Harrison-Wedgwood, the legacy
In the late 1800’s, while on a stopover at Esquimalt, BC, Harrison traveled to the Kootenays to join a friend for a hunting and fishing trip. He was so taken with the area’s rugged beauty that he decided to make his home here.
In England, he had married Lucy Caroline Wedgwood, great grand daughter of the founder of the Wedgwood China Company. Her uncle was Charles Darwin, and famed British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was her cousin. The couple had three sons and two daughters. One son died quite young, of scarlet fever in England.
In 1908, Cdr. Harrison left England, taking his daughter Nancy with him. The remaining sons, were officers in the Royal Navy, and stayed in England. At that time, both Cdr. Harrison and his wife were in their 60s. By 1910, the estate was built and named "Freckleton". The two daughters married local men, and one built a house right next door.
In World War I, tragedy struck when the remaining two sons were killed in action. To memorialize his sons, Cdr. Harrison began construction of a little church which would bear their name. However, in June of 1919, Mrs. Harrison died quite suddenly, and the church became the memorial to her and their sons.
Commander Harrison died in June 1926 at age 79, and was buried beside his wife on the Manor grounds.
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