Have you ever seen this building? Do you wonder what it is or how long it has been standing? A very interesting story is associated with this structure.

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Once a water tower! Once a strawberry jam factory!

(Courtesy of The Corporation of the District of Saanich; 1)

The water tower still remains where it was built (2); located at 2489 Sinclair Road. It is one of the only water towers still remaining in the Saanich municipality (3).

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This above structure was built in approximately 1911, at the corner of Haro and Sinclair roads, by a man named Algernon Pease (4). Algernon Pease came to Canada in 1907, married Letitia Jean Brydges from Nova Scotia, and they both moved to Victoria (5). Algernon and his wife purchased 10 acres of land at the top of Sinclair Road where they dug a well, built a large house, constructed a water tower, and started to farm (6).

Like many other farming endeavours in this region at the turn of the century, Algernon and Letitia’s farm was very diverse – a mixed market garden.

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Mix Crop Farming

(Courtesy of BC Archives; 7)

Mix Crop Farming in 1900; Shelbourne Valley. This is a picture, taken from Mount Tolmie; it illustrates the variety of crops grown and harvested within the area.

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To start his farming, Algernon purchased cows, pigs, plough horses and thousands of chickens. He also established a large garden to grow a mix of vegetables, fruit and flowers (8). By 1914, Algernon and Letitia acquired a stall at the Public Market (9). Their flowers and produce sold very well and the Pease family decided to plant more tomatoes and strawberries, produce butter and cream, and dress rabbits and chickens for the market (10).

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Strawberry Harvest

(Courtesy of BC Archives; 11)

Many farmers in Gordon Head were planting and harvesting strawberries. On the Pease farm, people worked in fields in the area that is, today, the northwest portion of the university campus; the area that includes the Student Union Building, Student Housing, and the Buildings and Grounds (12). The richness of the soil in this area is indicated by the large size of the berries – it was often difficult for pickers to get the required number of strawberries into their baskets (13).

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With a surplus of fruit, Algernon and Letitia were inspired to make jam. The tower that once served as a water tower was converted into the family jam factory (14). During their first year of production, one thousand cases of jam were made and sold (15). Algernon wrote a song about the jam factory and the strawberries.

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Hamsterley Jam Factory Song: The original sheet music can be found at the end of the page. Please see below for sound recording.

The Hamsterley Farm Jam Song was written and composed by Algernon Pease in 1916 to promote the sale of their jam product. The song demonstrates Algernon’s relationship with the landscape, social interactions involved in jam production, and the care and delight that was taken to produce the product.
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Please listen to a version of the Hamsterley Jam Factory Song recorded by Melissa and friends by clicking here:
Jam Factory Song

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(Courtesy of UVic Archive; 25)

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Gordon Head Strawberry Farm

(Courtesy of BC Archives; 16)

To manage the whole farm and to pick all the strawberries during harvest time, paid help was needed. Girls and boys that had graduated high school or attended university in Vancouver came over to Victoria on the CPR boat for the summer to pick berries (17). Strawberry picking brought people together and was a social activity across the landscape. They wore overalls to pick berries, lived in A-frame tents, slept on straw mattresses, washed in tin basins, and swam down in Cadboro Bay (18). During the World War I, women became increasingly involved with working in agriculture to help the war efforts and they remained a part of the strawberry and farming industry after the war.

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Algernon and Letitia Pease

(Courtesy of Ursula Jupp; 19)

In Cadboro Bay, some people still remember the Pease family, their stories, efforts and personalities (20).

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Ethnoecological Significance:

People have moved across the landscape in different ways, on a daily, seasonal and yearly basis. Algernon and Letitia dwelled within their landscape, engaging with the land, engaging with nature, maintaining social connections, and staying actively involved in their community. Their jam factory song tells a story and shares their love; it demonstrates how they lived in and respected their environment. Not only did the Pease family become fully engaged with and aware of their surrounding, but they also provided an opportunity for others to engage with the land and with each other too.

The water tower that the Pease built is an important reminder of the value and significance of market gardening in Gordon Head’s early days of pioneer development. The importance and value of strawberries and mixed farming influenced social interactions and placed a story on the landscape. Through examining past agricultural practices we can learn more about past landscapes and our agricultural practices today.

To carry on the story of Saanich agriculture and the valuable strawberry harvests of the past, an annual Strawberry Festival is held within the region in July. In 2009, the Annual Saanich Strawberry Festival will be celebrating its 43rd successful year (21). (For more information visit http://www.harbourliving.ca/ or http://www.saanich.ca/).

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From then to now; from first farms to festivals.

In the Past:

(Courtesy of BC Archives; 22)

The long rows of lush strawberry plants and large field demonstrates the richness of the soil and the immensity of the strawberry industry as early as the 1890s. This picture shows First Nations people picking strawberries on a farm in Gordon Head. The line of trees at the back of the field illustrates the size of trees cleared for farming purposes.

Content contributed by Melissa Hingston