Henry’s birth on 14 Sep 1826 at Wilmington, Dartford Borough, Kent, England
DEATH on 13 Feb 1914 (aged 87) at Victoria, Capital Regional District, British Columbia, Canada
Sarah birth on 20 Aug 1829 at Dartford, Dartford Borough, Kent, England
DEATH on 8 Jan 1906 (aged 76) at Victoria, Capital Regional District, British Columbia, Canada
BURIAL at Holy Trinity Anglican CemeteryNorth Saanich, Capital Regional District, British Columbia, Canada
PLOT Wain Family Plot
Henry Wain was born September 14, 1826 in Wilmington, Kent, England. On March 24, 1850, he arrived at Fort Victoria aboard the Norman Morison, contracted as an indentured servant by the Hudson’s Bay Company (“HBC”), to serve as carpenter. Six weeks later Wain and six other HBC servants deserted (see entry on Charles Fish for conditions at the fort which perhaps aggrieved the men) and made their way as far as Nisqually. The author of the Nisqually Journal, on May 31, 1850, observed poor conditions of the men: “pillaged of their property and food by Klalums [Tlalum],” camping at Point Partridge, and subsisting for three days on shellfish. They soon returned to Fort Victoria, excepting Lafleur, who sought to “make terms with Mr. Douglas.” Henry Wain continued in the Victoria district, working on a flour mill at Esquimalt Bay.
Wain sailed with the Norman Morison for England in September, 1850, returning October 30, 1851. He joined the Recovery crew on June 7, 1852, part of the HBC gold mining enterprise in the Queen Charlottes (Haida Gwaii). Wain’s service was halted in January 1855, sailing aboard the Princess Royal for England. During this period he married Sarah Davis (c. 1829-March 21, 1906; married March 1, 1856), presently resuming service with the HBC until 1856.
Subsequently, Henry and Sarah settled on a farm near Horth Cross Road (renamed Wain Road), North Saanich where they raised eight children. An entrepreneur, Wain acquired a second farm in 1863, siting a hotel and tavern, supplying drinks from his own California hops, and operating a postal office and stage coach between Deep Cove and Victoria. Henry Wain died in Victoria in 1914.
Nellie was born in North Saanich, the daughter of Henry and Sarah Wain from Kent, England. Henry Wain has the distinction of arriving at Fort Victoria on both the 1st and 2nd voyages of the Norman Morison, in 1850 and 1851, as he went back to England in between. On his third trip back to England, he married Sarah. Henry Wain was a skilled finishing carpenter: he built the windows on Craigflower Schoolhouse and a mill for the HBC. After HBC released him from his indenture, he set up his own business. Victoria’s first mayor, butcher Thomas Harris, had Henry build him a barn in North Saanich. Henry liked the district so bought his own 160 acres nearby, by the west corner of the road later named for him. He was a pioneer hop grower, ran a tavern, the first North Saanich post office, and a stage.
