THE McCULLOCH FAMILY

(Tom Anstey and John Bosher)

Sarah Taylor Marsden, the third child of Samuel Marsden and Hannah Brierley, was born in England (probably Salford, Manchester) on 1833.Family lore says that Sara came to Victoria around the Horn by sailing ship, the master of which was Captain William McCulloch - and Sarah and the Master were married!William’s first voyage to Victoria was as first mate aboard the bark Nannette which carried only freight and was wrecked on Race Rocks on 24 December 1860.But from the 1901 census we learn that Sarah told the census taker she had arrived in Victoria in 1863.We do not know the ship on which she came.Could William have returned to England for another ship?Where and when they were married we have yet to determine, but we believe it would have been in a Methodist Church in Victoria since later, in 1892, William was elected as a trustee of the James Bay Methodist Church1. Sara and William were probably married between 1863 and 1865.Regrettably vital records in the Victoria archives only date back to 1872 which means we must find another source for their date of marriage.We know from the 1901 census that George, their only child, was born on 16 December 1865.

William and Sarah had established a home in Victoria at 125 Michigan Street by 1868 - perhaps much earlier (Victoria Directory2).Michigan Street is in the James Bay area of Victoria on a spit of land between the Inner Harbour (James Bay) and the Outer Harbour on the Straits of Juan de Fuca. (The original house is not there, having been replaced by a larger one which occupies both 125 and 127 Michigan St.)In 1871, William was a pilot of ships entering Victoria harbour and in 1881 he was master of SS Amelia.By 1889 the Directory also shows G A McCulloch (George), their son, living at the same address and being a clerk in the Post Office. In 1894 George had a candy factory at 30 Government St which is between the Dallas Road and Battery St near Holland Point on the Straits of Juan de Fuca.

In the census of 1891, also at 125 Michigan St, are Harry, Minerva, Taylor and Elizabeth Marsden, all Baptists born in England.The children of Taylor and Elizabeth were Harry, three years old, born in England and Amy, one year old, born in British Columbia.Harry and Taylor Marsden were nephews of Sarah, the sons of Sarah’s brother George Marsden and Mary Anne Rodgers, George’s second wife.In 1893 Harry was at a different address in Victoria. (See the notes on Harry and Taylor Marsden in another article yet to be written.)

Captain William McCulloch was Master of many BC coastal vessels (see article on William).He died in his Michigan St home in 1906.By 1914 George and his wife Bertha (Bert) Ford lived near Victoria’s Beacon Hill Park at 15 Marlborough St and by 1921 they had moved to 15 Cambridge St, just one block east of Marlborough, the address at which, as a boy, one of us (TA) knew Bert and her son Billy after she had been widowed.In 1997 both houses were still in good repair.In 1921 George owned and operated a grocery store at 501 Niagara St in the James Bay area just west of Beacon Hill Park and did so until at least 1928, although by 1924 the grocery business only occupied 501 1/2 Niagara St.There is still a grocery store at this address, but we expect the building has been renewed.

In 1932 Bertha is shown as the widow of G A McCulloch and George W also lived at 15 Cambridge St.Billy was a few years older than one of us (TA) and was therefore born about 1915.He continued to live with his mother and, in 1934 and 1938 was listed a “delivery”, probably having left school, for he could not be found among the graduates of Victoria High School during that period.In 1939 Billy is not shown as living in Victoria but in 1942 his mother Bertha and his wife (?) Gladys are listed and G W is “on active service”.The two ladies had moved to 157 Olive St a few blocks further  in Victoria.In 1947 Bertha and G W again had moved this time to Latoria Road in the Metchosin district, west of the city. No mention is made of Gladys.In 1949 and up to 1951 Bertha was at 1234 Fort St which is near its junction with Yates St close to the centre of the city.In 1952 neither Bertha nor G W McCulloch is in the Victoria and District directory.

From at least 1921 to 1927 Annie Marsden (our grandmother Martha [Marsden] Simister’s half sister) lived with the McCullochs at 15 Cambridge St, but see more complete information about Annie in another article.

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1. Minute Book, James Bay Methodist Church, Victoria, BC, 1891-1936.  National Library, roll M2311.

2. The holdings of the Victoria Public Library and the National Library of city directories, from which some of this information has been gathered, are incomplete.Thus dates of residence are approximations.Furthermore, it was not until the 1940s that names of wives were given in the directories.

Modified 1 April 2002