Having grown up in Ladner, it's a pleasure to reach back into the past and explore its relevance with today's vastly different lifestyle.
Many books and articles have been written about brothers W.H. and T.E. Ladner. As a youngster I had occasion to deliver papers and picked pears on W.H. Ladner's home site on 51st Street in the village. At the time the home was owned and occupied by his son, Paul Ladner.
The pear orchard remnants still exist behind the former school board offices and adjacent to Memorial Park. The school board site was successfully negotiated by Delta council with an elderly Paul E. Ladner.
Thomas Ellis Ladner, a successful businessman, owned a substantial home named Trenant Park. In my time, the home had become a rental unit occupied by a number of families and I had occasion to be there many times. This house was situated in what is now the site of
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The Ladner brothers were the first settlers in the "Delta," purchasing some 1,200 acres, at a dollar per acre, by 1874. Land was cheap and plentiful between "Chewassin" and Burrard Inlet, which was regularly flooded from tidal waters of Boundary Bay and the Fraser River.
I found the Ladner brothers' journey to Delta quite fascinating and likely similar to many pioneers that arrived in this part of Canada when it was not yet so named.
William and his father left England in 1847 and settled in Wisconsin with many English immigrants that came seeking a new life. William worked with his father until his untimely death in 1850.
William returned to England to bring his brother Thomas to Wisconsin. One can only imagine this arduous and time-consuming journey.
A short time later after both returned to Wisconsin, William, age 26, and Thomas, age 16, set out for the California gold fields. They joined a caravan of covered wagons and arrived in California some five months later.
They endured attacks from Indians, wild animals, suffered a shortage of food and sickness, yet the lure of gold and fortune was elusive. The brothers stayed in California for several years until, in 1858, word came that gold had been found along the Fraser River.
Newspapers in California pumped up stories of large gold discoveries, resulting in thousands of fortune seekers arriving in what is now known as B.C. The Ladner brothers arrived by steamship at a shanty town called Victoria.
They crossed the Strait of Georgia by canoe and landed in "Chewassin" near the Fraser River. Reports indicate they liked the area but were off to Hope and Yale seeking the gold fields.
William and Thomas spent 10 years prospecting and operating a profitable mule-pack train conveying stores and equipment from Yale over the Caribou Trail. William gravitated to public service and Thomas became the more successful businessman. It took 21 years of travel, work and perseverance before the Ladner brothers and their families settled in "Delta."
With Delta's incorporation in 1879, Thomas was elected warden (mayor) and re-elected numerous times. He also held the position of police magistrate for over 20 years. Thomas owned and operated several fish canneries, later merging to form the B.C. Packers Association.
I believe the village of Ladner still resonates with the character of the brothers Ladner.
And a good night to you, Matthew.
