"There was not much else to do in the Hungry Thirties..."

Born in Cumberland in 1914, John Bannerman worked briefly at No. 5 mine before beginning a career in retail.

John’s Story

“My dad was born in Nanaimo where his dad worked in the mines. The family came to Cumberland in 1901 when Dad was about six years old, so that my grandfather could work in the mines here.

“My mum’s dad was a coal miner who came over from Wales to mine in Pennsylvania, and then migrated west to the Seattle area before moving up to North Wellington on Vancouver Island. In 1900, when mum, Martha Hunden, was about four years old, her dad brought the family up to Cumberland.

“My dad’s first job with Canadian Collieries was to run the hoist out at No. 7, in Bevan. For years after that my dad worked on the main hoist outside at No. 4 mine, the one that brought the coal cars up to the tipple, and then he went to No. 8. Later on, after No. 8 had closed down, he went to work at Union Bay dismantling the machinery and railway tracks for a scrap-metal salvaging company.

“I graduated from high school in 1932 and went to work for my uncle, who owned McLeod’s, a lumber and shingle mill on the Dike Road, out toward Comox. In about 1935 I went into the coal mine, but I only worked there for about a year. I did not dig the coal; I was a hoistman and did a little bit of rope-riding, sometimes you had to do a bit of everything in the coal mine.