SOOKE HISTORY: A look at one of the leading authorities on Vancouver Island’s western coast
Published 2:00 pm Sunday, May 31, 2026
One of the most interesting figures in the history of our west coast was Major George Nicholson, a historian whose chronicles became famous with the publication of his book, Vancouver Island’s West Coast 1762 – 1962. First published in 1962, the book went into 12 reprints.
Our photo shows George Nicholson together with Gerry Andrews, B.C.’s Surveyor-General, two old friends who enjoyed reminiscing together. My first meeting with the pair was when they came to Sooke to regale us with historical tales when we were building the Sooke Region Museum.
I had the chance to visit with Major Nicholson, this engaging raconteur, on many occasions that followed. While I enjoyed listening to him, I could never get him to talk when I asked him about rum-running – he would only chuckle and give me no answer.
While he was born in New Zealand in 1887, his sense of adventure took him to Australia, Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa; in 1911, he arrived in Victoria. At the onset of the Great War, he enlisted in a local regiment and served overseas. After the Battle of Vimy Ridge, he had reached the rank of Major and was awarded the Victoria Cross. Coming back to Vancouver Island after the war, he took up positions which included managing hotels in Port Renfrew, Clayoquot and the Sooke Harbour Hotel (later called the Belvedere), which stood high on the hillside above the mouth of the Sooke River.
The Nicholsons raised two daughters, Bonnie and Gretel, and a son, Cecil (called Mickey). For a time, his adventures took him to Zeballos, where his office signage listed: Postmaster / Deputy Mining Recorder / Justice of the Peace / Registrar of Births, Deaths & Marriages / Marriage Commissioner / Air Harbour Licences / Wharfinger / Agent for Standard Oil / Zeballos Trading Co Ltd. When Major Nicholson died in 1980, journalist Alec Merriman wrote in the Daily Colonist, “he was the authority on anything pertaining to Vancouver Island’s West Coast.”
We have the good fortune to have George Nicholson’s granddaughter, Joan, still with us in Sidney. Daughter of Cecil Nicholson, Joan is married to Bruce Payne, a well-known helicopter pilot who has contributed many good deeds to the Sooke Region Museum.
Joan Payne recalls, “He was quite a different grandpa – he was a bit of a rogue, you know, very colourful. When he was old, he could be a challenge if things didn’t go his way, but you loved him in spite of everything. He lived at the James Bay Lodge but stayed with us when he needed extra care. He danced to his own tune, but what a remarkable man he was.”