Header - Thunder Bird Park

Present Park header graphic

St. Joseph's Province

The first four Sisters of St Ann arrived from Quebec on June 5, 1858. Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart, Sister Mary Lumena, Sister Mary Conception, and Sister Mary Angèle were accompanied on their journey by their lay assistant Marie Mainville. On their arrival, they did not find the Victoria they had been expecting. The small First Nations and fur trading community Bishop Modeste Demers had described no longer existed; in its place was a burgeoning – mostly English-speaking – gold rush town. 

Only Sister Mary Conception spoke English well enough to teach entirely in that language, and a call was sent back to the motherhouse in St. Jacques – de – l’Achigan for English-speaking teachers. In 1859, Sister Mary Providence and Sister Mary Bonsecours joined their Sisters on Vancouver Island. 

From these humble beginnings, the Sisters of St Ann grew into one of the most influential providers of educational and health care other than the provincial government, providing the residents of British Columbia, the Yukon and Alaska with schools and hospitals. 
St Ann’s Academy Victoria before 1910

St Ann’s Academy Victoria, before 1910

BC Archives, F-09982
Entrance gate to St Ann’s Academy Victoria after 1886

Entrance gate to St Ann’s Academy Victoria, after 1886

BC Archives C-05381
The kindergarten and primary school Victoria, ca 1900

The kindergarten and primary school Victoria, ca 1900

BC Archives A-07674
A new school for St Ann’s Victoria

A new school for St Ann’s Victoria, the Pioneer Convent is in the right, 1871

BC Archives A-07670
St Ann’s Academy Victoria, ca 1900

St Ann’s Academy Victoria, ca 1900

BC Archives F-09981
St Ann’s Academy Victoria by Margaret Elizabeth Kitto

St Ann’s Academy Victoria by Margaret Elizabeth Kitto, ca 1914

BC Archives PDP00207

| The First Sisters | The Sisters Expand their Work | Additional Information |
Back to St. Ann's Main Page