Monday, September 21, 2026

Gr. Grandpa Joseph Enos Diary January 1885

 Gr. Grandpa Joseph Enos Diary — Surveying, January–February 1885

Excerpt from My Great-Grandfather’s Diary 📖

I’m sharing excerpts from my Great-Grandfather’s diary. They may not always appear in chronological order, so please bear with me as I work through them.

He lived in Nanoose Bay, on Notch Hill, and his diary gives us a glimpse into our family’s life and history.

My Great-Great-Grandfather came from the Azores to Victoria in 1862. He later married my Songhees Great-Great-Grandmother in 1876, the same year the federal Indian Act was enacted.

The diary belonged to my Great-Grandfather. My Great-Aunt Mary eventually donated it to the Royal BC Museum. I was able to have it scanned into a PDF, and I’ve also been working from the handwritten cursive to create a hand-printed transcription so that we can actually read his words.

It feels pretty special to be able to bring these pages back into the family story, more than a century later.

More excerpts to come. ❤️

Transcription Note

Please note: These transcriptions may contain errors. I am working from handwritten cursive that is more than 140 years old, and some words, names and places are difficult to decipher. Where I’m uncertain, I’ve indicated it with [brackets] or a question mark rather than guessing.

I’m sharing these as a work in progress, and I’ll continue to correct and refine the transcriptions as I learn more.

January–February 1885

January 19 — Monday

Surveying.

January 20 — Tuesday

Surveying.

January 21 — Wednesday

Surveying.

January 22 — Thursday

I went up the cost to help J.R. Hamilton to survey his Claims, G.H Drabble Survey Jan. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 Feb 1, 2, 3, 4 Surveying at J.B Hamilton.

February 5 — Thursday

We finishing surveying Hamilton & 6 and started on our way down.

February 6 — Friday

G J. Hamilton and M Drabble went went to survey J. Hamilton.

February 7 — Saturday

John Soza came to ? with us.

February 8 — Sunday

Fine weather. I went to J. Hamiltons.

February 9 — Monday

J. Hirst called. We began to pull the turnips up.

February 10 — Tuesday

Pulling up turnips.

February 11 — Wednesday

Drabble and Hamilton? head the bay having ? surveying our claims.

February 14 — Saturday

Surveying.

Places, People & Subjects Mentioned

J.R. Hamilton · G.H. Drabble · J.B. Hamilton · John Soza · J. Hirst

Surveying · Claims · turnips · bay

More excerpts from Joseph Enos's diary to come. ❤️

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