The Victorian Era is focused on the reign of Queen Victoria, which is regarded as the golden years of the British Empire. This Era extends from 1837-1900 and is marked by traits such as the extension of empire and morality. Everything was seen to have its place and this was extended to all British subjects.

Victoria in the 1860s, when the Maynard's first arrived, was still a virgin colony. The Hudson's Bay Company first established its fort in 1843. Victoria became the capital of the first British Colony on the west coast of North America when it was established in 1849.

Gold was discovered on the mainland and the Colony of British Columbia was founded in 1858. Victoria prospered as an adjacent area and grew quite rapidly. Richard Maynard was one of the people who travelled west to prospect for gold, arriving in 1859 and later moving to Victoria in 1862.

In 1866 Vancouver Island merged with British Columbia and Victoria became the capital of the colony first, and then in 1871, when British Colombia joined Canada, of the new province. Victoria continued to grow and became the largest settlement on the Pacific, north of San Francisco. This would eventually taper off with the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railroad and the growth of Vancouver, which would surpass Victoria in 1901.

There was a sense of strictness and positioning in the Victorian Era and while it is debated how much of this extended through the more common classes of the empire there was still a feeling of what was proper and acceptable, and what was not. These themes were reflected to some degree in Victoria; however, the colony was the furthest from England and not homogeneously British, as there was a melting pot of people from different backgrounds gathering in the region.

Nevertheless, it is argued by a variety of sources that when Hannah Maynard emerged as a business lady there was apparently a slight commotion. However, although there is a myth of a boycott against her, there was a growing number of females employed under their own auspices at the time and Hannah was not as unique as many like to point out

 

 

 

Further information on Victoria's Victoria is available off this site on Victoria's Victoria main page.