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Arthur J. Daniels – An Employee at Yarrows Ltd. (Esquimalt BC)

by John MacFarlane 2021

Arthur J. Daniels in 1914 (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

I recently received a small collection of images from Linda Baker. Her great grandfather, A.J. Daniels, was a longtime employee of Yarrows Ltd.

Arthur J. Daniels at retirement 1949 (Photo from the Linda Baker collection.)

Baker wrote that "Arthur Daniels sailed from London UK on March 29, 1907, arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia, 13 days later. From there he took the train to Selkirk, Manitoba, where he found work at a local shipyard. Several months later, that job over, he moved to Gimli on Lake Manitoba, where he worked at odd jobs. His diary reports that he was shingling a roof on Christmas Day in sub–zero weather. Cutting ice from the lake was another job mentioned.

Arthur Daniels’ Employee Identification Card (Photo from the Linda Baker collection.)

Early in 1907 he answered an ad in the newspaper. Shipwrights were needed at Bullen’s Shipyard in Esquimalt, BC. He received a telegram stating, "Come at once, we have work for you." He left Winnipeg on February 16, 1907, arriving in Victoria on the 20th. He settled at the Coach and Horses Inn at Esquimalt, a building that still stands today at the corner of Admirals and Esquimalt Roads. Room and board for six weeks cost him $30.00. Two days after arriving in Victoria he started work at Bullen’s, putting up stanchions under deck on the Princess Royal. The second ship he worked on at Bullen’s was the Madge. Other ships mentioned that year in his diary include the Charmer, Princess Victoria, Princess Beatrice and Princess Norah.

Arthur Daniels directing the docking of the RMS Queen Elizabeth (Photo from the Linda Baker collection.)

By 1910 Grandad was on staff at Bullen’s Shipyard as foreman shipwright, and in 1914 saw the shipyard undergo some changes. That was the year Norman Yarrow purchased the business, following in the tradition of his Scottish shipbuilder father, Sir Alfred Yarrow. Yarrows Ltd. of Victoria became, over the years, a major west coast shipyard. For forty–two years he worked at Yarrows Ltd., retiring in 1949 at the age of 72 from his position as Dockmaster.

Arthur Daniels directing the docking of the RMS Queen Elizabeth at the Federal Graving Dock during the Second World War. (Photo from the Linda Baker collection.)

Daniels retired at age 72, thus ending his 42 years at the shipyard, although he was kept more or less on call to give advice to his successor. The highlight of his career at Yarrows was the docking of the Queen Elizabeth during the Second World War."

Quite independently of receiving Linda Baker’s material, a person recently doing a house clearance in Oak Bay turned up a small photo album feature portraits of the key staff working at Yarrows Ltd. in 1914. This likely marks the staff on strength at the time of Norman Yarrows takeover. I found these photographs captivating because they are the workforce that made the company operate successfully. I'm guessing that these are the salaried employees at the time (all others on an hourly wage). Usually we only see images of the owners or of the senior managers. I share them here below:

J. Murray (Yard Manager) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

I. Hopkins (Office Manager) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

A. Kohout (Accountant) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

W.E.A. Barclay (Timekeeper) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

A.G. Bolton (Cost Accountant) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

C.B. Sanford (Assistant Timekeeper) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

F. Schrattenholz (Assistant Cost Accountant) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

Miss Sibbald (Typist) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

Miss Bloor (Typist) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

R. Poultney (Storekeeper) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

J. Cameron (Draughtsman) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

S. Mc. G. Smith (Dock Superintendent) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

C.E. Green (Draughtsman) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

J. Blackadder (Foreman Plater) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

R.D. Stephens (Foreman Engineer) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

Arthur J. Daniels (Foreman Shipwright) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

H. Walton (Foreman Electrician) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

A.W. Stewart (Foreman Blacksmith) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

R. McKean (Foreman Coppersmith) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

C. Stewart (Foreman Rivetter) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

L. DeCosta (Foreman Laborer and Diver) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

W. Atkins (Engineer in Charge of Hauling & Air Compressing Engine) (Photo from the John MacFarlane collection.)

To quote from this article please cite:

MacFarlane, John (2021) A.J. Daniels – Employee at Yarrows Ltd. (Esquimalt BC). Nauticapedia.ca 2020. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Daniels_AJ.php

Site News: December 21, 2024

The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 94,824 vessel histories (with 16,274 images and 13,929 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters).

Vessel records are currently being reviewed and updated with more than 45,000 processed so far this year (2024).

The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,599 entries (with 3996 images).

Thanks to Ray Warren who is beginning a long process of filling gaps in the photo record of vessel histories in the database. Ray has been documenting the ships of Vancouver Harbour for more than 60 years.

Thanks to contributor Mike Rydqvist McCammon for the hundreds of photos he has contributed to illustrate British Columbia’s floating heritage.

My very special thanks to our volunteer IT adviser, John Eyre, who (since 2021) has modernized, simplified and improved the update process for the databases into semi–automated processes. His participation has been vital to keeping the Nauticapedia available to our netizens.

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