Kingsley

It’s true! That transport truck driving along the inland highway is owned by Kingsley Trucking but go back to 1893 when Jim Kingsley was born in Victoria – that’s where the story begins.

Jim’s dad, Jack meets Mary Mills, marries, has children but Jack goes north for the excitement of the Gold Rush. Wife Mary and children move to Parksville to live with Mary’s father, William Mills on the 80 acre farm. Jim works for James Craig, goes to war, recuperates at the Qualicum Beach Convalescent Hospital (ironically, he had worked on the construction when it was a hotel before the war) where he meets his soon to be wife, Alice Golding.

Of course, more happens – p. 46 Parksville & then some by Marjorie Leffler

Tags:

Earliest Settlers, Parksville, Settlers > Kingsley

Jim Kingsley with Shelly, Fred Banks, Harry Bulter, Ted Rawlings, and Waren-Banks

Craig Family

So…..if you were born in Malpeque, Prince Edward Island, home of the world famous oysters (almost as good as Fanny Bay!) and decided to leave PEI and head west – where would you end up? Craig Bay, Craig Cottage, Craig Historic Park – yup – in Parksville. Arriving in...

Gaetjen Family

The well known and popular Parksville Mini Golf sits on the land once owned by the brothers Herman, Gustav and Henry Gaetjen. In 1891, the brothers donated the land for the first school which sat at the site of the present day Chevron, the corner of Island and Alberni...

Parks Family

Who put the Parks in Parksville? Nelson Parks! Born in Ohio in 1824, he travelled west with wife Elizabeth and sons George, James and Frank. Nelson and each of the sons registered their land claim and each received 160 acres. In 1886, the Englishman River Post Office...

Hynes

In the late 1930’s, there was a triangular piece of property that every resident considered to be a park. It lay on the Island Highway across from the old Island Hall (now the Beach Club Resort). George Wilson wanted the land to become the first shopping centre in BC....

Marks

Ernest and Edith Marks were married in 1908, left England in 1911 and arrived in Parksville in 1912. Ernest became farm manager for A. Lodington Smith, who owned 115 acres along the highway across from where the Quality Bayside Resort now stands. In 1940, the Marks...