The older reports published by the Okanagan Historical Society are full of interesting articles and tidbits of history. We are pleased to share with you some of our favourites on this page.
Grace Worth, "Autobiography (1900-1910)," Report of the Okanagan Historical Society 33 (1969): 113-144.
Followers of this page have already been introduced to Grace Worth, the author of the previous Featured Article on Vernon-area pioneer James Halbold Christie. Grace and her husband Harry were pioneers in their own right-they were amongst the earliest settlers in Trinity Valley east of Vernon-and her two-part autobiography, the first of which is featured here, makes for a fascinating read. It also serves as a reminder of how much things have changed since the early 1900s, and how the recorded memories of OHS members such as Grace Worth help put those changes into perspective by allowing you to "walk in the shoes" or "see through the eyes" of earlier generations of Okanagan residents.
Grace Worth, "James Halbold Christie," Report of the Okanagan Historical Society 31 (1967): 157-172.
Grace Worth (1879-1972) was born the youngest of twelve children to tenant farmers in Devon England. Both parents died before she finished her schooling, requiring she move first to live with a sister in nearby Ashbourne, and later, in London, where she completed teacher training, learned about poverty and class, and thereafter became a life-long and committed socialist.
In 1901, she married her sweetheart Harry before they both emigrated to Canada. There they acquired 160 acres of forest in Trinity Valley, where they proved themselves hardy souls, and with her feisty intelligence and interest in people and society, she became a community leader.
In her later years, Grace became interested in an earlier Trinity Valley pioneer, James Halbold Christie, who she tracked down when he was an old man and visited in 1937 and 1942 in Vernon. She later wrote of him in the 31st annual report (1967) of the Okanagan Historical Society, and this is the article that is currently featured. Without Grace Worth's tenacity and research skills, we might to this day still not have known of her friend "Jim," a remarkable person and pioneer.
Stay tuned for a further OHS story on the fascinating life of Jim Christie, which will build on what Grace Worth spoke of in OHS 31 and in her own two-part autobiography in OHS 33 and 34 (1969 and 1970), both of which will be featured on this webpage over the next few months.
