by Lori Treloar
Brothers William and Jasper (Jessie) Coleman came to Shawnigan Lake in 1906. Soon after their arrival, they wrote to their family in England and described Shawnigan Lake as “absolute paradise, beautiful and new and unspoiled”.
The brothers built a cabin in 1906. The year and their initials were imbedded in the building with shotgun shells. William and Jessie were happy to work at whatever they could find, including labour intensive lumbering and railroad work. This was likely the hardest work that they had ever done. William had come from a career in the Navy and the Baden-Powell Constabulary. Jessie a creative, versatile man had put his hand to a variety of occupations including soldiering, tailoring, gardening and helping his sister in design.
In 1914, the Luckovich family bought the property that the first Coleman cabin was on, so the brothers built their second log cabin along the old Silver Mine Trail. This cabin, built of vertical logs, was home for a good many years between their temporary moves and trips abroad. In the mid 1930s, this cabin burned down mysteriously and the Luckovich family allowed the Coleman brothers to move back to their original cabin.
Elizabeth, their sister, a fourth generation needlewoman, joined her brothers at Shawnigan Lake in 1920. Elizabeth grew up in a household where the five daughters trained in the art of “superlative” stitchery. The family business catered to gentlemen who sought embroidered frilled and ruffled shirts and their ladies who wanted fine lawn underwear and Christening gowns for their infants. The women also supplied countless churches with alter cloths and the vestments for the clergy. In a world without factories, the family was much in demand.
Elizabeth, who wanted to enhance her skills in embroidery, studied art and design in London and Toronto and was a clever designer and craftswoman. She and her brother Jasper worked together in the Interior Design business in Canada for a while. She also taught art and design in Victoria. Hand embroidered wall panels of her design were presented to B.C. Government House and to the Victoria Art Gallery.
In the late 1940s, the Coleman siblings moved into the village to retire. They lived in several locations in the village. None of them married. Elizabeth survived both of her brothers and died in August 1983. She was 101.
Coleman Road connects Silver Mine Road and Ingot Drive.
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