to complete a partial address you have.
• Canada411 can help you find phone numbers of anyone with a listing in Canada; you can also try the Telus Phone Book for people or businesses.

Finally, you could try your favourite web search engine. Type in the name of who you are looking for plus the city -- you might be surprised!

Trying to fill in your family tree?

• The BC Provinical Archives are adjacent to the Royal BC Museum, you can phone them at: (250) 387-5885.
• The City Archives for Victoria are located in Centennial Square, across from City Hall and they can be reached at: (250) 361-0375.
• An extensive list of links from around BC can be found at the Canadian Genealogy and History Pages.
• You might want to search for an obituary or cemetary engraving through the links at the MacKinnon's site (they also keep an extensive list of Canadian genealogy research information).
• you may also want to check out the graves listing, below.

choose: Celebrities, Historical Figures, Architects, Graves.

Celebrities: Some celebrities got their start here, others passed through. A few still call it home.

• Silent film actors Perry Banks and Nell Shipman were born in Victoria in 1877 and 1892 respectively.
• Actor "Little" Mickey Bennett worked through his teens on the silver screen and died in Hollywood, but he was also born in Victoria.
• Author Alice Munro at one time helped to start and run a bookstore in Victoria (yes, it is still here: Munro's Books).
• John Nesbitt, Hollywood writer producer and narrator, was born in Victoria in 1915.
• Filmmaker Atom Egoyan compares movie making to preparing a hotel room because of the illusion in both. (As a teen, he worked at the Empress Hotel).
• Richard Day, who worked as art director on films including On the Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire was born in Victoria in 1896.
• Composer David Foster took piano lessons growing up in Victoria. He returns from time to time with celebrity pals in tow for charity softball tournaments and other fundraisers.
• Olympic medalist Silken Lauman practiced rowing around Victoria and still calls BC home.
• Actress Jennifer Tilly went to high school in Victoria (her sister Meg Tilly was born on nearby Texada Island).
• NBA guard and 1996 draft longshot Steve Nash grew up throwing hoops in Victoria schools.
• NHL players Russ and Geoff Courtnall were born in nearby Duncan, BC and played for the Victoria Cougars (before the team moved to Prince George!). While I am on the topic of hockey, the Victoria Cougars (which became the Detroit Red Wings) actually took the Stanley Cup in the 1925-26 season..
• Pop singer Nelly Furtado was raised in Victoria and graduated from the same high school I attended.
• Some members of rap group Swollen Members grew up in the nearby West Shore area.

Victoria is also the refuge of choice for many of Hollywood's leading players -- Bob Hope has been here to play golf, Kevin Costner to fish and Alicia Silverstone to film a movie (Excess Baggage -- she jumped off the Johnson Street Bridge!).

And, being so close to Vancouver, several films have been shot fully or in part on location here, including Bird on a Wire (1990, Mel Gibson/Goldie Hawn), Little Women (1994, Wynona Rider/Clare Danes), Intersection (1994, Richard Gere/Sharon Stone) and Final Destination (2000, Devon Sawa/Ali Larter).

Historical Figures:

Emily Carr may well be Victoria's most famous export.. but Victoria has spawned more than its share of colourful characters. Politically, BC has long been considered a three-ring circus and that tradition goes back a long way. Take for instance Amor de Cosmos (born William Alexander Smith), one-time newspaper editor turned Premier. Often drunk in public and capable of spinning barely-believable yarns, he still managed to be an able representative both locally and in Ottawa when he was elected as a Member of Parliament. Another colourful character was Cheif Justice Matthew Baillie Begbie who earned the nickname of the "Hanging Judge" with the 27 guilty verdicts he handed down. However, a century after his death, his judgements were still being cited in BC courts.

Architects and Buildings:

Some other buildings of note include: Craigdarroch Castle (on Joan Crescent), Hatley Castle (at Royal Roads), Emily Carr House (on Government Street) and Congregation Emanu-el, the oldest Synagogue in Canada (on Blanshard Street) -- all of which offer tours, some for an entrance fee. If you're walking about Beacon Hill Park, you may want to look at nearby South Park School, the oldest operational school in Western Canada. Down the hill you will find the recently restored St. Ann's Academy and the charming Church of Our Lord (reformed Episcopal), the oldest church building in Victoria. (For other downtown churches, check this link.)

Victoria takes heritage buildings seriously and has a register which grows annually of restored buildings and homes. The Victoria Heritage Foundation also offers maps for self-guided heritage walking tours of the James Bay and Fernwood neighbourhoods.

Graves:

If you are looking for graveyards, Victoria has plenty. The most impressive may be Ross Bay Cemetery, on Memorial, between Fairfield and Dallas Roads. Others worth visiting are the Jewish Cemetery (near the intersection of Fernwood Rd. and Cedar Hill Rd.), and the Chinese Cemetery (off Maquinna in Fairfield). The Old Cemeteries Society hosts regular walking tours of these and other sites in Victoria. There is also a great little publication on Ross Bay Cemetery by John Adams which I highly recommend (ISBN 1550390910).The book includes photos, history and self-guided walking tours.

The graves pictured above are what remains of the headstones in the "Old Burying Ground" also known as Pioneer Square, Victoria's first graveyard in use from 1855 until 1873. While the headstones were moved to "beautify" the park, the bodies weren't so step lightly! (Quadra St. at Rockland Ave.).

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