John Sebastian Helmcken arrived in Fort Victoria in 1850 to work as a physician for the Hudson’s Bay Company.

He remained here for the rest of his life, marrying Cecilia Douglas, the eldest daughter of Governor James Douglas. The young couple has a small log cabin built here in 1852, next to their in-laws home. Over the years as the family grew the house also grew larger. It is one of the oldest housed in western Canada.

Dr. Helmcken practiced medicine during the fur trade, the gold rush and the colonial era; he helped create its modern, professional form in British Columbia. As a politician he served in the first Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island in 1856 as the first Speaker. Initially an opponent of Confederation, he went with the Ottawa delegation in 1870 to negotiate the terms by which British Columbia would join Canada. After this, he retired from politics and returned to medicine and his family. He lived in this house until his death in 1920. In 1939, the family transferred this house and Dr. Helmcken’s memoirs to the provincial government.

[Photo caption]

Dr. John Sebastian Helmcken, c. 1854. RBCM BCA A-01356

Marker can be reached from Douglas Street near Belleville Street.

Courtesy hmdb.org

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