Throughout 2008, British Columbia has been celebrating an important milestone: its 150th birthday. Here at British Columbia Magazine, we highlighted the sesquicentennial in our Summer 2008 issue, a special 150-themed Collector’s Edition.
Today, our colleagues at Victoria’s Times Colonist newspaper mark a significant anniversary of their own: the first edition of the British Colonist was printed exactly 150 years ago. The four-page newspaper was produced in a shack on Wharf Street by founder Amor de Cosmos, who later became B.C.’s second premier.
To commemorate their anniversary, the paper launched a website today that provides the public with free access to the first 50 years of Colonist newspapers. Lucinda Chodan, Times Colonist editor in chief, called the resource a “gift to the community that has helped us thrive.”
“It’s going to be great for historians, genealogists, or anyone who wants to know about the history of the province,” she said.
The British Colonist site, which went live today at 10:00 a.m., can be searched chronologically or by key word. Either way, it provides a remarkable record of the way we were.
Congratulations, Times Colonist!
