The B.C. Protestant Orphan’s Home Website is a project of the History Department at the University of Victoria.  It is the work of four undergraduate history students, Anne Pinder, Sean Pollitt, Caroline Duncan and Cassandra Morton, who have collectively designed and authored the site employing recently acquired or enhanced abilities in archival research, web design and web creation.  This website explores the conditions under which British Columbia’s Protestant Orphans' Home was founded.  The philanthropic movement of the 19th century provides a pivotal point from which the religious, intellectual and economic motions can be viewed.  An in-depth account of the Home’s founders can be accessed through hypertext and links.  It is goal of the authors to promote accessible, interactive information in an open and ongoing discussion about the philanthropy and founding of the B.C. Protestant Orphans’ Home.

The group would like to thank Dr John Lutz of the UVIC History Department for his guidance and feedback on this project as well as Dennis Lee, teaching assistant at UVIC, for helping us with the technical issues.  We are grateful to the Cridge Centre for the Family, the City of Victoria Archives and the BC Archives for their cooperation in allowing us to reproduce images and documents.


About the Group

Sean Pollitt spollitt@uvic.ca
I am a fourth year Canadian history major and geography minor at UVIC.  I think this type of project is important because it increases the accessibility of history by publishing our findings on the Internet. I really enjoyed the research aspect of this project because it allowed us to work with many sources and gain a better understanding of Victoria from its early beginnings.

Anne Wicks mrs.wicks@gmail.com
I am Anne Wicks from Mission, BC.  I am currently enrolled in the history program at UVIC but will be transferring to Criminology at SFU in September before entering law school.  I felt that the Protestant Orphans' Home was a good project to explore because it has been a lasting pillar in the community of Victoria and is still doing good things today.

Cassandra Morton cassandra.morton@hotmail.com
I am a fourth year American History major with a minor in Hispanic and Italian Studies from Salt Lake City, Utah.  Over the past year I have developed a special interest in historical methodology as it applies to textual, oral and electronic form.  This project has provided an interesting case study in my own research interests that grapple with the constraints of language, narrative, and constructions.

Caroline Duncan caroline@alumni.uvic.ca
I have returned to university for part-time studies in History after graduating from UVIC with a B.A. in Anthropology and a post degree diploma in Cultural Resource Management.  The archival research aspect of this project was of particular interest to me and I hope that the primary documents and images published on the site will provide a useful resource for other researchers.