1846!

As we already told you about Francis’ profession he was aware of the sea routes by heart. For the family’s supplies, he was the one who sailed for the trade in different parts of the country. His eldest son started to show interest in sailing and in no time Eliza could see the father-son duo waving at her, telling her that they would be back soon. One day Francis and his eldest son set for a voyage on their self-made ship, Jessie Millar. But something happened that day…

The Incident

Francis and his eldest son left the shore with several other people and the ship was filled with people. It wasn’t something new they were doing this time, as they have been doing this for all their lives. Everybody was on that ship for one purpose which was to trade and buy family’s goods. But it seemed like that sea wasn’t in a good mood that day and Jessie Millar crashed. Nobody survived but memories for their loved ones. At the age of 46, Eliza was now a widow. The last cargo which was with Eliza when this unfortunate event took place shattered all her dreams. But things were only getting darker for her…

And Then There Were 6

Eliza was now left with her 5 children and the supply of last cargo and she wasn’t ready to take charge but still, she had to move on. Determined she was ready to change both her and her children’s lives and it was time to toughen up her Scottish roots to come out. Back in the 1800s, nobody saw a woman succeeding without a husband. Eliza was different and she knew what was right for her and what she did next was just extraordinary. People started to see her from a different angle.

New Start!

With five children by her side, Eliza started working on her farm in Pigeon Bay which soon was thriving with happiness. She married off all her children and bought a ship for herself. She named her ship Bessie and was determined to make this work and swore to herself that she won’t ever let anything happen to Bessie. It was time to make the history and Eliza was ready to that. What she did next was something extraordinary that changed the fate of the island.

A Big Family

Eliza married off her five children and soon the children started having their family of their own and from five Sinclair family was now a big and happy family. With one farm she was able to support her five children but now when the Sinclair clan was more now a family of over 35 individuals they needed more land to support everyone. And then Eliza decided that she will sell the farm and sail to the Pacific North West with her whole family and start new.

New Beginning

The new ship Bessie was ready to sail. In the year 1863, the Sinclair family was on the ship, ready to sail for British Columbia, where they were hoping to acquire a big new land for the whole family. After sailing the new ship to a new land, the family was excited and happy. But the Vancouver Island had something else planned for the family and when they thought things would be easy it turned out to be exactly opposite.