Middle Ward

Boundaries

In 1891, the Middle Ward of Nanaimo was between the North Ward and the South Ward, from Fitzwilliam and Bastion streets to Victoria crescent and from the harbour to the city limits. The population of the North Ward in 1891 was approximately 1535 residents.1 Property owners in the Middle Ward during the 1880s and 1890s benefited from dramatic inflation, which was arguably influenced by the completion of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway in 1886.2

Occupations

Of the 1535 Middle Ward residents, 1056 people reported some type of employment. Of the 147 labourers in the Middle Ward, 101 were Chinese. The Middle Ward was home to 206 of the 866 miners who lived in Nanaimo, 210 homemakers, and 147 labourers. The majority of working people in the middle ward were homemakers, miners, and labourers. The remainder of workers were employed in many occupations, primarily blue-collar. The Middle ward also had a small number of white-collar workers such as doctors, lawyers, an architect, dealers, salesmen, and teachers.

Perhaps the most interesting statistic is the largest occupation reported: homemaker. The Middle Ward had 210 homemakers, but only 206 miners. This statistic is remarkable in a mining town, but it is even more remarkable when one considers that women made up only one third of the Middle Ward population: 528 Women, 1007 Men.3

Click here to see a representational chart of the occupations and numbers of workers in each category.

Property Values

The property values in the Middle Ward increased dramatically between 1882 and 1892. One major event between 1880 and 1890 was the completion of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway on 30 September 1886.4 The property nearest the railway station, which was built in Nanaimo in 1886, had some of the most significant increases in Nanaimo. The map below shows several properties which surrounded the site of the station. Click the map to open it in full size. The full size map will allow you to click on individual properties and see the value increases, and in some instances, the property records will have links to information about the families who lived on the land.

Property values in Nanaimo were relatively low in the 1880s. A nice lot 82 by 140 feet at Lubbock Square had a low assessed value of one-hundred dollars, but by the early 1890s the values had risen significantly. The same lot wasassessed at one-thousand dollars just ten years later.In the ten year period between 1881 and 1891, property values in the Middle Ward of Nanaimo rose between five and ten times. It is likely that the overland link between Nanaimo and Victoria was largely responsible for the dramatic inflation experienced in the area. Many of the land owners in Nanaimo kept their property over the decade, but there were also some who sold their property. It would be interesting to look at the Land Titles Office records and see who was able to benefit from the property value increases by selling their land.

Class Division

After looking at the dramatic increases in property values, it is also interesting to look at who was living in the Middle Ward. The family portraits to the right are based on census data; birth, marriage, and death records; and photographic evidence available. The collection of information allows us to see what life in their families may have been like.

Although Allen Seager and Adele Perry convincingly argue that there was a strong division of classes in Nanaimo during the 1890s, it is hard to imagine that the people of the Middle Ward did not get along in a neighbourly fashion.7 Although he served as mayor of Nanaimo in 1880, John Pawson owned land and lived in the same neighbourhood as miners and storekeepers. John Hilbert was a successful entrepreneur in Nanaimo, and he undoubtedly serviced people who were of differing classes either as a furniture dealer or as an undertaker. Perhaps Hilbert’s reputation as a businessman is what earned him the confidence of his fellow Nanaimoans when they elected him mayor from 1890-1891.8 It is clear that Pawson and Hilbert were glad to live in the Middle Ward with the broadest range of classes. Why else would they have owned so much property in the Middle Ward when they could have chosen to live in the North Ward with the rest of the upper class.

Concluding Remarks

Nanaimo’s Middle Ward was a dynamic place in the 1890s. Land owners experienced dramatic property value increases from the decade before. Residents earned their livings through a multitude of occupations. Men outnumbered women three to one. New technologies became available to the public. The growth experienced by Nanaimo was echoed in the Middle Ward. In 1881, 2422 people lived in Nanaimo, but by 1891 there were 4586 residents.

The population of Nanaimo grew dramatically. This large growth is also a contributing factor to increased property values, but the completion of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway was arguably one of the greatest catalysts for the population growth and value increases seen in the 1890s.