DUNCAN LIDGATE – Carpenter
From Fala Parish, Haddington County, Duncan Lidgate was one of the four carpenters contracted by McKenzie for a five year term at Craigflower.1 As a carpenter he received f30 per annum as compared to f17 paid labourers. Lidgate, his wife Helen and 3 children arrived at Ft. Victoria, Jan. 16, 1853, on the Norman Morison in company with others bound for Craigflower. It appears that Lidgate was older than most men employed by McKenzie, for in 1844 Lidgate was a widower with two daughters aged four and three.
Cranston Parish records show that on Aug. 16, 1844 he married Helen Dickson;2 according to the reminiscences of Hugh McKenzie, Helen was a widow with one daughter, Margaret Dyer.3 Kenneth McKenzie's records show the ages of Lidgate's children as 12, 11 and 5 years in 1852. The Marriage Register for 1856 (Ft. Victoria) records the marriages of an Elizabeth Lidgate and a Margaret Dyer; one can only surmise that they were the two eldest of Lidgate's children.
Lidgate was listed as a joiner by trade in 1844.4 According to H. McKenzie, he was also a millwright and had been hired specifically to construct the grist mill at Craigflower. It appears that Lidgate was more literate than his fellows; some correspondence (see attached) exists indicating he had attained a degree of literacy, unlike his peers Caleb Pike and Wm. Hilly who signed their names: "X (his mark)."5 However, such refinements did not preclude intemperance and the scant references in Melrose's diary refer to Lidgate's drunkeness. A situation which sounds like a drunken spree but which also reflected antipathy towards McKenzie appears to have been initiated by Lidgate, as he was the only one to receive a fine.
May 20, 1856: Duncan Lidgate, John Instant and Robt. Laing apprehended for shooting into Mr. McKenzie's house.
May 24: Lidgate, Instant and Laing bailed out of prison.
May 31: Another examination held on Lidgate, Instant and Laing.
June 5: Lidgate fined f5.6
In 1856, Lidgate's daughter, Elizabeth, married Caleb Pike, establish a farm 'near Victoria'.7 His step-daughter, Margaret, also married that year, one William Thompson. They farmed further north on the Saanich peninsula, founding the well known Thompson family of central Saanich.
That Lidgate's son, William, attended Craigflower School is evidenced by the appearance of his name in 1858 following the school examination:
Examination at Craig Flower School
An Examination of the Colonical School, at Maple Point, Craigflower, was held last Saturday. The attendance of visitors, owing no doubt to the rain, was rather smaller than usual. The Governor, who has always been present on former occasions, was hindered from coming by business. The children acquitted themselves to the satisfaction of the company, showing a marked Improvement since last year. The Rev. E. Cridge examined the school In Scripture, and the master, Mr. Clark, In the other branches -reading, geography, grammar, arithmetic, &c. The examination In geography was particularly good.
Prizes sent by the Governor were given to Jessie McKenzie, William Lidgate, Christina Veitch, and Dorothea McKenzie, In the first class, and to four others In the junior classes. The girls of the school had also prepared a present of useful needlework for the Governor, which, with an address from them, was duly forwarded to His Excellency.
By 1860, Mallandaine's Directory records the residence of Duncan Lidgate as "6th section, east Saanich, freehold, Saanich district."
1 "List of men, women and children engaged to go to Vancouver's Island with Mr. K. McKenzie, August 1852", McKenzie, Daybook 1867-68. Five carpenters were hired by Skinner and McKenzie; it appears only one was deployed to Skinner's farm; the other three at Craigflower were Andrew Hume, Robt. Ander. and George Deans.
2 "Proclamation of marriage", Cranston Parish records, E/A/L61/9.
3 H. McKenzie, Reminiscences, undated; (no relation to K. McKenzie). Due to the lack of documentation, Lidgate's relationships are confusing. McKenzie states that Margaret Dyer was his grandmother and the step-daughter of Duncan Lidgate. There remains, however, a disparity in the surnames Dickson and Dyer. Possibly Helen Dickson had reverted to her maiden name when marrying Lidgate.
Other documents contain the names 'Margaret Lidgate' (witness to Caleb Pike's wedding to Elizabeth Lidgate 1856) and 'Margaret Dyer' (her own wedding to Wm. Thompson, 1856). It is difficult to determine whether they refer to one person.
4 "Proclamation of Marriage", op. cit.
5 Marriage Register, Ft. Victoria 1852-58. Feb. 22, 1856; It Is possible that Lidgate's letters were drafted for him.
6 Melrose, Diary; also HBC accounts, Ft. Victoria, June 1856. A/C 15 H86.
7 "Baptismal records", op. cit. state residence as Colger (?) Farm (1857) and Highlands (1860).
Duncan Lidgate, carpenter, Haddington County
- married and widowed pre 1844
- one daughter born 1840, Elizabeth
- remarried - 1844, Helen Dickson
- one daughter, Margaret Dyer born 1841
- William - born 1847
- not known if there were other children
Elizabeth Lidgate married Caleb Pike, Victoria, Feb. 22, 1856
- three children
- Robert, born and died Oct. 1857
Helen, baptised May 1860
Emma, baptised Aug. 1861.
Margaret Dyer-Lidgate married Wm. Thompson, Victoria, Dec. 19, 1856.