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Page 5 West Vancouver Historical Society May 2005 FRANCIS W. CAULFEILD*S GIFT TO WEST VANCOUVER (-from an early-twenties local paper) Thanks to the generosity of Mr. Francis W. Caulfeild, one of the real planners of the municipality, West Vancouver, Tuesday last, officially came into possession of three valuable park sites, comprising about twelve acres located in Blocks B, C and D of District Lot 811, known as Caulfeild. One park of over seven acres gives on to Burrard Inlet, another of over two acres fronts on Howe Sound and the third, also comprising over two acres, is an inland area known as Kloochman Park. The total waterfrontage exceeds one mile and the property is recognized as among the very finest in British Columbia from the standpoint of scenic beauty. In view of the importance of the occasions, officials of many surrounding cities and municipalities attended the presentation ceremony, which was held at the pilot house, the residence of Captain Kettle, Mr. Caulfeild’s life-long friend. The West Vancouver ferry Doncella, carried many visitors from Vancouver and at Ambleside many other persons desirous of witnessing the presentation boarded the Doncella, which reached Caulfeild at 3 o’clock. Immediately on the arrival at Caulfeild, the party proceeded to Kloochman Park. It was the first visit to this park for many of the party, and the exceptionally fine view of Howe Sound from this park was provocative of numerous exclamations from the visitors. Having thoroughly viewed this area, the party then returned to the pilothouse where the presentation ceremony was held in the presence of upwards of one hundred municipal officials and other interested parties. In making the presentation, Mr. Caulfeild stated that he had had this matter in mind for many years. Arriving in British Columbia in 1898 he was surprised to see valuable tracts of scenic land being subdivided and destroying their natural beauty. Mr. Caulfeild was very much impressed with the beauty of certain localities and was inclined to think that this beauty was not appreciated to a deserving extent. He considered it would be possible to save a small tract of land from being subdivided and deprived of its natural beauty, and in his search for such a tract of land, he decided to purchase the acreage which for many years had been known as Caulfeild. Legislation was already on the books permitting the subdividing of this land, but Mr. Caulfeild took this matter up with the authorities and had the subdivision of the property cancelled. A start was immediately made in the improvement of the land and Mr. Caulfeild pointed out that this was by no means all plain sailing, for there were numerous difficulties to be overcome. Permission was obtained for the construction of serviceable roadways through the tract; since that time many changes had been wrought. Mr. Caulfeild was particularly desirous that the property remain in its natural state and that no artificial means be resorted to in the endeavor to add to the beauty thereof. He was of the opinion that future demands for development might be satisfied by developing this tract of land along similar lines to developments that have taken place in Stanley Park. Mr. Caulfeild’s idea was that the land should gradually be changed to a forest of arbutus and pine, and, most important of all, it should be kept clean. Following these remarks, Mr. Caulfeild formally gave possession of these three beautiful sites to the Municipality of West Vancouver. In accepting the gift on behalf of the municipality. Reeve Proctor assured Mr. Caulfeild that it would be the policy of the present council and of future councils, he was sure, to guard Mr. Caulfeild’s gift in accordance with his wishes. It would indeed be difficult to place a valuation on the gift, said Reeve Proctor, who designated the gift as a valuable heritage to future generations. Mr. G.H. Cottrell, member of the Vancouver Parks Commission, also spoke very highly of the value of this land to future generations. He strongly emphasized the need for additional parks of this nature in the province and the value of such lands would be more fully appreciated in future than at present. As a means of conveying to Mr. Caulfeild their sincere appreciation of his generous gift to the municipality he was made the recipient of three hearty cheers to which he replied “I wish to thank you all most heartily.” Among those who witnessed the ceremony were: Reeve and Mrs. Proctor, Councillor Gisby, Councillor and Mrs. George Hay, Councillor and Mrs. Gamage, Reverend J.P and Mrs. Dingle, Reverend A.M. O’Donnell, Mr. and Mrs. J.D.A. Tripp=L Mr. P. Adams, Mr. and Mrs. D. Ritchie, Mrs. D. Morgan, Miss E. Morgan, Captain Graham, Ferry Manager Pegler, Mrs. W.H. Clubb*, the Misses Kilby, Mrs. W. Richardson, Mrs. Rex MacDonald*, Mrs. F. Harrison*, Miss K. Harrison*, Mrs. Jack Bell*, Mrs. George Stone*, Mrs. Lucas Hunt*, Mrs. F. Bodwell*, Captain and Mrs. Kettle*, Mr. and Mrs. W.F. Cottrell, Mrs. S. Larnder*, Mrs., Bailie, Mrs. R.D. Rorison, Miss Flora Richardson, Mrs. R. Harris, Mrs. W.J. Geary*, Mrs. W. Meikle, Mr. and Mrs. W.G. Chappell*, Mrs. J. Ridley, Mr. W. Astley*, Miss L. Windsor, Mrs. A. Houston, Mrs. W.J. Campbell, Mr. and Mrs. W.S. Rawlings, Miss L. Owens, Mr. and Mrs. G.H. Cottrell, and Mr. and Mrs. F.W. Dean. *These families are listed by Henry Athelstan Stone (who designed St. Francis-in-the-Wood) in his Caulfeild history as families among the first to own property in Caulfeild. He also mentions in the booklet that the first three lots were sold in 1909 (almost the instant that the land had been surveyed) to H.A. Stone, E.C. Kilby and H.P. Clubb. Mr. Caulfeild died in March of 1934. He was almost ninety-one.