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Built in 1889 and now home to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria,
the Spencer Mansion is a magnificent building with a rich and
layered history. With detailed research, historian and author
Robert Ratcliffe Taylor describes the original appearance of the
house, designed by William Ridgway Wilson for Alexander Green and
his family, as well as its inhabitants over the decades. Also known
as Gyppeswyk, after the village in England where Green wed
Theophila Rainer, the house is more commonly referred to as the
Spencer Mansion, after later owners David and Emma Spencer. The
book also chronicles the brief period when the residence served as
BC's Government House and concludes with the story of how the house
came to function as an art gallery. A unique book, 'The Spencer
Mansion' showcases a true gem of Victoria's architecture and
history.
When war in Europe broke out in 1914, why did so many men from
Victoria, BC, Canada, enlist enthusiastically? What did they feel
about the war they were fighting? What were their personal values?
Were they ever disillusioned in the trenches of the Western Front?
To what extent did they enjoy combat? How did they regard the
German enemy? And faced with artillery bombardment, execrable
living conditions, and the fear of death or maiming, what helped
them to carry on? In researching these questions, the author found
that Victoria was a unique city in several ways and that some
assumptions about Canadian soldiers' trench experience may not
apply to volunteers from that city. Moreover, the culture of the
time was different from that of Canada today so that the enthusiasm
for military life and for "the empire" may seem bizarre to young
people. Ideals of masculinity may seem outdated, and the concepts
of personal honor and duty, which these men supported, may be
obsolete. This essay tries to understand the culture of Canada and
especially that of Victoria, BC, a century ago, a pertinent
exercise considering the centenary of the outbreak of the Great
War.
When war in Europe broke out in 1914, why did so many men from
Victoria, BC, Canada, enlist enthusiastically? What did they feel
about the war they were fighting? What were their personal values?
Were they ever disillusioned in the trenches of the Western Front?
To what extent did they enjoy combat? How did they regard the
German enemy? And faced with artillery bombardment, execrable
living conditions, and the fear of death or maiming, what helped
them to carry on? In researching these questions, the author found
that Victoria was a unique city in several ways and that some
assumptions about Canadian soldiers' trench experience may not
apply to volunteers from that city. Moreover, the culture of the
time was different from that of Canada today so that the enthusiasm
for military life and for "the empire" may seem bizarre to young
people. Ideals of masculinity may seem outdated, and the concepts
of personal honor and duty, which these men supported, may be
obsolete. This essay tries to understand the culture of Canada and
especially that of Victoria, BC, a century ago, a pertinent
exercise considering the centenary of the outbreak of the Great
War.
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