by Ann Walsh
Washington (or Wellington) Delaney Moses
Moses was a barber in Barkerville for many years, and his shop is a major display in the restored town. His role in the Blessing/Barry affair is well documented as he was the principal witness against James Barry.
Mr. Malanion
Mr. Malanion (probably a misspelling of the French “Malamon”) was a violin player who had been a member of the Paris Opera Orchestra. Malanion spent many years in Barkerville giving music lessons. His grave is also in the Barkerville Cemetery.
Sing Kee
There were many Chinese who came to the goldfields, and most towns had an herbalist like Sing Kee. Much of what he sold was imported from China, but he may have grown some of his own herbs on terraced gardens on the hillsides of Barkerville. Sing Kee no doubt sold opium from his shop, for the Chinese were among the first to realize the great benefits the drug offered. Opium, in a solid form, was also smoked by some members of the Chinese community. Sing Kee’s store and samples of his wares are on display in Barkerville.
James Barry
James Barry was tried in front of Judge Begbie (“The Hanging Judge”) and was found guilty of the murder of Charles Blessing.
He was hanged on August 8, 1867, but whether his ghost ever walked the streets of Barkerville, I do not know.
Other Characters
Like Ted, his parents are fictitious, as are Mrs. Fraser, the twins, and Bridget. All other characters mentioned by name are real people, including the doctors to whose research J.B. sometimes refers.
PLACES, THINGS, AND EVENTS
The Peace House (Tai Ping Fong)
The Peace House, also called the Peace Room or Tai Ping Fong, was a haven for indigent Chinese who were too ill to care for themselves. Others brought them food and cared for them; many men died in that tiny cabin or one much like it. It was customary to unearth the bodies several years after death and send the bones back to China to be reburied. A replica of the Peace House stands behind the Tong building in today’s Barkerville.
The Physician’s Vade Mecum
In 1823 Doctor Hooper of London published the first Vade Mecum, stating in his preface that he intended to provide a “concise treatise on the practice of medicine for the use of Student and Practitioner.” The book was so successful that it was reprinted many times with new sections added as medical knowledge increased. The 1868 edition, updated and revised by Doctors William A. Guy and John Harley, is the one I used for reference. It contains almost everything a physician of that time needed to know—how to treat milk fever; how to ease pain; how to recognize diphtheria, meningitis, or measles; how to prepare salves or purgatives; and even how to amputate limbs. It was an invaluable source of information about the practice of medicine at the time of the events of this book.
The Barkerville Fire
On September 16, 1868, at a quarter to three in the afternoon, a fire started in Barkerville in a building near Barry and Adler’s Saloon. The most commonly believed story is that a miner was trying to steal a kiss from a saloon girl who was ironing, and he knocked against the stovepipe of the wood stove on which she was heating her flatiron. By fourthirty, the whole town, with the exception of a few buildings in the upper section, was on fire. By ten o’clock the next morning, reconstruction had already begun and continued at a great pace until the town was rebuilt, much as it can be seen today. Since no one died or vanished in the Barkerville Fire, Yan Quan is my own invention. What really happened to him remains a mystery, even to me.
ANN WALSH is the author of Flower Power, Your Time, My Time, Shabash! (nominated for the Silver Birch Award), and The Ghost of Soda Creek (a Canadian Library Association’s Notable Selection). She is also the creator of the Barkerville historical mystery series, whose novels include Moses, Me and Murder, The Doctor’s Apprentice, and By the Skin of His Teeth. As an editor, she has published three anthologies of children’s stories, Winds Through Time, Beginnings, and Dark Times. All her books have received the Canadian Children’s Book Centre Our Choice Award. She lives in Williams Lake, British Columbia.
