Victoria locals are no doubt familiar with Craigdarroch Castle, which was built in 1890 by Robert Dunsmuir, a wealthy coal baron. The Craigdarroch Castle Historical Museum Society often gives tours of the site, discussing its history; now, the Curiosities of Craigdarroch After Hours Tour is here, just in time for Halloween.
“Basically, it takes a look at the darker side of the Victorian era and kind of focuses on the Victorians’ obsession with death using the lens of the Dunsmuir family here at the castle,” says Craigdarroch operations assistant Julia Kassam-Theim. “It kind of addresses the way they would have processed death in the Victorian era, as well as some of the strange activities that would have been associated with death, like taxidermy or hair arts or mourning rituals, stuff along the lines of that.”
Using the vast collection of historical archives and literature at their disposal, the Craigdarroch research team have created a series of stories that focus on the more macabre aspects of the history of the Dunsmuir family, as well as the Victorian time period within which they lived.
“It’s bits and pieces of different information that all come from our own backgrounds, as well as what we know about the Dunsmuir family,” says Kassam-Theim. “Our current curator, for example, discovered that the land actually was used to harvest camas bulbs, and in doing so, the Indigenous people also planted death camas, which is one of the stories that we’ll try to incorporate in the story into the tour as well.”
The vast and fascinating lore is what got Kassam-Theim hooked, and the mysterious and sinister stories on offer keep her engaged, bridging the gap between history and art.
“For me, death and the Victorian era are both just things that fascinate me in general,” she says. “I took a photography and culture course, and one of the things that we wound up looking into was spirit and occult photography, and how that played an interest in the Victorian era. There are a lot of interesting characters in the Dunsmuir family.”
Life was not all smooth sailing for the mogul family, says Kassam-Theim, and there’s plenty of fascinating tragedy that the tour regales the listeners with.
“A lot of the Dunsmuir family story itself is a little tragic. It’s very dramatic. They often died young,” says Kassam-Theim. “We also discuss some of the lives that were rooted in tragedy as well, like Effie Dunsmuir. She suffered from mental-health issues during a time when it wasn’t really understood, and we look into what that would have looked like in the Victorian era as well.”
Kassam-Theim, as well as the other guides and historians involved with the tour, are huge fans of stories, and are excited to share them with a curious audience. (Audience members are reminded that the castle is not built for accessibility, and throughout the tour, listeners will have to climb up and down 87 stairs.)
“It’s something that I’m passionate about,” she says. “We all love storytelling. So our guides, you can really sense the passion when they go and tell you these stories as we go throughout the castle.”
Curiosities of Craigdarroch
4 pm Wednesdays and Thursdays through October
4 pm Saturday, October 24
$35, Craigdarroch Castle
thecastle.ca