Yarrows Ltd. was a major ship yard located in Esquimalt, British Columbia on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada. Established in 1893 as the Esquimalt Marine Railway Co., later B.C. Marine Railway Co., by W. Fitzherbert Bullen, it ran small marine railways in Victoria and Vancouver. Sir Alfred Yarrow purchased the yard in 1913, renamed it Yarrows Ltd., and installed as manager his son, Norman Yarrow. From its early start building ships for the Canadian Pacific Railway, the yard expanded during the First World War to repair and refit many vessels for the Royal Navy, employing up to 800 men. In the late 1920s, the larger Esquimalt graving dock was completed. During the Second World War the company produced corvettes, frigates, landing ships, and transport ferries for the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy, as well as freighters. Other work included arming civilian ships and refitting at least one as a troop carrier. At its peak during the Second World War, Yarrows employed about 3500 men and 480 women. After the war, the Yarrow family sold the yard to Clarence Wallace of the Burrard Drydock Company, North Vancouver, the man who created the Burrard Yarrows Corporation. The yard was closed in 1994 and the graving dock and property are now part of the Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt.
Arthur John Daniels was born in Essex, England, June 27, 1877. He was Superintendent Shipwright and Dock Master for Yarrows Limited, which operated a shipyard in Esquimalt. Daniels died in Victoria on March 30, 1955.
Kenneth Anthony Steven Hill was born August 18, 1927, in Esquimalt, B. C. He married Betty Cleo Aitken in 1950. They had six children: Sharon, Steven, Sandra, Susan, Ronald and Brenda. An electrician by trade, Mr. Hill also served as alderman from 1969 to 1977, as mayor from 1979 to 1987, and was a member of the Board of the Capital Regional District from 1982 to 1987. Ken Hill grew up at 824 Ellery Street during the 1930's and at 3015 Quadra Street until 1950. He built his home at 365 Lampson Street in 1954.
Ethel Morrison was born in Pictou, N.S., on Feb. 27, 1875, and moved to Victoria with her family in 1898. She served as a nurse in several theatres of World War I and was school nurse at Lampson Street School in Esquimalt from 1921 to 1945. Ethel Morrison died at the Veterans' Hospital, Victoria, Dec. 24, 1954.
Mrs. G.A. McTavish born Catherine Amelia (Amy) Helmcken on 19 March 1855, daughter of Dr. John Sebastian Helmcken and Cecilia, grandaughter of James and Amilia Douglas. Married in Dec. 1877 to George Archibald McTavish. Died 1 Nov. 1922. Her children included Rita (Margaret Cecilia) McTavish (1879-1954), Duncan Douglas McTavish (b. 1881), Claus Sebastian McTavish (b. 1884) and Dorothy Olivia McTavish (1889-1972). Rita married David C. Hughes in 1916. Dorothy married Edward Heddle in 1916. Both sons were given land in Dr. John Sebastian Helmcken's View Royal sections.
The Esquimalt Chamber of Commerce was established on February 26, 1947 as a volunteer, Not-For-Profit Corporation under the Boards of Trade Act, Part 1. Since the ’40s, the Chamber has been governed by a board of volunteers who are passionate about supporting the business community in Esquimalt.