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Merville resident looking for help to name original settler families

Janice Isenor is hoping to figure out which families settled where in Merville 100 years ago
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Janice Isenor has been going through archives, looking for the names and plot numbers of all the original families who settled in Merville in 1919. Photo by Jolene Rudisuela

Janice Isenor has two large maps of Merville spread out on her kitchen table, each colour coded and covered in names and notes.

With the Merville Centennial Celebration coming up in September, local residents have been working hard to get the community looking its best, but many have also been looking back into Merville’s history to learn what the original settlement looked like 100 years ago.

Since May 2018, Isenor has been scouring old records, searching for the names of the original families that settled in the area in 1919 and linking them to each plot of land.

“I thought it’d be easy enough,” said Isenor with a laugh. Nearly a year later, that has proven to not be the case.

While Isenor’s roots run deep in Cumberland, her husband’s family has 100 years of history in Merville. Dick Isenor, Isenor’s father-in-law, was born in Merville in 1928, nine years after his parents settled in the area. Though he is 90 years old, Dick still lives on the land he grew up on, along with his wife Alice. While Dick was able to help link some family names to properties, there are still a number of gaps to fill.

Isenor has traveled to the Royal BC Museum in Victoria multiple times to search through their extensive archives, looking for any leads that will direct her to a family name or a plot number. She has also combed through various books about Merville, to find any mention that would prove useful in her search.

“I’ve got quite a few properties by reading the books and them saying so and so lived this many miles from one place or another,” she said.

But with many properties still unclaimed, Isenor is turning to the community for help.

On Feb. 24., from 1-3 p.m., Isenor, along with other organizers of the Merville Centennial Celebration, will be in the Eats and Treats Cafe in the Merville Store, hoping to hear stories from local residents and hopefully, fill in some new names on the map.

For more information on the centennial celebration, visit www.mervillehall.ca, the Merville Turns 100 Facebook Page or call 250-339-4249.


jolene.rudisuela@comoxvalleyrecord.com

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