Nine times Martin visited Victoria between 1887-1910, local artists took him under their wing and took him to some of their favourite sites for sketching. He once lived at Shoal Bay (now McNeilll Bay) for a year and a half.  In this painting he captured the flora and fauna of the park, the Anglican Cathedral church tower off in the distance (the first Christ Church Cathedral burnt to the ground in 1869, this, the second, was built in 1872), and a city worker mowing the grass on a horse drawn mower.  In the 1840's, early immigrants to Victoria, BC called this area 'the park'. Domestic animals were set there to feed and they helped keep the vegetation down. In 1850, on the hill, they stood a pole with a beacon cask on top and there was another beacon closer to the beach, hence the name Beacon Hill. These served as guides to the harbour. 

Available in cards only