Category: History

  • Shakesides receives Historic Statement of Significance

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    Well known heritage consultants Elana Zysblat and John Atkin have recently completed an evaluation of the significance of Shakesides, the Comox residence of Hamilton Mack Laing. Elana and John are experienced heritage consultants, well-known in British Columbia for their engagement with communities, leadership in public programs and tours related to local heritage topics, historical research,…

  • Reflections on Shakesides – by Richard Mackie – July 2016

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    [Please note: The following details are from my biography of Laing, published by Sono Nis Press in 1985: Hamilton Mack Laing: Hunter-Naturalist]. The naturalist, writer, and biologist Hamilton Mack Laing (1883-1982) built and lived in two houses on the Comox waterfront. He moved to Comox in 1922 because it was then the “bird mecca” of…

  • The story of Shakesides

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    Hamilton Mack Laing, a respected Canadian naturalist and writer, moved to Comox in 1922. When he died in 1982, he left property and cash to the Town of Comox. His home, Shakesides, built in 1949, was in fine condition, fully-furnished and filled with the artifacts of his long and productive life. The focus of MLHS…

  • Baybrook demolished by Town of Comox

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    Baybrook: Built with love in 1923 – Destroyed in spite in 2015 The Town of Comox sent an excavator to the Baybrook park early on Thursday, August 6 and demolished the first home of Hamilton Mack Laing. Here are photos taken of the event: [catablog category=”demolition” template=”gallery”]

  • Mack Laing lives on in Brian Scott paintings

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    Hamilton Mack Laing (1883-1982) indeed continues to haunt the Canadian imagination, as does the memory of his eastern contemporary, Tom Thompson (1887-1917),  if only in the memory of contemporary artists.  Pictures of these two eminent Canadian painter/naturalists even sometimes bear a semblance ( See attached pictures.) These were well-educated outdoorsmen who married culture and wilderness…

  • National Trust endorses Baybrook as historic site

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    The National Trust of Canada (formerly Heritage Canada) has weighed in on the importance of Mack Laing as a historical figure, and Baybrook as a heritage property. While Heritage BC indicated that Baybrook is a “significant provincial heritage for all British Columbians, and Canadians”, The National Trust letter also recognizes that Baybrook is part of…

  • “Baybrook” is officially a ”significant heritage site”

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    The Mack Laing Heritage Society received two pieces of good news, which fully vindicate what it has been saying for the past two and a half years.  Heritage BC has issued a public statement in which it designates Mack Laing’s original home, Baybrook as “significant heritage site” for British Columbians and all Canadians.  Additionally, it…

  • Richard Mackie blasts loss of CV heritage

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    With regret I have cancelled the generous offer by Evelyn Gillespie to participate in the “Authors for Independent Bookstores” day at the Laughing Oyster Bookstore on Saturday 2 May 2015. Anyone familiar with my four Comox Valley books will appreciate my love of the history and heritage of the valley: Hamilton Mack Laing: Hunter-Naturalist (1985),…