Greetings Friends:

I feel that we have turned the corner and Spring is on the horizon. The garden is coming back to life with crocuses and tulips poking through the leaf mulch and I have even found some blooming snowdrops!

As we “March” into this new season, plans are afoot for live-in caretakers, for students to assist with tours and for some new events at the Manor House, as well as a wedding in April!  We are excited to get back into the Manor House after this long period of hibernation and are planning the first Spring Clean on Friday, April 17^th. Remember, we are always looking for volunteers!

The Friends of Fintry had a table at the Heritage Week kick-off in the Kelowna Community Theatre and it was a most successful day with many people visiting and sharing different aspects of our heritage. Thanks goes out to Shannon, Dan and Gwendy for manning the Fintry table and for imparting their Fintry knowledge to the visitors.

Dan Bruce our Curator, would like to share some interesting facts about a picture that we often get asked about during tours of the Manor House………

“There is no evidence that James Dun-Waters was particularly interested in boxing, but there is an interesting link between Fintry and the early history of the sport.    In the “Red Room” there hangs a small photographic reproduction of a portrait of the bare-knuckle boxer, Richard Humphreys. In 1787, Humphreys posed, (one could not say ‘sat’) for the then fashionable artist, John Hoppner, a painting done perhaps as a result of his widely admired prowess in the ring.   The painting had a number of owners in England before being bought by James Dun-Waters in 1888.  

Upon his removal to Canada, the picture accompanied all the other household items and was hung in the Fintry Manor House.  One of the many items that was rescued during the 1924 fire, the Hoppner was taken into Kelowna when Margaret, the second Mrs. Dun-Waters moved after James’ death.   In 1951, Margaret put the painting up for sale, and it was bought without hesitation by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.   An article in “Country Life” magazine enabled me to discover what had happened to it, a “good news/bad news “ situation. Good in that we know where it is, and that it is being well cared for, bad in that we will never see its return to Fintry.  I made contact with the Met. and asked about getting a photo of the piece.  Their response was that policy was not to supply images for permanent exhibit, but when I reminded them of the history of the painting, they immediately agreed, and sent a digital image with their compliments.

Richard Humphreys rose to fame as a prize-fighter in England, and perhaps his career would have been longer had he not challenged Daniel Mendoza, the young Jewish boxing prodigy from the East End of London.   They fought on a number of occasions, but September 27th, 1790 was the day on which Dan Mendoza beat Humphreys into a state of semi-consciousness, his final fight.

Boxing was chiefly the business of marginal society at that time, with many Jewish and Gypsy people involved.   The Jewish community of London were ecstatic over Mendoza’s whole career, and especially his victory over Richard Humphreys, a feat that earned him the public approbation of the Price Regent, and King George III.”

Now when you look at this picture hanging in the Red Room at the Fintry Manor House you will appreciate a little more of the history on how it arrived there!

In a few weeks I will be going to Scotland to visit my Scottish relatives and while there, will be taking a road trip to meet with the Museum people in Fintry, Scotland. Some of the Scottish Fintry Museum committee have visited “our” Fintry so it will be most interesting to see what info they have on Dun-Waters as he owned a large estate in Fintry before moving to Canada at the beginning of the century.

‘til next time…..

Kathy Drew,

Friends of Fintry Provincial Park

I hope you had a happy Palindrome Day yesterday! …… 02/02/2020 (A palindrome being a word or sequence that reads the same backward as forward).

Not only was it a Palindrome Day but it was also Groundhog Day. Are we in for an early Spring? That depends on which groundhog you rely on! I just know that I saw my shadow yesterday and if the marmots at Fintry emerged from their cozy dens I’ll bet they saw their shadows as well, so it sounds like we have six more weeks of winter to contend with!

Here’s an event to get you out of the winter doldrums. BC Heritage Week is always held in February …. this year from February 17 to 23^rd and the national and provincial theme is “Bringing the Past into the Future”.  It is unfortunate that the Fintry Manor House is still in the depths of winter but we encourage everyone to participate in events taking place in your community. The Central Okanagan Heritage Society is holding its “Kickoff” at the Kelowna Community Theatre on Monday, February 17^th from 11a.m. to 3p.m. with music, a scavenger hunt, heritage displays and hot drinks! Sounds like a wonderful opportunity to learn more about our local heritage…and it’s free! For a full list of events, visit the Heritage Week in the Central Okanagan Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/heritageweekokanagan.

We usually choose an historic item from the collection as a short feature for the newsletter, but this time we have a newer piece. This picture shows an up-to-the-minute meat cutter’s glove. This was given to us by Richard Konechny of Calgary who was unable to continue using it due to a minor bit of damage. It is of interest as one of the rare modern uses of the ancient idea of chain mail armour. WCB regulations require meat cutters to use these gloves for obvious reasons while at work. Viking warriors were not slow to appreciate the protection that this kind of armour afforded and indeed chain mail armour has been in continuous use in parts of West Africa right up to modern times.

The Viking re-enactors at the Fintry Fairs will be delighted to let you examine the details of the armour that they have made and use in their performances.

Following is a note by Dr. David Ensing who has been reporting on the presence of “garlic mustard”, a noxious weed that has been found in some areas of the Fintry Delta.

In collaboration with the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada are conducting research on the invasive alien plant , garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata, Brassicaceae) in Fintry Provincial Park. Garlic mustard is widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, but relatively limited in western North America, with a few restricted populations known from BC. One of these populations is in and around Fintry Provincial Park. Garlic Mustard is an aggressive invader that may disrupt other species. Notably it releases chemicals from its roots into the soil that inhibit important associations between native plant species and beneficial fungi (mycorrhizae). This strategy allows garlic mustard to colonise diverse habitats and exclude native plant species from growing in those locations. Given its widespread distribution in North America, herbicides and mechanical means of control were deemed both impractical and unsuitable. As a result, a biological control programme was initiated. Recently, the root crown mining weevil, Ceutorhynchus scrobicollis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) was approved for release by both the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the United States Department of Agriculture, who have jurisdiction in Canada and USA respectively. This weevil only attacks garlic mustard in the wild and there are no close relatives or other species that it can successfully feed and develop on in North America. Our research in Fintry Provincial Park involves careful monitoring of the population for abundance and density of mature and juvenile plants and the incidence of any feeding or disease on the plants. We have installed environmental monitoring equipment (temperature, relative humidity) and will compare our data with monitoring efforts in populations across the world via the Global Garlic Mustard Field Survey (https://garlicmustard.wordpress.com/). Our research will clarify what facilitates invasion and control of this problematic species in Canada.

For more information, please contact:

David Ensing, PhDBiology Study Leader – Weed Biocontrol
Summerland Research and Development Centre,

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

david.ensing@canada.ca | Tel: (250) 404-3341 | Cell: (250) 859-0749

The Friends of Fintry Board is busy planning for the 2020 season; we are applying for grants for summer students so that we can be open most days of the week. We often hear from people that they have come for a tour of the Manor House only to find us closed, but when we only operate with volunteers it is difficult to staff more than just weekends. That being said, we are constantly looking for volunteers to help with all aspects of running the Manor House, the events etc., as well as new Board members. If you are at all interested in helping to keep our history and heritage alive, please contact myself (Kathy) at 250-309-7868 or Dan Bruce at 250-766-2081 for more info.

‘Til next month….

Kathy Drew,

Friends of Fintry Provincial Park

Friends of Fintry Provincial Park

Happy New Year to all,

As we step into this new year with 2020 vision, we are excited to be embarking on some great new ideas, fun events and hopefully, if our federal grant application is successful, some summer students to help us with it all.

At this time of year, we have to submit our plans and ideas for the coming year to BC Parks who will then hopefully grant us our Annual Operating Permit. We are putting our creative heads together to try and come up with some new revenue sources for the Friends and some new experiences for our members and visitors to this historic site.

Thanks to Shannon our Business Manager, the Fintry website is in the process of being revamped with several new pull-down menus giving a better overview of all that we offer. It is still a work in progress so check back periodically to see the new developments. www.fintry.ca

While giving tours of the Manor House, there is always great interest and a few chuckles from our visitors when they see this framed print.  Dan Bruce, our Curator explains it all quite eloquently as follows,

“Late for School” is the title of a chromolithograph that hangs in the Ben Lee Room, facing the portrait of Ben himself.   The artist was Arthur J. Elsley   ( 1860 – 1952). a Londoner who was well known for his idealised pictures often of children in rural settings with domestic animals and pets included.  These could be described as “”chocolate box art”, and indeed he produced many images for commercial use. Sunlight Soap and Peek Frean’s biscuits being among his customers.  These sentimental pictures were extremely popular in late Victorian and Edwardian times.

“Late for School” however has a slightly darker tone.  It is a classic example of a picture that presents a set of circumstances to the viewer, who may then imagine the course of action to that point, and then speculate on the outcome.    Here we see a traditional fox hunt in progress, but at a point where it is going to go so wrong. The fox, crafty creature, has taken control and opted for a variation of the “Samson solution”. By choosing to divert through the open door of the school, he will have brought the house down upon his enemies.  The fox is shown exiting the scene R, very likely having noted a conveniently open window through which he will return to his interrupted business.  The hounds, closely followed by the mounted hunters will be left to face the fury of the school teacher, which will not be long in coming. Several hounds are already among the pupils, and furniture is going down.  Doubtless the whole community will be aware of the mayhem at school that day, and one can imagine a satisfied fox looking back on an escape well managed.

Arthur Elsley was a contemporary of James Dun-Waters, who might well have seen some of his pictures published in the Illustrated London News and other journals. Perhaps the Glasgow Herald included some.  He was awarded a silver medal for works shown at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1891.  “Late for School” was painted in 1898, and the chromolithograph at Fintry was printed by Orford Smith Ltd. of St. Albans, just north of London.  Our picture was purchased from Blast from the Past Antiques of Vernon. At some point it had been spattered with a cream coloured house paint, and had suffered slight water damage. This was all corrected after a short session on the conservation table, and the framing expertise of Picture Perfect in Kelowna.

So there you have it! Next time you take a tour of the Manor House take a good look at the action in this incredible picture.

On that note I will close and wish everyone a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Kathy Drew,

Friends of Fintry Provincial Park

Friends of Fintry Provincial Park

Mother Nature has been kind to us this year with a very pleasant November.  However, just one step outside and one realizes that yes, it is winter….but only 3 more weeks until the days start to get longer again!

The Friends of Fintry held their Annual Volunteer Appreciation night in conjunction with the date of J.C. Dun-Waters birthday, (November 28^th) at Okanagan Spirits here in Vernon. It was a great evening and we were so happy to mix and mingle with many of our trusty volunteers and chat about all things Fintry.

Now that we have our Business Manager (Shannon Jorgenson) in place we have been brainstorming some special events to hold at the Manor House next season thus increasing awareness of this jewel in our very own backyard. Stay tuned and watch the website for announcements early in the spring.

The planning never stops……and we are excited to be able to offer some really great programs to the schoolchildren  and senior’s groups next year. We have loads of historical photographs from the Dun-Waters’ era which are being digitized and as we now have a digital projector and screen we will be able to show these to the various interested groups as well as having them up on our website.

And now some interesting facts from our Curator, Dan Bruce……..

Fintry’s one hundredth anniversary took place on May 10th, 2009. The date was chosen based on the autographed portrait of Albert, Earl Grey, the Governor General of Canada who invited his friend, James Dun-Waters from Cambridge University days to move from the UK to Canada. The autograph reads “Grey, in memory of May 10th 1909”.  We have not been able to ascertain exactly what took place on that day, but it might have involved hunting and whisky. (His Excellency was not in Ottawa on that date).

We celebrated anyway by planting a tree near the Labyrinth, and a London Plane was selected. Two guests of honour were invited to plant the tree, the late Alderman Ben Lee from Kelowna, and Mark Flanagan, Supervisor of the gardens at the Royal Estate at Windsor Castle, who came to Fintry for this occasion.

Platanus  x hispanica, the London Plane, is a very large tree frequently planted in urban settings as it withstands atmospheric pollution very well, not that that is a problem at Fintry.  The tree is perhaps an accidental hybrid that was first recorded at Vauxhall Gardens in London. (Some of you will recall that there is a coloured engraving of Vauxhall Gardens hanging in the living room, the gift of Jennifer Hindle)   The tree was first formally described by the Scottish botanist, William Aiton in 1789, but it had been noticed by John Tradescant the Younger in the mid 17th Century.  ( The dark red rose by the front door steps of the Manor is a David Austin creation, named “Tradescant “ in his honour).

 A little known fact is that our now defunct one cent coin was supposed to feature the Maple Leaf on the reverse side. Apparently, in 1937 G. E. Kruger-Gray asked for a maple twig to use as a model for the design drawing, but was given a plane twig in error. Maple leaves are all opposite, whereas plane leaves are alternate. Botanical expertise was not a requirement at the Mint, so the mistake was not noticed.

There are a number of London Plane trees around the Okanagan, and they can also be found in many of the world’s large cities. In London itself there are several specimens now close to or over 100 ft. high. Doubtless James Dun-Waters saw them as young plants on his various visits to the city.

As this is the last Octagon for 2019, I would like to wish you all the very best of the season and hopefully you will be able to partake in one or more of the many activities planned for Fintry in 2020. Watch our website: www.fintry.ca for information regarding upcoming events.

Stay warm…….                                                                                                                     

Kathy Drew, President

Friends of Fintry Provincial Park

Friends of Fintry Provincial Park

The Octagon – November 2019  

Mother Nature has really been showing off her spectacular golden coat this fall and on one of my last visits along Westside road to the Fintry Manor House, I was overawed by the stunning golden and russet views around every corner. What a beautiful part of the country we live in.

We have now closed the doors for the last time this year on the Ben Lee Room, Dun-Waters’ Trophy room, Alice’s bedroom, etc., and all the wonderful stories that are part of this historical site. The Manor House has been winterized and we are now letting the collections rest for the winter months.

As we hunker down for what Old Man Winter is going to throw at us this year the planning has already started for next year. Our new Business Manager, Shannon, is bubbling over with ideas and suggestions for many new Special Events which will take place at the Manor House next year, so we will definitely have our work cut out for us!   Keep an eye on our website www.fintry.ca for teasers ……and info as it becomes available.

And now a word from our Curator Dan Bruce:

The Park is now closed for the season, and so begins the time for doing any necessary conservation, and making adjustments to the exhibits in the Manor. Several recent acquisitions have been introduced, however, our visitors have not yet seen the framed mirror that will be hung in the living room ready for the 2020 season. This is yet one more interesting item from Taylor’s Antiques in Kelowna.

Collecting seashells was a popular pastime in the Victorian age that provided something to do at the beach when sunbathing was not considered with the same enthusiasm that it is today Very often the shells ended up in boxes and soon forgotten or thrown out.  In some cases however, the multitude of shapes, sizes and colours sparked a deeper interest, resulting in considerable efforts being made to enlarge the collection.  What to do with them? Many evenings were spent devising ways to show them off. Some people had glass topped tables made, whereby the shells could be seen in a compartment under the glass.  Others filled cabinets fitted with a series of drawers to hold their collections. Enthusiasts were known to frequent the sea ports of Britain where they would eagerly question incoming sailors to see if they had brought back any exciting specimens from their voyages. This “market” quickly became known to mariners who could often sell their shells for considerable sums to serious collectors.

On a lesser scale, shells were used to decorate the home in various ways. Our new mirror is an example of this, as the frame is completely covered in shells, carefully arranged and stuck in place.  Perhaps the most elaborate and fantastic example of this is to be seen at Goodwood Park in Sussex. Here, the Duchess of Richmond and her two daughters, in 1739, started to decorate every inch of the interior of a garden pavilion, entirely covering all walls and ceiling with shells. They finished the project seven years later, having created something very likely unique anywhere in the world, and did very well by the makers of glue!

At Fintry, we have a small but very attractive glass fronted cabinet, which has stood empty in the living room all summer. This is now being restored by the removal of a lining of wallpaper, and the replacement of the glass shelving. The plan is to use it to exhibit a selection of shells that we have in the collection. It requires no stretch of the imagination to think that James Dun-Waters would have appreciated such a thing – the “Cabinet of Curiosities” was very much a part of the furnishings of stately homes, and in many instances formed the nucleus around which some of the world’s greatest museums came into being.

Many thanks to Dr. Bill Gibson of Lake Country who has kindly undertaken the restoration of this cabinet.

This has been a very busy and successful year as we continue to grow and promote  Dun-Waters’ legacy. We encourage you in addition to being a Friend of Fintry to consider being a Fintry volunteer. We have several different options and are always looking for assistance with events, guiding tours, gardening etc. I can be reached through the Fintry email: info@fintry.ca.

Stay warm…….                                                                                                                     

Kathy Drew, President

Friends of Fintry Provincial Park