Through the main entrance of Ross Bay Cemetery, if you keep to the left, just past the Pooley statue, below a stately elm tree, youB次元官网网址檒l find red plastic flowers that don the grave site of .
But if you didnB次元官网网址檛 know what or who you were looking for, you might miss it. So, in memory of one of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 unsung female heroes, a memorial stone will be unveiled Oct. 18 honouring CashmanB次元官网网址檚 contributions to Canadian history.
Dr. Patrick Perry Lydon, the chair of the Nellie Cashman Committee, will join Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon and other distinguished guests to honour the B次元官网网址淎ngel in VictoriaB次元官网网址� who died in 1925 after a remarkable life lived the world over.
B次元官网网址淚 was just flabbergasted by the story of Nellie,B次元官网网址� Lydon says of uncovering her history. B次元官网网址淚 couldnB次元官网网址檛 believe that a little refugee from Ireland could come here and become such an important figure.B次元官网网址�
Cashman was born in Ireland shortly before the great potato famine that would claim the life of her father. Her mother brought Nellie and her sister Fanny to Montreal, before they settled in Boston when Nellie was a toddler. Cashman would later travel throughout North America living in Arizona, California, B.C., the Yukon and Alaska.
B次元官网网址淲herever she went, she had this compassion for the underdog,B次元官网网址� Lydon explains, pointing to her Christian faith as the driving force behind both her entrepreneurial spirit and dogged efforts to build hospitals and schools in mining communities. An owner of restaurants, bars, hotels and retail shops, Cashman would eventually get into the gold rush game herself, a feat for a woman of the late-1800B次元官网网址檚.
Lydon thinks it was her great competence, tremendous courage, and a fearlessness many admired, combined with her compassion and God-fearing nature that made her so special. B次元官网网址淪he was a pious individual,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淭here are no stains on her character, even though she lived in towns full of bars and brothels, she was above that.B次元官网网址�
During the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898, Cashman was in Bonanza Creek where she started the Miners Haven, encouraging the men to spend less time drinking and carousing, providing books and material to write home to their families. Ever aware of her gender in a time when women werenB次元官网网址檛 at work, Cashman maintained that as long as she treated the men properly, theyB次元官网网址檇 do the same in return. She was once whisked down the side of a mountain after an avalanche took her tent even further than she had set it up from a mining camp, out of respect for the men there.
B次元官网网址淪he was very honest, forthright and principled,B次元官网网址� Lydon says. And few men could argue with that.
After spending 20 years in northern Alaska, Cashman returned to Victoria upon falling ill and died on a chilly January day at St. JosephB次元官网网址檚 Hospital. For almost 100 years, a single stone has marked the place where Cashman was laid to rest. But two years ago, plans started forming to honour the woman who staunchly stood in a manB次元官网网址檚 world, both to honour her and spread the word about her life. Cashman is well known in the U.S. B次元官网网址� a restaurant in Arizona bares her name B次元官网网址� but not as much in Canada.
B次元官网网址淎s the Nellie Cashman Committee, itB次元官网网址檚 our job to draw attention to her great name and her legend,B次元官网网址� Lydon says.
The ceremony for the unveiling of the memorial stone will begin at 1 p.m. Oct. 18 at Ross Bay Villa, 1490 Fairfield Rd.
