Martha Douglas with her sister Jane.
Between 1872 and 1874, the youngest daughter of Governor Sir James Douglas, Martha(or Marthe), lived in England and attended a finishing school for young ladies called Lansdowne House. In light of what her father assumed to be a rough, uncultured upbringing he thought it necessary that she was given the opportunity to as he put it “get rid of the cobwebs of colonial training and give [her] a proper finish.”
During her years abroad, Martha maintained a dedicated correspondence with her father in England. Islander author Derek Pethick provides these excerpts from a few of Douglas’s letters. Sir James Douglas is one of the most well known public figures in BC history. However, the sentiments that he expresses in these writings provide an intriguing insights into Douglas’s private life.
Composing lines daily, Douglas would send off a complete letter when he felt he had generated enough content. His letters seemed to be mainly composed of paternal wisdom and advice, but are also balanced by a fair amount news and current events from Victoria.
Here, Douglas gives his daughter a view pointers on improving her character and temperament.
This advice cannot have added much to Martha’s enjoyment of life in England. “Shun extravagance; it is the sure road to poverty and ruin. Arithmetic must not be neglected; no art is more necessary or useful in the affairs of daily life. You may speak of “resting your weary legs” would it not be nicer to say “weary limbs”?
“I wish you to be in all respects ladylike, both in speech and manner. A lady never uses slang phrases, which are essentially vulgar, and to me unbearable.”
He even returned one of her letters to him with comments and corrections. “First I wish to observe that it is somewhat of a scrawl, carelessly written, and not so neatly worded as it should be. In order to improve your style, study the writings of good authors. I enclose a part of your last letter, pruned of redundancies, as a study. Observe how it is improved by the process.”
Governor Sir James Douglas
Douglas’s keen interest in political matters was also made clear by his writing.
In political matters, Douglas took a dim view of Amor de Cosmos, premier of B.C. from 1872 to 1874. For unexplained reasons he told his daughter that “it is suspected de Cosmos is betraying the country.”
He added that “young ladies must not be so decided in their politics. They must always be gentle and good, carefully avoiding the use of strong language.
As a long time resident of Victoria, Douglas came to keenly appreciate the natural world around him. This tender passage portrays a very different side of Douglas’s personality, that bears little resemblances to his well known shrewd, hard fisted pubic persona.
The view from the bottom of Douglas's James Bay Garden
“You would be delighted with a morning peep of the varied and highly tinted foliage at James Bay. The splendour of its rich and gorgeous hues, reflecting the bright rays of the morning sun, are beautiful beyond description. The air is fragrant with the sweets exalted by the wild rose, now blooming in countless abundance. It is indeed delightful to wander about amidst the beauty and wild luxuriance of nature – so far surpassing in grace the beauty of the utmost efforts of art.”
Martha herself went on to become a noted artist. Throughout her life, she painted many still lifes and portraits and also collected and recorded the stories of Canadian aboriginal people.
Her interest in the culture was likely instigated by the stories that she was taught by her mother Amelia, who was half Cree. In 1901 she published a collection of 20 myths and legends, called “History and Folklore of the Cowichan Indians”. Interestingly, this was only after her parents deaths, as during their lives they had been extremely uncomfortable with their mixed racial backgrounds.
A stalwart of the Victoria arts community until her death in 1933, Martha was a founding member of the Island Arts and Crafts Society and the Victoria Hand Weavers Guild. As well she was involved in the Victoria Lace Club whose members at one time included Hannah Maynard and Emily Carr.
From The Islander 