Word has been received from Calgary that Lynne Frizzell, pictured fourth from left in the front row, in this 2015 photo of our Woodside Farm Film Committee, has suddenly passed away. Lynne was a Muir, a connection of the John and Ann Muir family which had settled on the West Coast property we now know as Woodside Farm, back in 1851.
The Calgary couple, coming out to vacation at the coast, had stopped at the museum, and when we found out that Lynne had a Muir connection, our friendship began. Eager to learn more of this pioneering Scottish family’s history here, Lynne and Lorne both took on a series of research projects reaching around the world. They also took on the chore of transcribing the 1860s diaries of Michael Muir, which had been given to the Sooke Region Museum by Muir descendant Diane Acreman Alexander.
Many readers will know that John and Ann Muir, their four sons and a daughter, of Ayrshire, Scotland, arrived on this coast in 1849, indentured to the Hudson’s Bay Company with the purpose of mining for coal on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island. When disenchantment with the Hudson’s Bay Company followed, the four Muir sons, Andrew, John, Robert and Michael, sought adventures elsewhere, and the senior Muirs began the dynasty that was the founding of Sooke in 1851, as well as the initiation of the forest industry of British Columbia.
It was only natural that when the Sooke Region Historical Society embarked on the project of documenting this important aspect of B.C. history on film, the Frizzells were asked to join the committee of volunteers. Twice each year, the couple embarked on a visit to Sooke, staying at Point No Point Resort, to join committee get-togethers.
Pictured standing at the rear are Michael Peterson, videographer on the film project, Ray Vowles, Lorne Frizzell, Lee Boyko, Scott Gertsma, Charlie Glinz, here from Perth Australia, one of the owners of Woodside, and Charlie O’Donnell. Standing in front are Jill Peterson, Attie Ramsay, Kelly Keys (Gertsma), Lynne Frizzell, Elida Peers, Jeannette Wilford, Joan O’Donnell, Beverley Myers and Liz Johnson. Kneeling is Pete Wilford, so well-known as the farmer of Woodside Farm at the time.
The film committee grew to include as well, Wendal and Wendy Milne, Rose Dumont, Ivan and Deb Bjornholt, and Adele Lewis, the photographer here.
Work continues on fine-tuning of the historical film, with our members anxious for its completion and the excitement of sharing this production with the viewing public.
Elida Peers is the historian with Sooke Region Museum.
