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Page 3 West Vancouver Historical Society May 2005 Francis William Caulfeild by Phillip Collings Francis William Caulfeild was born in England in August 1843 in a family sufficiently well to do that he never had to work m an ordinary job for a day in his life. He was educated at Rugby School and Wadham College, Oxford, and thereafter devoted his early life to bringing up his four children, poetry, amateur painting and carving, and traveling. The traveling is how West Vancouver comes into his life story. In 1898, Mr. Caulfeild was making a leisurely tour of the farthest reaches of the then British Empire in the company of his daughter, and at Vancouver they embarked in Captain Cates’ old boat the SS Defiant for a trip along the West Vancouver shore. In due course Captain Cates put them ashore at a lovely small cove tucked in behind the shelter of Point Atkinson, then called Skunk Cove and used to moor pilot boats awaiting incoming shipping. Captain Cates picked them up on his return trip. The day’s stay in this unspoilt wilderness of rocky coast and forest made such an impression on Mr. Caulfeild that he determined to buy the property and develop a village on the site. Indeed, the project was to occupy most of the remainder of his days. The cove became Caulfeild Cove and stamped his name permanently on the area. He had firm ideas about the nature of the development. He wanted it in the style of an English village with a village green and ivy-covered village church, and winding narrow lanes following the contours of the land rather than the standard North American grid system. He also wanted the foreshore preserved as a park with public access to the sea. This, together with the much larger Lighthouse Park immediately to the west of the Cove, would ensure that everyone could enjoy the scenery. Mr. Caulfeild moved quickly. The previous owner was a Mr. Balfour Kerr, who bought it from the original owner who had acquired it from the Crown. In 1898, an enterprising real estate lady. Miss Lee Spencer, negotiated the purchase of 640 acres by Mr. Caulfeild. In the following year, she arranged the purchase of an adjoining 320 acres; to close this second deal, she had to travel to London. She became a friend and business associate of Mr. Caulfeild, assisting in the documentation and planning of the development. Following his ideas the highway dedications were given English namesâ€"Piccadilly, the Dale, Clovelly Walk, etc. (Mr. Caulfeild was in fact born in Clovelly in the English West Country.) The first and for some years the only home in Caulfeild Village was a cottage called the Pilot House. In fact, a retired seaman, named Captain Frank Kettle, lived there with his wife under the title ‘Pilot’s Assistant’â€"the pilots themselves came and went in their boats. Capt. and Mrs. Kettle ran a little store and acted as a hospitable centre of the community as it developed. Capt. Kettle’s great pride was that he had sailed as mate on the famous clipper ship, ‘Cutty Sark.’ There were delays in the provision of services to the village. West Vancouver wasn’t incorporated as a municipality until 1912, and the Provincial and Federal governments were far away. First, water had to be laid on. In the end, Mr. Caulfeild had to build his own system. The water was brought down by wooden pipe from Cypress Falls. Lots were then offered for sale, and the first houses went up, in the nature of summer cottages. Among the early arrivals were H.A. Stone, E.C. Kilby and H.P. Clubb. The Caulfeild family built several small houses. As the community developed, its members established their places in itâ€"Mr. Stone as artist and historian, and Mrs. Jean Kilby Rorison as poet, and Mr. Caulfeild as the guiding spirit. The next problem was land access. The first houses were built from materials brought in by scow and carried across the beach by hand. But this was highly inconvenient for anything bigger than a cottage. Road access was impossible for Mr. Caulfeild to do himself and he spent much time promoting highway development with various levels of government. In time, the Pacific Great Eastern Railway went through the upper part of the property, which alleviated the problem, but it was not until the incorporation of the Municipality that the real solution could be tackled. This was the provision of highway access by the extension of Marine drive, the road being formally opened by Provincial Premier Richard McBride in 1915. In due course, the village changed in character if not in philosophy. By the nineteen forties, there were over 50 residences, most of them large and spacious. Development according to Mr. Caulfeild’s ideas had definitely appealed to the carriage trade. One result of this and of Mr. Caulfeild’s failure to predict the omnipotence of the motor car is that the narrow roadways have had to be made one-way, and even so, traffic is congested and parking difficult. However, in large part, Mr. Caulfeild’s dream has been realized, and its centerpiece is the little church of St. Francis-in-the- Wood, which does indeed stand in the big trees above the cove. It was built over the 1930’s: the chancel and sanctuary were completed in 1938. The church is the English-traditional-cottage style, as Mr. Caulfeild would have wanted. The spreading roof and heavy supporting beams give a sense of shelter. Stained-glass windows, donated in honour of the Caulfeild and Stone families, give the interior a subdued glow. (Concludes on Page 7)