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British Columbia / B.C. Postal History / By Air Mail - SOUTH PENDER, B.C. (split ring / broken circle cancel / postmark) to Nakuru, Kenya Colony, Africa (sent by Postmaster) by Treasures from the Past

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LINK to - Canadian Air Mail Rates - Domestic and International 1925-2020 - www.americanairmailsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10...

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- signed by - From - C. C. Conery / South Pender, B.C. Canada (Postmaster at South Pender, B.C.)

SOUTH PENDER - a post office and farming settlement on

southeast of Pender Island, in the Islands Provincial Electoral District, served by C. P. R. Vancouver-Ganges Harbour water route.

North Pender and South Pender were originally one island connected by an isthmus. This is a site that was used by the Coast Salish First Nations for thousands of years, and has a rich history. A canal was dredged in the early 1900′s to allow the ferry and boats quicker, safer passage between the islands.

The SOUTH PENDER Post Office was established - 1 June 1903 - was located in the store at Bedwell Harbour. The Post Office closed - 7 July 1970. Closed to Port Washington

LINK to a list of the Postmasters who served at the SOUTH PENDER Post Office - central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=posoffposmas&id=2...

Claude Clarence Conery the sender of this Air Mail letter was also the Postmaster at SOUTH PENDER and served from - 1 April 1943 to - 24 March 1947.

Claude Clarence Conery

(b. 27 August 1892 in Salt Spring Island, British Columbia - d. 31 July 1982 at age 89 in Ganges, British Columbia / Hope Bay, Pender Island, British Columbia) - occupations - logger / farmer / postmaster. LINK to his death certificate - search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/f8... LINK to his newspaper obituary - www.newspapers.com/clip/110835634/obituary-for-claude-cla...

LINK to his - First World War Personnel Records (Regimental number: 103166) - central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=pffww&id=112002&a... or www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-wo...

His wife - Leah (nee MacFarlane) Conery

(b. 10 September 1886 in Belfast, Ireland - d. 19 August 1974 at age 87 in Sidney, British Columbia) - They were married - 8 July 1918 in Belfast, Ireland - LINK to her death certificate - search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/d3...

Clipped from the - The Gulf Islands Driftwood - 27 August 1970 - TALE OF TWO ISLANDS - WHERE BETTER TO RETIRE? - (BY CULTUS COULEE) - Claude and Leah Conery came to Ganges, last year, in time for their 51st anniversary. From 1922 they had lived on the Penders. For Claude, it was coming home. His father, Socrates Tobias Conery, and mother, Sybil Ellen, came from their farm at Grande Isle, Lake Champlain, Vermont, via Victoria, to Salt Spring, in the late 1880's. Mr. Conery bought 460 acres at Conery's Lake, now Blackburn Lake. Claude was born on the island. "Such a little chap, Claude was, with long, golden curls!" Myrtle Beddis Roe says. "My folks, from The Wilderness, were visiting Conerys, one rainy day, and Claude came in, quite wet, and crawled under the stove to dry!" The curls had to be cut when he and Myrtle Beddis began school - a long walk to The Divide, and the polular Galway teacher, Albert Cooke. With farm and orchard going well, Conery's house burned down, leaving nothing but the chimney. His wife died soon after, and Mr. Conery, with Claude and Bud, (Socrates Tobias 2nd), went to Richmond Virginia, to begin farming all over again. "It was there, in 1911, that I read of the IROQUOIS sinking, off Sidney. A tiny item in a Richmond paper," says Claude. "I'd seen her at Ganges, on her first run, about 1902. A lot of people were down at the wharf to look at her. I went through the Canal on her, twice!" That was the thing. Where a bridge joins the Penders now, you could lean over the rail and nearly touch the bank. In 1915, the brothers came back from Virginia, to join up, going, overseas with the Western Scots. Claude, wounded and gassed in France, was in Carlyle military hospital, Cumberland. Nursing there, was Leah McFarlane. "There were 650 beds" she says. Claude was one of her patients. They were married July 8, 1918, in Ballysillan Presbyterian church, outside Belfast, where Leah's parents, the John McFarlanes, lived. Claude returned to Victoria for discharge. Leah followed in a ship of warbrides. Crossing the North Channel to England had been her greatest journey. Now she was embarked on the Atlantic, and headed for Canada's west coast. Maybe she thought of lines in "Ireland" - "I have left you behind In the path of the past, With the white breath of flowers" But then came the joy of arrival in Victoria, and "lots and lots of flowers." Also her waiting husband. In 1922, after a few years in Victoria, Claude, who loved the islands, moved to Shingle Bay, Pender; and later to Port Washington. Claude logged on South Pender with Herbert Spalding. Herbert's sister, Helen, was Mrs. Tommy Walker, and when the Walkers went to Lulu Island, in 1930, the Conerys took over their place in the valley. About 1932, pioneer Gerald Richardson died. His farm and orchard needed a friend, and the Richardson sisters in England, were glad when Tommy Walker, back from the mainland, suggested Claude Conery. So the Conerys left the valley, for a house on a bluff, at the entrance to Bedwell Harbour, overlooking Swanson Channel, Turn Point Light, and Wallace Point, to the Olympics. In 1937, Claude helped the building committee choose a site for the Church of the Good Shepherd, donated by the Richardson sisters. The wedding of his daughter, Sybil, to Commander Bill Willson, May 3, 1969, was the third in the church. The Roll of Honour lists Fred Conery, killed in action, 1944, aged 19. When Mrs. Arthur Spalding, Postmistress from 1900, retired in 1943, Claude Conery took over; resigning the job to John Freeman in 1947. Like his father, Claude was a school trustee. June 1896, in "Parish and Home Magazine" Rev. E.F. Wilson, Anglican rector of Salt Spring Island, records plans for a school on The Divide. Trustees, Ed Walter, A. Cartwright and S. Conery. "I was appointed trustee when I was over on the north side, hunting for my cow" Claude says. I came back to fine they'd put me in!" In 1948 Conery bought 63 acres on Plumper Sound where he built; and began an orchard. Wherever Claude lived, there were apple trees. In December 1959, he sold to Salt Spring Lands and moved to 37 acres on North Pender. In April, 1969, he sold, again to Salt Spring Lands, and moved to Ganges. The journey had come full circle. And where better to settle, than on your childhood island? To "... walk among long, dappled grass, And pluck til time and times are done. The silver apples of the moon, the golden apples of the sun."

- sent from - / SOUTH PENDER / SP 11 / 44 / B.C. / - split ring cancel - this split ring hammer (A1-1) was not listed in the Proof Book - it was most likely proofed c. 1903 - (RF C).

Addressed to: Geo. Rickard Esq / P.O. Box 22 / Nakuru, Kenya Colony / Africa

Col. George Rickard

(b. 23 April 1894 in Falmouth, Cornwall, England - d. 18 August 1957 at age 63 in Victoria, British Columbia) - Occupation - Industrial Organizer - LINK to his death certificate - search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/03...

His wife - Margot Edith (nee Carne) Rickard

(b. 1895 in Truro, England -d.) - they were married in Cornwall, England.

They had one son - Barrie Rickard

(b. 4 June 1921 in Falmouth, England - d. 24 January 1993 at age 71 in Aldergrove, British Columbia) - occupation - tannery manager / leather manufacturer. LINK to his death certificate - search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Image/Genealogy/b9...

Clipped from - The Vancouver Sun newspaper - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - 24 April 1954 - Cordova Bay Colonel Lived Adventurous African Life - CLOCKS from almost every European country mark the hours in the Cordova Bay residence of Colonel George Rickard. In the porch of the house a stuffed leopard stands with fangs bared; above that, a preserved mother monkey holds a baby in her arms. Behind the door there is a Gaelic brass bell, so old that the sounds are like some bygone age. These, however, are not the only unusual objects in the house with its endless lines of climbing roses and neat flower beds. The walls are hung with ancient photographs of the Colonel's ancestors, early British mariners whose playground for their sailing ships was the broad ocean. Beside these Rickard's own works both in oils and cloth depict a different era. NATIVE LIFE - At almost every turn are the Colonel's carvings in solid ivory and ebony. The scenes represent a series of studies he made during his twenty-two years in East Africa. There is, for instance, a typical African family of the very poorest class. The native mother with her burden of wood strapped on her back, the weight of which causes her to stoop as she plods, is the central theme. The father, with primitive hoe, is bent towards the earth. Behind the parents, clad only by a tiny piece of cloth about the middle, are three children practically the same height. Perhaps more interesting than the brief case made from elephant's ear or the tiny ivory objects that go back hundreds of years to some of the earliest jungle religious rituals, is the Colonel's library. Somewhat depleted now from much travel round the globe, the shelves hold books in English and in three other languages, all of which Rickard speaks in addition to five tribal dialects. Several date back to the time when printing was done mostly by hand. Among these, each a story In itself of a life spent often hundreds of miles from the nearest white people, Mrs. Rickard does her daily dusting and arranging. Mrs. Rickard has accompanied her adventurer husband on some of the less dangerous safaris. Since she and the Colonel came to British Columbia eight years ago, she spends most of her time in the garden and is not yet accustomed to the good earth which she did not see for a little lifetime. FIRST INDUSTRY - A lean, unassuming man Colonel Rickard likes Vancouver Island, especially because he can take his daily walk by the sea. There, with the clean salt air in his nostrils and the fresh green of Canada's trees about him, he does most of his dreaming and thinking. A lifetime of giving orders and creating industries in the jungle has endowed him with a choice of words to be emulated. He never repeats himself, even when he is not heard. Nor does he contradict. Life, he holds, is much too big and inexplicable to explain. His long, sensitive fingers trace patterns as he speaks as though, in keeping with habitual accuracy, he were formulating a design. Designing has taken up a great part of Rickard's life. When safaris in Africa were done on foot he started the first industry, He invented machinery, instructed natives to operate it, and in the end imported proper equipment to turn out leather and its products. For this pioneering feat the creator of it accepts no credit and makes a wry face when Mrs. Rickard admits the whole plant of nine factories was subsequently taken over by the British War Office during World War Two. Put exclusively in charge, the Colonel and his dream turned out two and a half tons of leather, 400 blankets, 1000 pairs of boots a day for the Allies. There was, too, a factory to make wool, and yet another for the manufacture of soap. To do this, however, Rickard had to explore one of the world's largest craters and drill 360 feet for water to feed the turbines. The natives were jubilant. They did tribal dances at the first sign of the fluid and hailed the discoverer as a sort of demi-god. In return Rickard said they could use all the water they liked and helped coax the precious fluid through the jungle. As a result of weeks' sweating deep in the crater natives no longer had to barter for water, until then more precious than food. With over 150,000 gallons a day now flowing African tribes planted and cultivated and waxed successful on land otherwise barren. The Colonel resultantly had only to say and it was done by the natives who practically worshipped the ground he trod on. Even witch doctors bowed to his alleged magic and hid their bones, claws and gadgets during palavers. LIKE CANADA Colonel and Mrs. Rickard are very glad they came to Canada even though they had the choice of living anywhere in the world. They are respected in the community and take an active interest in local affairs. Their home is rarely without visitors, none of whom have been able to hear the full story of the Colonel's life. When cornered about the saga of his wanderings Rickard politely excuses himself and starts on the cello he fashioned with a penknife and subsequently taught himself to play. What is more, he plays very well...classics included. He studied under four of the best German teachers.

Playground Berlin Weekend at Mica Moca by Kunstraum Richard Sorge

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An international selection of artists has been invited to conceive site specific work for the Mica Moca building, a former safe factory in the working class district Berlin Wedding. From subtle architectonic interventions, to participatory performances, to installations made from found materials to projections; many of the invited artists have ample experience creating informal ephemeral installations for Berlin's much quoted „temporary spaces“ - the city's special post-Wall situation of limitless derelict space, small means, and a lack of professional art structures and opportunities has created the setting for what has become an art historic niche for independent artists.

PLAYGROUND BERLIN:

Established in 2009, Playground Berlin is an international collective dedicated to independent art collaboration and presentation. Blurring generational, national, cultural and sexual boundaries, Playground Berlin's projects offer a delirious convergence of visual art, music, mixed media installations and performances.

MICA MOCA:

MicaMoca project Berlin is an an experiment in mixing genres, instigating culture clash and challenging the imagination. An old safe factory on Lindowerstrasse 22, Berlin is the setting until the end of September. Mica Moca's fluid program of cultural events and projects combines a wide array of disciplines.

FEATURING:

Gert-Jan Akerboom

Adar Aviam & Amit Elan

James Bullough & Karl Addison

J.Jackie Baier

Joana Dias

Nick Dewar

Marcela Donato

Tulip Enterprises

Przemek Dariuz Fronczak

Jens Kloppmann

Mia Morikama & Constance Marx

Tiago Oudman

Paul Polaris, Tobias von Glenck & Martin Lorenz

Clemence de la Tour du Pin

Madeline Stillwell

André Wakko

LINKS:

playground-berlin.org/

micamoca.com/

Curated by :

Tiago Oudman, Kunstraum Richard Sorge, Marcela Donato

Time:

Saturday, July 16 at 1:00pm - July 17 at 11:30pm

Location:

Mica Moca

Lindower strasse 22, Wedding

Berlin, Germany

Produced by Playground Berlin

SATURDAY 13.00 to 24.00

SUNDAY 16.00 to 24.00

PLAYGROUND BERLIN Weekend @ MICA MOCA by Playground Berlin

An international selection of artists has been invited by Playground Berlin to conceive site specific work for the Mica Moca Project, situated in a former safe factory in Berlin Wedding. The presentation covers architectonic interventions, performances, installations, projections, video-art and concerts.

The dialogue between the artists and the space offered by MicaMoca, brings up the discussion about Berlin's much quoted „temporary spaces“. The city's special post-Wall situation of limitless derelict space and a lack of professional art structures has created the setting for what has become an art historic niche for independent artists.