Thorneycroft, Harold, Jewellery Store

Nanaimo Historical Society fonds
Series 2. Sound recordings

Tape 92

Interview of Harold Thorneycroft, retired watchmaker, by Henry Poikonen
Date: May 14 1978

Transcribed by: Glenys Wall
Transcription date: March/April 2003

Poikonen: This is Henry Poikonen speaking. Today is ..eh ..is it May 13th or 14th 1978. I am visiting Mr. & Mrs. Harold Thorneycroft at their nice home on Metral Drive. I would just like to talk over some old times with you Mr. Thorneycroft. You were born in England?

Thorneycroft: Born in England, yes, in the North of England in 1887 and I came out to Canada in 1911.
Poikonen: Did you come right to Nanaimo?
Thorneycroft: No I came… eh… I was in Ireland for a year and then I moved to Victoria, came on the Colonist trains in those days the Colonists trains, and you had to pack your own blankets and you used to have to sleep on boards and get out here, and there was like a kitchen on every coach on the train with a fire and you had to do your own cooking to be able to eat and I came out to Victoria in 1911 and there was no work there so I got on the train and came up to Nanaimo.
Poikonen: Now did you know someone in Victoria or in Canada which…….
Thorneycroft: Well I had a brother in Victoria and I also had a sister in Nanaimo, a Mrs. W. J. Smith that I came up to.
Poikonen: I see, is she still here?
Thorneycroft: No they went back to England.
Poikonen: I see.
Thorneycroft: He, of course, Bill Smith was bandmaster of the Silver Cornet Band.
Poikonen: Is that so? Well that’s very interesting being an ex-member myself.
Thorneycroft: So… and he had a son, you know, and he got to be the bandmaster too of the Silver Cornet Band. And then I worked for a jeweller in Nanaimo a man called Forcimmer on Commercial Street. It was one door down from the corner where Grassick is now.
Poikonen: I see, near the Free Press.
Thorneycroft: Yes right opposite the Free Press and.. eh.. I worked for him for 9 years before I started up on me own and then I started up on me own down in the Old Oddfellows Building, which was where Jean Burns’ store is now.
Poikonen: I see.
Thorneycroft: In those days, there was no Kennedy drug store, that was built while we were there, that was a new in store that was built by J.B. Hodgins the drug man and in that block at that time there was a man called Irvine used to run a battery shop and he was a diamond setter, a diamond driller, Mr. Irvine, which is a kind of an unusual occupation but that was what he used to do. He used to set diamonds in the drill and so forth.
Poikonen: Was that anything to do with coal mining then?
Thorneycroft: Drilling for rock… it would go through rock and that sort of thing. Then there was next door to me was Clark the confectionery store, ice-cream and confectioneries, a man called Clark, Clark’s store; it was taken over by Jimmy Knight who was one of the great footballers of Nanaimo.
Poikonen: I remember him very well.
Thorneycroft: But it was Clark’s and there’s one incident that has always stuck in my mind while I was in that store a man called Bainbridge who ran a bakery and he had a horse and rig as usual, you know, and however, he was up Harbour Street and his horse took away and it come rushing down Harbour Street and the first thing we know it was in Mr. Clark’s window (laughing) so that was quite a sensation at that time. There was other things happened there too; one Sunday I was sitting at home and the phone went and a policeman said you better come down here there’s an automobile in your window. Another fellow had run wild down there and gone right in and broke the window of the jewellery store; he says we are leaving the car there until you get here so you can move all the jewellery. (laughing)
Poikonen: Would this be in the 1920’s?
Thorneycroft: Yes that would be in the ‘20’s. Of course I started in ‘19 you see, it was in the old store and then I moved to the Hall Block that’s where the paint shop is now, I moved in there. I was there until 1946.
Poikonen: I remember your being in that location.
Thorneycroft: Yeah, I was there until 1946 when I sold out and been retired ever since.
Poikonen: You said that you were a journeyman….
Thorneycroft: Journeyman watchmaker, yes.
Poikonen: You learned through….?

Thorneycroft: I learned me trade in the Old Country of course.
Poikonen: You learned it in the Old Country?
Thorneycroft: I served 5 years. You had to serve 5 years you see.
Poikonen: Who did you work for there, did you worked for some large company?
Thorneycroft: Oh not it wasn’t …. There in the Old Country it was a fair size store, but they used to take apprentices and you used to get the large sum of 2 shillings to start with, 2 shilling a week.
Poikonen: That doesn’t sound like very much.
Thorneycroft: Well it isn’t very much, (laughing) but that’s what you used to get for a year and then for instance I got 2 shillings the first year, 3 the next, 4 the next, 5 the next, 6 the next, 6 when I was out of my time. I started when I was 13, I was out of my time when I was 18.
Poikonen: Were you living at home at the time?
Thorneycroft: At home, of course, naturally, you had to live at home.
Poikonen: You couldn’t live on that?
Thorneycroft: No no, you couldn’t live on that. But you see that’s what I’ve often felt, meself, that a lot of the trouble today is that young men go to school now til they’re 18 or 19. Now I was a journeyman when I was 18 and I feel there should be more free training.
Poikonen: More concentration on to learn specifics.
Thorneycroft: On trades, yes I think … I’ve always felt that every young man should have a trade of some kind to look for otherwise he’s at a dead end, you know. I don’t care what it is whether it’s a plumber, a carpenter or anything.
Poikonen: Something they can do with their hands.
Thorneycroft: Absolutely, he’s got something to look for. If he hasn’t got something definite, a trade what’s he going to look for except digging ditches or something? And I’ve often felt that the schools are lacking in that way although I was a school trustee for 6 years you see but I always felt that there should be more of the trades taught in school.
Poikonen: I guess the concentration has been to get a university degree in recent years, but then those people have difficulty in finding employment then.
Thorneycroft: Well I mean there isn’t the jobs for them. I always found well now o.k. if I’m out of a job and well say I was a clock fixer or a watch maker I could go door to door and still make a living getting work. I’ve always felt that anybody that’s got a trade could do the same thing no problem at all, an electrician I mean every house most likely needs something to repair or maybe a new light put in for an electrician or something.
Poikonen: Now the training that you got you had to be able to take a watch apart to pieces and put it back together again.
Thorneycroft: Oh yes. And replace it with new parts if you had to; you had to make a lot of the parts in those days. You see I gave my old time tools to the museum they’re in the museum, by looking at them you’ll see how ancient they were to the present day. The present day is altogether a different set up all together. Today they don’t make nothing I don’t think. They buy a new part or a new …. In it goes. We used to have to make them.
Poikonen: No pocket- watches were the thing.
Thorneycroft: There were pocket-watches and of course wristwatches came in at that time. The self-winders as we used to call them came in at that time too you see during those years that’s the keyless, we used to call them the keyless watch, well there’s nothing else today you see. There isn’t such a thing as a key watch.
Poikonen: My father has 2 Burlington Bull Dog watches, railroad watches. He lives with us, he’s 78 or will be and you have to take the face off and pull the lever before you can turn the hands to adjust it.
Thorneycroft: Oh yes you couldn’t be on the railroad unless you had that you see. They wouldn’t let you have a watch that the stem pulled out to turn the hands because they were scared that an engine driver would accidentally pull it up and he’d be in trouble you see, the hands would move and he’d have the wrong time and there’d be an accident. That’s the reason for that.
Poikonen: So you had a brother and a sister in Canada and did they write to you how things were out here?
Thorneycroft: Yes that’s right.
Poikonen: And you decided to come out and you say there was no work. You went to Victoria and you said your sister was living here at the time, so you decided to come up here, that would be on the E&N of course.
Thorneycroft: E&N in those days, yes. When I was on the school board we took all the children, the school children down to Victoria to see the Queen.
Poikonen: I was on that in 1939 I went down there at that time.
Thorneycroft: Yes I was on the school board at that time.
Poikonen: Mr. Barsby was the mayor at that time.
Thorneycroft: That’s right.
Poikonen: I was in that group.
Thorneycroft: He was on the school board too of course. And I remember that and they put us a mile away from the Queen. (laughing)
Poikonen: They did yes, some of us luckier ones had not a stethoscope but a periscope ….
Thorneycroft: A periscope yes that’s right to look over people. You’re right that was in the old days that was something. Another highlight of course was the strike here in ‘13 that was bad, that was a bad one.
Poikonen: It went on for quite a while too didn’t it?
Thorneycroft: Yes, oh yes. They brought the soldiers up you know.
Poikonen: Those were … I got this.. I mentioned it when I came in that I have a 1913 Daily Herald here so you were here when the Oscar blew up. What do you remember about that? Where were you?
Thorneycroft: I remember this I was sitting repairing a watch and things shook, everything seemed to shake and of course all glass started to fly out of the windows.
Poikonen: Was there a sudden jarring blast?
Thorneycroft: Yes and a shake, the building shook you know. Glass flew out of the windows across the road and we said “oh oh that’s the gas works” We thought it was the gas works. There were gas works in those days, you know, you remember the gas works down at the Pearson Bridge there?
Poikonen: No I don’t.
Thorneycroft: Well there were gas works. We thought it was the gas works. We went outside and people started to come to the drug store, J.B. Hodgins was next door to us you see and people would come bleeding you know with their face bleeding been sitting in front of the Windsor Hotel and the Court House and they all started to come to Hodgins to get patched up you see. They were bleeding and that and a funny thing about where I was, in the store I was at we thought had happened, our window was alright, we thought it was at least, and so after we kind of got settled and started looking around we had a shelf, a glass shelf in the middle of the window with a lot of stuff on, goods on display in the window, that had snapped right in the middle and everything gone on the window; but we never realized it…
Poikonen: Did you or anyone have insurance for that type of thing?
Thorneycroft: No I don’t think so, I don’t think they had any insurance for an explosion like that, you see. That was quite a thing was that explosion; of course that wasn’t the only explosion we had …
Poikonen: No Nanaimo’s history has a lot of explosions.
Thorneycroft: You see the magazine went up at one time, the powder magazine on Protection Island. That blew up and then Northfield used to have an explosion every once in a while too, Northfield Powder Works. There used to be powder works at Northfield and then of course Nanoose used to have the odd one too at Nanoose Bay there, that was CIL, CIL was there. All the changes that have come to Nanaimo, there’s hardly a thing now that was then.
Poikonen: Well the Bastion is one of course….
Thorneycroft: That’s been moved of course a couple of times, you know, that used to be on the Rock.
Poikonen: But it’s closer to where it originally was now is it not?
Thorneycroft: Well it’s closer to where the pioneers landed. I think where it originally was of course the Rock’s gone, they blew that away and of course built buildings now where the Bastion was, it was on the left hand side there on Bastion Street.
Poikonen: And the Court House, that was there in those days I think.
Thorneycroft: The Court House has always been there; part of the Court House, of course, there’s been a lot put on since then. Of course the Post Office is in its original place and that’s been of course rebuilt.
Poikonen: But the railing is still there, I noticed, I believe the railing is still there, the black iron railing.
Thorneycroft: The railing?
Poikonen: The railing.
Thorneycroft: Of course the Police Station used to be there beside the Post Office.
Poikonen: Was it?
Thorneycroft: Yeah.
Poikonen: I can recall it being where Skinner Street was.
Thorneycroft: It was moved to there, next to the City Hall. The City Hall used to be where that [intelligible] medical building is now, you know, and the Police Station used to be next door to it you see. When the First War started the Police Station was this side of the Post Office.
Poikonen: Was it?
Thorneycroft: Do you remember the ramp that used to go down to the boats?
Poikonen: I certainly do.
Thorneycroft: Well you see now the strike was on at that time, you know, and the strikers used to meet the boats to see if there was any extra police come on, you know. The Police Station was on the right hand side of that ramp.
Poikonen: I see. It was a good handy place for it then (laughing). So after the explosion, I suppose everyone came out on the street wondering what it was.
Thorneycroft: The explosion?
Poikonen: Yes.
Thorneycroft: Yes well of course everyone wondered until we found out what it was you know, and of course they found very little of the boat.
Poikonen: It’s miraculous that no one was killed.
Thorneycroft: There was very little of the boat found, you know. I mean there was a few pieces of wood up at the top of trees and that sort of thing, but that’s about all they found of it. You see it had called for coal being in the wharf there, you see, and they got out to sea and found they were on fire and they put back in and beached here on Protection Island and run and while they were running, of course, up she went. But it was a quite a thing that explosion.
Poikonen: Now a little about the business, people bought for cash in those days mainly or did some people do credit buying?
Thorneycroft: Oh yes in those days, of course, payday was once a month.
Poikonen: I see.
Thorneycroft: And now you’ve heard of the Hirst family, of course there one of the oldest families in here.
Poikonen: The undertakers is that the same Hirst?
Thorneycroft: No, no. They weren’t undertakers.
Poikonen: Oh the Hirst store I guess?
Thorneycroft: Hirst store. He was a grocer. He was where Dakin is now, on that corner. And during the strike he gave a lot of credit which he never got, of course, paid for during the strike. But he was a gentleman just the same was Hirst, he was one of the real oldtimers, was Hirst.
Poikonen: So once a month people paid their bills then?
Thorneycroft: Oh yes. Of course and they used to come around to your house, they had somebody come around to take your order and they would deliver it and then you’d pay them once a month when you got your cheque, when you got your money. That’s how they used to do business in those days, you see, and I don’t think anybody lost very much.
Poikonen: You knew pretty well everybody pretty well knew each other I guess?
Thorneycroft: Oh absolutely. It was friendly, if you wanted a $20 bill why all you had to open your mouth and you got one, you know. Everyone seemed to have a $20 bill in those days. Now….
Poikonen: Was there service clubs like there is Kiwanis and Rotary?
Thorneycroft: Oh well they started up of course since, like Lodges have started up. I remember the Moose starting up, now the Eagles started up before I came here. I happen to be I think about the oldest Eagle member at the present time. I’m 59 years a member now of the Eagles.
Poikonen: Is that so? Let’s go to something else now for a moment. Looking at this 1924 Jubilee Edition of the Free Press and I see an ad here,”Thorneycroft Practical Watchmakers, Jewellers and Optometrist 10 Commercial Street.” And if I may read this ad:
“Have you ever been to our store? If not then you have missed seeing the biggest little jewellery store in town. This is a special invitation to you to visit our store and we guarantee to show you the most complete up to date and most moderately priced stock of beautiful things and jewellery and watches etc. that you can find in this city and we will show it to you cheerfully and courteously without making you feel that you have to buy just because you stepped in.”
Now that’s real personal, that’s a real personal touch to it isn’t it?