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Monument to the Robert Lowe and Noah Shakespeare

by John M. MacFarlane 2017

Monument plaque

CAPTION (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection. )

Among the plaque memorials on the causeway of the Inner Harbour of Victoria BC is one to the arrival of the tramp steamer Robert Lowe.

The Robert Lowe was the second bride ship to arrive in Victoria BC during the Fraser River Goldrush. On January 12, 1863, the Robert Lowe arrived in Victoria. Most of the women either found new husbands or suitable employment, and led successful lives in Victoria. Among the 180 passengers was Jeremiah Griffiths, the Hudson’s Bay Company Wharfinger in Victoria from 1862–1881. In 1882 Griffiths took over the supervision of the Canadian Pacific Navigation Company wharf in Victoria BC.

Noah Shakespeare

Noah Shakespeare (Photo from the Wikipedia collection.)

Among the passengers of the Robert Lowe was Noah Shakespeare who came to British Columbia in 1863. He went to Nanaimo to work in the coal mines. In 1865 he joined the photographic studio of George Fardon in Victoria. He set up his own photographic studio on Government Street in Victoria BC. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Victoria District in the general election of 1875. He was elected to three terms as an Alderman of Victoria BC. In 1882 he was elected as the Mayor of Victoria BC. In 1882–1887 he was elected as a Member of Parliament. On resigning as Member of Parliament he was appointed Postmaster of Victoria BC on December 21, 1887. He was active in religious work and in community organizations. He was the President of the Mechanic’s Institute and the Agricultural Association. In 1887 he was the President of the Victoria YMCA. In 1877 he was the Grand Worthy Chief Templar of the Independent Order of Good Templars of Washington and British Columbia – a temperance organization. He was President of the British Columbia Fire Insurance Co. He was the organizer of the anti-oriental Workingman’s Protective Association and President in 1878–1879. He was also a founder of the Anti–Chinese Association. He was buried in Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria BC.


To quote from this article please cite:

MacFarlane, John M. (2017) Monument to the Robert Lowe and Noah Shakespeare. Nauticapedia.ca 2017. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Monument_Robert_Lowe.php

Nauticapedia

Site News: January 14, 2025

The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 94,957 vessel histories (with 16,337 images and 13,935 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters).

The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,599 entries (with 3998 images).

My thanks to Ray Warren who is beginning a long process of filling gaps in the photo record of the vessel histories in the vessel database. Ray has been documenting the ships of Vancouver Harbour for more than 60 years.

Thanks to contributor Mike Rydqvist McCammon for the hundreds of photos he continues to contribute to illustrate British Columbia’s floating heritage.

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Thanks to John Spivey who is beginning his 4th year of fact checking all of the entries in the vessel database.

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