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November 1993 WEST VANCOUVER HISTORICALSOCIETY Page 7 EARLY DAYS IN WEST VANCOUVER Submitted By: Mary Chapman Our Archives have recently been given a large collection of Lawson papers and among them is a diary written by Elizabeth Lawson, the eldest child of John and Christina Lawson. Elizabeth (Bessie) was 17 when the family first came to West Vancouver and she kept a diary from 1907 to 1910. Her diary has come to us though her daughter , Gertrude Wilson, portions of which are reprinted with her permission. The following are two entries from her diary in which Bessie describes the John Lawson property at as it was before they took up residence. May 15,1907 "For fear that some time we may forget what this place was like when we first came here I am going to describe it now:" "Our place then was and now is, a very pretty spot. The house is fairly well built for such an out of the way place and of only one story with very high ceilings. The orchard is an old one but through lack of care, the trees had grown to all heights and sadly needed pruning. There is also a very large bam." "The creek was nice and deep, the time being November. To the West of us there was a small shack built by Mr. McDonald, used by his family in summer and rented to the Indians in winter. To the east there was another shack where there lived a Chilian, (sic) Mr. Codecedo, and also his daughter and her husband, Mr. Silva. Between them and the Capilano there were just the same conditions as there are yet. There are only two or three shacks, mostly forsaken, hi the slough there is an old house where there lives an old man, Sandy Rood, who keeps chickens. He has for his only companions 12 or 14 dogs." "All around us lie large tracts of uncleared land. It has many stumps on it but the trees are mostly alder. It is certainly a beautiful spot. I think no one can wish for a prettier place. The only thing I wish is that we did not have to sell the land and that we could just have a good launch to come and go in and, I am afraid I am like the boys, (brother and cousin) I wish people would leave this for Nature herself.” October 31,1907 "Papa and Uncle Sandy had been cruising along the shore here in search of property (1905) when their notice was attracted to this place on account of its splendid situation and the amoimt of land already cleared. Of course Papa tried at once to get it" " It appears that at one time the place belonged to an old English sailor who had deserted and married an Indian and settled down here. At the time it was called after him â€" Navvy Jack’s Place. Papa later changed the name to Hollyburn." 'It took much searching of land titles and advertising for heirs etc. before Papa would have clear title to the place but in the meantime we came over and spent the 4th. of Nov. 1905 here. We all fell immediately in love with the place and hoped sincerely that we would be able to get it We had already formed plans as to the way we would enlarge the house to suit us." "We knew we would have a great deal of trouble however, getting to and from Vancouver as there was no road opened up into North Vancouver â€" the old Keith Road having fallen into decay and general debility. All our travelling to and from Vancouver would have to be by boat We knew Papa would solve that difficulty." HOUSE BUILT BY NAVVY JACK IN 1872. PURCHASED BY JOHN LAWSON FROM K.CKEITH IN 1905. THE ROOF WAS ALTERED TO ADD THE FRONT GABLE Photo W.V.H.S.