John Marshall et al
As part of the Chinese Historical Wrongs Legacy Initiative, we’ve digitized a small selection of inquests and inquiries from 1872 to 1934, found in series GR-0431. These were chosen to reflect the experiences of early Chinese immigrants to B.C. – their living and working conditions, and their unfortunate accidental or unusual deaths. They range from a woman working in a brothel in Barkerville who died of natural causes to three sawmill workers who died from malnutrition. Learn more.
*All transcriptions are provided by volunteers, and the accuracy of the transcriptions is not guaranteed. Please be sure to verify the information by viewing the image record, or visiting the BC Archives in person.
*Please note that archival source materials are original historical documents that have not been censored, reviewed or otherwise altered by the Royal BC Museum. Some materials may contain content that is racist, sexist or otherwise offensive. The Royal BC Museum is only the custodian of archival materials; the content does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Royal BC Museum.
Current Page Transcription [edit] [history]
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Second Session: 8:00 P.M. Nov.14th., 1916. Coroner;- We will proceed to take down further evidence. Who is the first witness, officer? Officer;- Mr Mitchell.
- 8 Alexander Mitchell, Mitchell's Island Richmond Municipality, Lulu Island, B.C. farmer, being duly sworn, saith;-
Well, Saturday evening I was in the boathouse when I heard someone hollering and I opened the door and was told to get the boat. I went and got the boat as fast as I could. I rowed around part of the Island. It was hard to find out where the people were but I imagined I heard a little girl scream and I rowed around till I saw the two girls, the younger, and she was pretty low in the water. I saw the other girl, she was in the water face down, perhaps dead. As soon as I placed them on the tugboat. The man on the tugboat helped me get them out, taking up our time reviving them.
Q;- The one who was dead? A;- Took the other one down to the furnace, and then took the other one to the house. After we got there to the house we done what we could for her; as far as anything else, I hadn't much chance to see. Mr Cowan;- Was the man who was floating taken to your house also? A;- Yes. Q;- What is his name? A;- Hutchison. Q;- Did you have conversation with him? A;- Yes, but he didn't talk much. He was pretty feeble after coming in for quite a while, and after he had been there some time I thought he could talk quite well. Q;- What did he say? A;- He told me he had four drinks of beer before leaving Ladners. I asked him how they got over. He said that they were going too fast. He said that they had applied the brakes; he could not stop; he was going too fast. He could not talk very much. That's all he wanted to say when we had him. Juror;- Mr Hutchison, or Mr Smith? A;- Mr Hutchison, Mr Smith didn't come from Ladner. I don't