Item M08259 - Vancouver Island Athletic Association (VIAA) float in front of Dr. Fraser's house on Broughton Street

Richard Lawrence Pocock was born in London, England on January 9, 1874. He was educated in Somersetshire and Bath Colleges and went on to complete his studies at Pembroke College, Oxford. The son of a London barrister, he trained in the mining profession and worked for several years as a mining engineer in the Kootenays. He arrived in Nelson, British Columbia in 1897. In 1899, he came to the coast to locate timber limits and water rights for the Industrial Power Company. He also staked the Powell River waterpower project in 1899 and the Clowhom River Project. A few years later he went to Kweichow, China with the Anglo-French Quicksilver Company to mine for mercury. Upon returning to British Columbia, Pocock joined the staff of the Daily Colonist in May 1907. At first, he was employed in the business office where he remained for five years working as a cashier. In 1912 he was made staff photographer, magazine, sports, and telegraph editor. He held the last two positions in succession for twenty-four of his thirty-six-year career with the newspaper. He wrote for the paper under the nom de plume “Old Stager”. His favorite pastimes included fishing, shooting and golf.

On May 1, 1907, Pocock married Emma George, an avid golfer and the first woman in B.C. to arrive at her wedding in an automobile. They had one daughter, Amy Katherine (b. 1909). Amy later married Theodore A. Robinson. The family lived at 1145 View Street from 1907 until Emma’s death in 1960. Pocock died in Victoria on October 24, 1943.