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How does Shawnigan preserve its history?
Most students at Shawnigan Lake School have heard the tale of Billy Brooks.
As a first-year student at Shawnigan in the mid-1920s — when the School served students even younger than the Grade 8s of today — Billy penned a letter to his parents, lamenting his homesickness. A copy of that letter has survived until today, giving students an insight into how their predecessors felt a century ago. Doubtlessly, many of them can relate to Billy’s feelings of loneliness.
Each year, Grade 8 students are reminded of young Billy when they are given the opportunity to tour the Shawnigan Lake School Museum, where his letter is among the first exhibits that visitors get to see. The tour with curator Ms. Rosemary Dolman is part of a larger introduction to the School’s history that every Grade 8 gets to experience.
The museum is a unique aspect of Shawnigan that not only provides an opportunity to learn about the School, but also to view the world in the 20th and 21st centuries through the eyes of a Shawnigan student.
Located downstairs in Marion Hall, the museum charts the evolution of Shawnigan, beginning with its founding by C.W. Lonsdale in 1916. Students often visit the museum as part of Remembrance Day observations, specifically to view the exhibit about the School during the Second World War. The 44 alumni and one staff member who died in active service during the war are commemorated in the exhibit.
Former music and French teacher Mr. Lance Bean worked tirelessly on the museum from 2002 until he retired in 2013. A fascinating place to visit, it was opened in 2005, and now contains more than 3,200 items, including an abundance of Shawnigan memorabilia and many other period-appropriate pieces collected over the years. The museum includes recreations of several specific School spaces, including founder and first headmaster C.W. Lonsdale’s office, classrooms from the 1910s and 1940s, a dorm room from the 1970s, and the soda counter at Mason’s Store (located just down the street from the School).
Figures from the history of the School, such as Mr. Lonsdale, and early School nurse Ms. Eleanor Stanton, are brought to life in the museum. The space even includes a car similar to the one Mr. Lonsdale drove when he worked at the School.
We can learn so much from the past, and the museum shows that Shawnigan, while not a big place, has a real role in the larger world, just as one person can make a tangible difference — something we strive to instill in our students.
As for Billy Brooks, he persevered through that difficult first year at Shawnigan, and went on to be Head of School, graduating in 1932.
The museum is open during certain special events at the School, or by appointment. Please visit shawnigan.ca/about/museum for more information.
We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful West Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
