Our History

The Church Community of Mill Bay, Shawnigan Lake & Cobble Hill

The little church, named after the missionary saint, standing on Kilmalu Road near the junction of the Trans-Canada Highway, Mill Bay has a long history, dating back to 1887 when the Church was built to serve the French Canadian workers at the mill in Mill Bay on land donated by Mr. Gabereau. It was consecrated in 1889 by Bishop John Lemmens whose diocese extended as far as Alaska. It is considered to be one of the oldest, if not the oldest building, in Mill Bay.

Phase 1

In 1860 there was a thriving mill in Mill Bay at the mouth of the Millstream (now Shawnigan Creek). This mill was bought by the U.S. lumber baron W.P. Sayward, who owned most of the mills on the island. However, by 1878 the supply of logs had run out, as they could only be hauled from a mile away. Many mill workers, largely of Irish and French Canadian descent had decided to settle permanently in the area. Many of these settlers were Catholic and when they could obtain the services of a priest, Mass was said at the mill site. Fr. Donckele, assistant to Fr. Rondeault at St. Ann’s Church in Quamichan, realized the need for a Church; Louis Gabereau donated an acre of his nearby farm and permission was received to build.

The lumber came from the mill at Genoa Bay; the sills and foundation blocks were cut from nearby trees. Mr. Shearing was the head carpenter and he was paid; Louis Gabereau, Sam Handy, Will Rivers, Francis Xavier La Fortune and John Grieg were among those who donated their labour.

The lumber came from Genoa Bay as the local mill burnt down in 1884. This was somewhat a disaster given that while the Church was completed in 1887, many of the Catholic families had moved away. Nevertheless, on June 2, 1889, Bishop John N. Lemmens, assisted by Frs. Fortin and Donckele, blessed the new church, and named it St. Francis Xavier. It was then a mission church under St. Ann’s at Tzouhalem.

Mass was said regularly until 1900 when Fr. Rondeault died, leaving only one priest to look after the entire region and of course this led to Mass being celebrated only occasionally. The Church fell into disuse and severe deterioration.

Such was the state of affairs when the Deloume family, from Bordeaux, France, arrived in the fall of 1901 and settled on a 200 acre holding. There were nine in the family, all hard workers, all musical and devout Catholics. They tried desperately to get a priest to come and say Mass. Finally, Bishop Orth, on a pastoral visit of the Diocese, called at Mill Bay. Satisfied with the number of parishioners, he promised to send a priest as soon as possible. As promised to Bishop Orth, the men repaired the church, and in 1903, the Bishop made an agreement with the Montfort Fathers, whereby they took charge of the Cowichan District and surrounding areas, with headquarters at St. Ann’s in Tzouhalem.

Up until1932, there was no porch on the church and no sacristy. Immediately upon entering you were in the main body of the church. The organ was at the back on the left and the altar was in front of what used to be the altar rails with a pot bellied stove to the right. The present sanctuary was then the sacristy. In 1932, to accommodate a larger congregation, the porch and choir loft were added to the front and the sacristy was transformed into the existing sanctuary. An old woodshed was joined to the back and became the sacristy that we know today. Electric lighting was added in the early 1950’s.

When the Montford Fathers took charge of the parish, travel to St. Francis was by horse and buggy and took three to four hours one way. Fr. William Lemmens noted:

St. Ann’s Church, Tzouhalem had Mass every Sunday; Duncan also. But the outlying mission posts had Mass only once a month … remember these were the days of horse and buggy, and afternoon Masses were not even thought of. To get to Cobble Hill (as this entire region was then called) in time for Mass you had to leave around 7 o’clock, after Mass you were invited by one of the families for dinner and after some visiting you got back to the residence around 4 or 5 in the afternoon.

On Sunday, July 18, 1937, St. Francis Xavier church celebrated its 50^th anniversary. An outdoor Pontifical High Mass was celebrated by His Excellency Bishop Cody, with at least eight attendant clergy. Most of the congregation from St. Edward’s parish in Duncan came to help celebrate and Father LaTour, the current pastor, paid tribute to Father Scheelen, Fr. H. Lemmens, and the Deloume family for their outstanding contributions to the upkeep of the church.

The congregation continued to grow. But then in 1939 war broke out, gas was rationed and life changed.

Phase 2

After the E & N Railway was completed in 1886, (the last spike being driven at Cliffside, S. Shawnigan), people soon started moving into the Shawnigan Lake area. Land was cleared, commercial enterprises and permanent homes were built, and many summer cottages appeared around the edge of the lake. As the population grew in the late 1930's and early 1940's, so did the summer congregation at St. Francis. In July and August there were often more people standing outside than there were inside.

Then in the early 1940’s gas rationing was introduced, (7 gals. per month) and next to no summer visitors came to St. Francis, although they still came up to their summer cottages. Neither were the permanent Shawnigan residents able to get to Mass at Mill Bay. Nor for that matter, were the residents from Mill Bay and Cobble Hill able to attend regularly.

What to do? Because the priest was able to get extra gas, the solution seemed to be to rent a small meeting room in the old Shawnigan Lake Hall every Sunday morning. This meant that the portable altar and chairs had to be set up and removed before and after every Mass. This system continued at Shawnigan Lake until the 1950’s with a complex system of Mass times.

After the war, the congregations started to grow in leaps and bounds, not to mention that fact that folks from Victoria came up on the train to their cottages around the lake and without vehicles at their disposal, they were limited in getting around. And so it was evident that another church was needed. An opportunity to purchase the old Public School (built in 1893) presented itself, along with a second building and the grounds. Parishioner Maria Hartl donated the funds for the buildings. Fr. Benedict Tourigny and many of the parishioners utilized their building skills to the full. The smaller building was cut in two, and one half was added to the front of the main building. It was always intended to put a choir loft over the addition at the front, but this was never realized. The space beneath became the hall.

In May 1956, the bell was blessed, and on June 24, 1956 the church was consecrated by His Excellency Bishop James Hill, and named Our Lady, Queen of the World.

The Montfort Fathers, notably Fr. Lucien LeClair, Fr. Ray Lombard, & Fr. Benedict Tourigny continued to minister to the spiritual needs of the Catholics, with services alternating between the two churches. On June 16, 1959, the Montfort Fathers were recalled from their missionary work in the Victoria Diocese. They were replaced by the Oblate Fathers under Rev. Fr. Paul Monahan. Both St. Francis Xavier and Our Lady, Queen of the World still continued to be mission churches St. Ann’s at Tzouhalem.

On Sunday, July 29, 1962, St. Francis Xavier celebrated its 75th anniversary with an outdoor High Mass sung by Fr. Monahan and the St. Francis choir. Over 200 parishioners and visitors attended on what was a gloriously sunny day. The altar was carried outside and placed on the large grassy area at the back of the church - a part of the encircling graveyard as yet unused. Fr. William (Bill) Mudge, (d. 1981) who grew up in the parish, preached the sermon. He eloquently spoke of the great affection that St. Francis Xavier had always roused in the hearts of its parishioners, and of the inspiration given him by the religious devotion of the Deloume family.

In 1967, Fr. Sutherland OMI became the regular pastor of the entire region, although his home base was still at Tzouhalem and he would often spend Saturday night in the hall at Our Lady, Queen of the World, so he could visit more parishioners which he loved doing. During these visits the idea of becoming an independent parish was born.

The parish was growing; it was able to support itself and Fr. Sutherland wished to retire. Bishop de Roo gave permission and Fr. Arthur E. Leonard became the first resident pastor in 1969.

Phase 3

To be continued

This historical account is based upon earlier historical accounts written by Lucien DeLoume, Janet Brackenbury and Ruth Laming.