Doctor John Sebastian Helmcken
John Sebastian Helmcken was born in London in 1924. He trained to be a doctor at Guys Hospital, London.
He arrived in Victoria as a surgeon and clerk for the Hudson Bay Company on March 24, 1850.
Dr. Helmcken entered politics in 1856, becoming the first Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on Vancouver Island. Though re-elected on a campaign against Confederation, Helmcken helped negotiate the entry of British Columbia into Canada in 1871. He then returned to medicine and the raising of his children.
He was renowned as a doctor, inoculating hundreds during the smallpox outbreak of 1862. He also served as president of both Royal Jubilee Hospital and the BC Medical Society.
In old age, he wrote his memoirs while being cared for by his daughter, Edith (“Dolly”). John Sebastian Helmcken died in this house in 1920.
[Photo caption]
Dr. John Sebastian Helmcken, c. 1854. Bradley and Rulofson. RBCM BCA A-01354.
Marker can be reached from Douglas Street just from Belleville Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
