Spirits in Victoria   
An Inspection of Liquor in the 1860's

    By the late 1890's prohibition of alcohol was beginning to be seen as an acceptable alternative to the liquor loaded state that people in Victoria were living in. In Demon Rum or Easy Money Campbell writes, "By the 1890's some British Columbians in Victoria and Vancouver, began to express concern about the proliferation of saloons." (15) In 1898 a vote was taken and the majority of the people voted for prohibition in British Columbia. However the decision to rid the province of alcohol was not quite so simple.


    Both the Federal and Provincial governments were trying to get into the liquor business. For some the idea of government control was seen as better than no contro at all, but in actuality it was no different at all. Alcohol was a business and one that was very profitable. For all of the obvious problems it brought, liquor was part of the fabric of western communities. The prohibition movement in 1898 and later attempts were never successful in abolishing the liquor trade completely. With such thirsty citizens, of all cultural backgrounds, drinking remained a popular activity through the turn of the century. Alcohol--- a profit and a problem. (16)

    Now let us return to the decade that is to be the focus of this web site--- the 1860's. What conditions  created such liquor crazed atmosphere? Who were these people, drinking until all hours of the night and making rich men out of the inn keepers and booze barons?

    To find out click . . . here