Quiet Reformers: The Legacy of Early Victoria's Bishop Edward & Mary Cridge [Minkštas viršelis]

No pair made a greater contribution to colonial life on Canadas West Coast than did Edward and Mary Cridge. While still in England, Edward Cridge was hired by the Hudsons Bay Company to be the chaplain for Victoria, its outpost on the Pacific. Arriving in 1855, the Cridges joined some 260 others who formed the nucleus of the new settlement. They led the way in social and religious reform, with Mary Cridge contributing in a major way to the development of a womens hospital ward and a childrens orphanage. In addition to his pastoral duties, Edward Cridge acted as advisor and confidant to Governor James Douglas. In later life, Cridge became the unlikely central figure in a religious conflict that divided Victorians at a time when the church was central to everyday life. He was labelled a renegade by some and walked away from his beloved Church of England after a disagreement with his bishop over the style of worship. He then established the Church of Our Lord in Victoria. It remains a fascinating heritage building in the centre of the capital. In the history of those who were tried and tested in Victorias pioneering era, none gave more of themselves than Edward and Mary Cridge.

Literary Nonfiction. Biography. Canadian Studies. This lively biography of Bishop Edward Cridge and his wife Mary paints a vivid picture of early Victoria as it developed from an isolated Hudson's Bay Company post into the bustling capital of British Columbia. Recruited from England by Governor James Douglas in 1854 to be the Church of England chaplain of Fort Victoria, Edward Cridge became an important figure in the spiritual life of the city as the rector of Christ Church. The Cridges also became two of Victoria's foremost social reformers, leaving an indelible mark on British Columbia's social institutions. Living through the terrible smallpox and black measles epidemics, the latter taking four of their own children, the inseparable pair worked to create the first hospital, beginning with a few beds in a rented cottage and living to see it transformed into the Royal Jubilee. As the first superintendent of education, Cridge played an essential role in B.C.'s early school system. When abandoned children were left at the parsonage door, Mary created Victoria's first orphanage.