[BCMA] Dedication of the Smith Family Headstone

Tue Oct 22 08:01:18 PDT 2019

For immediate release      

News Release  
For Immediate Release  
22 October 2019 

Unmarked Graves to Receive Headstone at
Ross Bay Cemetery  

   About the Dedication 

On October 25, 1918, the SS Princess Sophia , a CPR steamship, went down with an estimated 367
passengers and crew on board. It was the worst loss of life in a shipwreck in
the Pacific Northwest. Twenty-one of those who perished are buried at Ross Bay
Cemetery and there are memorial stones for two others. For the 101 st anniversary of the loss of the SS Princess
Sophia , the Maritime Museum of BC will dedicate a gravestone in Ross Bay
Cemetery for three members of the Smith family who were returning to Victoria
at the end of the riverboat season. William Peter, Sr., 47 and his two sons had
gone north for the first time and were employed by the White Pass & Yukon
Route on the SS Dawson. The brothers
were deckhands and their father was a fireman on the ship.  

William Peter, Sr. had ranched at Shawnigan before moving
to Victoria, where he had been employed as an engineer at the Union Club for
many years. William Peter Jr., was 17 and had gone overseas with the 103 rd Battalion when he was only 15 and was sent back home when it was
discovered he was underage. Roland Henry was 15 at the time of the tragic
sinking.  

David Leverton, Executive Director of the Maritime Museum
stated that, "It has taken over 100 years to recognise the final resting
place of Mr. Smith and his two sons. Unfortunately many bodies were never
recovered from the disaster. Anyone visiting Ross Bay Cemetery will no longer
walk past these unmarked graves. "  

Last year during the 100th Anniversary of the tragic
sinking, the Maritime Museum of BC dedicated a gravestone to William and Sarah
O'Brien and their five children at Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver.  

   Event Details  

The dedication will be at Ross Bay Cemetery on October
25, 2019 at 10:00 a.m., followed by a reception at the Maritime Museum of BC at
634 Humboldt St. at 11:00 a.m.  

The grave site is close to the cemetery entrance at
Memorial Crescent and May Street.  

-30-      

For further information, please contact:  

David Leverton, Executive Director  
Maritime Museum of BC  
250-385-4222 ext. 101  
 mailto:dleverton at mmbc.bc.ca dleverton at mmbc.bc.ca    mailto:bvis at mmbc.bc.ca?subject=  

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    mailto:info at mmbc.bc.ca             

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