As I look back on the We are Family Briggs blog stories over the past year, I have to wonder how my relations celebrated the holiday season those many years ago.
Every family has traditions with some being carried forward from generation to generation. One tradition I remember from my childhood is always having to eat a full breakfast before we opened presents so our tummies wouldn’t get sick from all the junk food we would be having throughout the day. We were allowed to open our stockings before breakfast, but the rest had to wait. And trust me, it was a full breakfast and cleanup afterwards! I did that with my two sons while they grew up and they still remember it to this day.
Having young children around during Christmas seems to make it that more magical. The magic tends to fade as we get older. The one thing I try to remember is whether you’re with family or surrounded by wonderful friends, it is being together that is the most important part of the season.
I will be spending Christmas with my two sons. The one tradition that we look forward to is on Christmas Eve. We have a lot of snacks, watch a movie and play a game. This year, we’ve invited some special friends to join us.
For Christmas day dinner, we are going away from the traditional turkey and having salmon (which is always a treat for us), and visiting family on Boxing Day for the turkey dinner which we are very much looking forward to. **UPDATE – Boxing Day dinner is now New Year’s Day dinner – can’t wait!
So, from my family to yours, please have a safe and wonderful holiday season, carry on your family traditions and always remember the magic of the season.
It’s the month of December and the season of giving! For me, it’s always the season of giving – you don’t need to wait for Christmas or birthdays to give. My gift to you is the celebration of family and getting to know another member of our family.
Before we meet that person, let’s wish Tyler a happy birthday!
Last December, we met Mary Irving Briggs who is my paternal great-great grandmother and born on December 25th. Here’s a link to her story if you missed it:
Now let’s see who shares your birthday in December. Allow me to introduce you to William Irving Briggs born to Thomas Lasher Briggs and Mary Irving on December 26, 1875, Victoria, BC, a day after Mary’s 23rd birthday.
The birth registration shows some interesting items:
William’s full name
Date of birth
Names of parents, Thomas Lasher Briggs and Mary Irving
Profession of father, Thomas, as merchant
Original signature of Thomas Lasher Briggs
Street the family lived on in Victoria – Gordon Street
It’s amazing how much information you can get with one document!
William is the oldest of nine children. One of them being my great-grandfather, Thomas Albert (“Dick”) Briggs. So that makes William my great-granduncle.
The Briggs family lived in Victoria from about the beginning of 1875 to 1881, at which time they moved to New Westminster. The 1881 Canada Census shows the family in New Westminster. A City Directory for New Westminster from 1882 shows Thomas L. Briggs’ residence as “Royal Avenue” – presumably Irving House.
This picture is from the New Westminster Archives which shows William as a student at a school in Portland:
William had eight siblings (five brothers/three sisters), and all were raised at Irving House.
William married Helen “Nell” Frances Jackson April 8, 1896, in New Westminster. One interesting item to note in the Marriage Registration (although there are a lot of interesting items!), is William’s profession is noted as “Student-at-Law”. Before this, I have not been able to find anything to verify this information. The only indication of his being a law student is noted is his obituary as having graduated from Osgoode Hall in 1897. Osgoode Hall is located in Toronto, Ontario and was a very prestigious law school at that time. Hopefully, with a little bit more digging, I hope to find more to confirm this information.
The 1901 Canada Census shows William and Nell, along with their son, Lemuel, living with her mother. Not sure why this is the case as the City Directories for 1900 up to 1905, show William’s home at Irving House. Although the address does say 248 Royal Avenue – this was the original address until 1909 which showed 302 Royal Avenue. I’m guessing this is because of growth in the area where addresses did tend to change to accommodate other residential growth.
I have found several newspaper articles and City Directories which show William’s journey throughout his life. Rather than doing a paragraph for each article, let’s take a look with a timeline:
DATE
NEWSPAPER/ CITY DIRECTORY
CONTENTS
1897
City Directory
Student-at-law, Lorne, h 248 Royal ave.
1900 October 20
The Victoria Daily Times
Holidaying with friend J.B. Kennedy in Kamloops, BC, “for the good of their health”
1901
City Directory
Student-at-law, h 248 Royal ave.
1901 April 03
The Chilliwack Progress
Mr. Alex Henderson & Mr. W. I. Briggs, eldest son of Mr. T.L. Briggs, have formed a legal partnership in New Westminster. Mr. Briggs is comparatively new in the profession, having recently been called to the bar, after studying in the office of Messrs. Morrison & Dockrill.
1901 November 7
The Province
Young Men’s Liberal Club was formed. W. I. Briggs was elected as an officer and appointed the position of secretary.
1901-1902
City Directory
Henderson & Briggs; h. 248 Royal
1902
City Directory
Morrison, Whiteside, McQuarrie & Briggs, h 248 Royal
1903
City Directory
Morrison, Whiteside, McQuarrie & Briggs, h 248 Royal
1903 August 13
Daily News Advertiser
Mr. W.I. Briggs, the well-known barrister of this city, was up at Pitt Lake yesterday afternoon with a small party in the yacht Night-hawk. While coming down the lake on the return trip and below the stone quarry, Mr. Briggs signed an object to warrant further investigation which was later to be determined as a corpse.
1903 December 24
Daily News Advertiser
Lost – “Cap”, the liver and white spaniel owned by Mr. W.I. Briggs was lost last week while on a shooting trip with his master down river.
1904
City Directory
Barrister, Bank of Commerce block, h. 248 Royal ave.
1904 March 26
The Province
Mr. W.I. Briggs has severed his connection with the legal firm of Morrison, Whiteside, McQuarrie & Briggs and has opened offices for himself.
1905
City Directory
Barrister, Bank of Commerce block, h. 248 Royal ave.
1905 March 23
Vernon News
Mr. Briggs was a partner of Aulay Morrison K.C., before his election to the Supreme Court Bench several months ago.
1905 July 07
The Victoria Daily Times
William Irving Briggs, of Revelstoke, barrister and solicitor, to be a notary public within and for the province of British Columbia.
1907 November 2
B.C. Saturday Sunset
W.I. Briggs of the firm of Scott & Briggs, Revelstoke…..
1908 April 18
B.C. Saturday Sunset
Mr. and Mrs. W.I. Briggs have moved into their new residence on McKenzie Avenue.
1910
City Directory
Revelstoke; barrister and solicitor, First St
1916 October 31
Daily News Advertiser
Yesterday afternoon at the high school Trustee W.I. Briggs on behalf of the School Board, presented Ernest Frey with the Governor-General’s medal…..
1917 January 5
The Victoria Daily Times
William Irving Briggs, of the same city (Revelstoke) has been named as a coroner for the province.
1917 February 1
Vernon News
A.E. Kincaid, who was appointed acting police magistrate at Revelstoke after Dr. J.H. Hamilton, the magistrate, left for the front, has been replaced by W.I. Briggs.
1928
City Directory
Barrister, h 400, 1041 Comox
1928 December 6
The Surrey Gazette
Mr. W.I. Briggs has opened a law office in the new Parr block, recently completed and expects to reside in Cloverdale. Mr. Briggs has been connected with the law business in Revelstoke for the last 20 years, and has held during that time, almost continuously the office of City Solicitor, and for a number of years was coroner, also acting as deputy policy magistrate for some time.
1929
City Directory
Barrister
1930
City Directory
Retired; 806 W. 18
1933 – 1938
City Directories
Barrister retired; 1286 W. 14
Sometime in 1905, William and his family moved to Revelstoke, BC (determined by newspaper articles, city directories and the 1911 & 1921 Canada Census). It is said he was in Revelstoke for approximately 20 years (as noted in December 6, 1928, newspaper article.
William and Nell had five children – Lemuel (1899), Helen (1904), Mary (1909), Kenneth (1911 and Beryl (1917).
William passed away March 17, 1938, at the age of 63. The cause of death is unknown as I’ve been unable to obtain the death registration (working on it!):
As you can see, William had a very full if not short life. A sad part of his death is he was unable to attend his youngest daughter’s wedding (to John Farthing) in 1941.
Here are some more pictures for you to enjoy:
First picture (abt 1900) – William; second picture (abt 1909) – (back) Lemuel (son) and William, (seated) Elizabeth Irving Ryan (grandmother) and Mary Irving Briggs (mother); third picture (abt 1914) – (back) William Irving Briggs, John Briggs, Mary Irving Briggs, Thomas L. Briggs, (seated) Nell Briggs (wife), Kenneth Briggs (son), Elizabeth Dixon Irving, (on the grass) Lemuel, Helen and Mary Irving (William & Nell’s children). All pictures are from the New Westminster Archives.
Thank you for joining me in getting to know William Irving Briggs!
We Are Family Briggs 