All aboard the "Del Martin" from Lasqueti to Nanaimo
As we travel back in time to those early days, how many of us have read through Elda Copley Mason's excellent
book "Lasqueti Island History And Memory". It is a great book to discover some of our early family history.
It has been a number of years since I browsed through the book, but recently checked out page nine
when she mentions Rosy Phillips and Bill Zelley leaving for Nanaimo aboard the "Del Martin".
It was so nice to see a reference to those lost in WW I including my great uncle John Phillips
(brother of Florence Rose Phillips.
Picture of PHILLIPS and ZELLEY
The picture is of Florence Rose Phillips and Henry William Zelley in 1916.
Thanks Brian
interesting... thanks for sharing!
Captain Gillis, Capain Zelley and the perils of the sea
I remember being told that H. W. Zelley before he married Rose Phillips he was working for Captain Gillis, They used to bring supplies to Lasqueti.
Years later, Captain Gillis turned to rum running.
Him and his son were killed by two Baker brothers.
They were hanged .
In about 1976 or 1977, there was a detailed profile of
Captain Zelley (then aged 82) in one of the Nanaimo papers..
It mentions, that Captain Gillis was the owner of the cannery on Lasqueti, but he went bankrupr in 1919. The story also mentions meeting his wife in 1916 which matches the "Del Martin" story.
At times, Rose (Phillips) Zelley would travel on fishing vessels.
One time, on a trip between Tuxedo and Thornsby Island, they
were carrying Scottish cured herring in barrels and were caught in a storm and were concered about going down. After that,
"the Lasqueti Island" Rose remained on dry land in Nanaimo.
In 1897, Captain Zelley lost a brother during a storm
that resulted from a hugh oak tree crashing onto the roof of the house in Nanaimo. Then in 1900, his father William Zelley,
John Cordell and Richard Kenyon drowned when Williams
saling vessel capsized, and in 1910, a cousin James Zelley
was lost at sea when the pilot cutter "Spirit" was cut in half
by the steamer St. Jans in the Weymouth harbour in Dorset, England.
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