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Scion of Pioneer Silvey Family Passes

Posted by Howard on Mar 22, 2011 - 6 comments

An epoch has passed in the history of the Portuguese community in British Columbia and Canada. One of the last, if not the last, of more than seventy grandchildren of Joe Silvey, who came to British Columbia during the gold rush beginning in 1858 and who operated one of the first saloons on the site that would become Vancouver, died on March 18. 2011. Rose Maria Silvey was born on Reid Island in 1934, the youngest daughter of Silvey’s son Antonio, born in 1884. Rose was very helpful to me in writing The Remarkable Adventures of Portuguese Joe Silvey (Harbour, 2004), and I’ll miss her. The book spawned the two documentaries “Portuguese Joe: The Forgotten Pioneer” for Omni Television in Canada and “Mais Perto de Casa” for Portuguese State Television. The memorial service is Saturday, March 26, at 1 pm at Yates Funeral Service, 1000 Allsbrook Road, Parksville, BC V9P 2A9.

Jean Barman

Labels: HISTORY, PORTUGUESE MIGRATION, SILVEY FAMILY
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