Category: News

  • Stephen Hume updates Baybrook story

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    Stephen Hume: Comox urged not to tear down historic houses: Vancouver Sun August 5, 2015 “It’s update time for a few issues I’ve reported in recent months. First, that Comox plan to demolish Baybrook and Shakesides, two waterfront houses once occupied by iconic Canadian artist and naturalist Mack Laing.” Read the rest of the article…

  • 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…

  • Is Shakesides haunted by Mack Laing?

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    A photo taken of Shakesides around 6 am, August 1, 2015, just steps from the beach …. This is the view from the walkway directly in front of the house, just minutes before the above photo was taken. Pretty unobstructed …   And this is what an enlargement of the first image reveals. Look in…

  • Sense of place and history important for everyone

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    Note: This is a public letter sent to the Town of Comox and its elected Council and published here with permission. To Mayor Ives and the Comox Town Councillors, As an Emily Carr Fine Art student, I have undertaken a project that focuses on the importance of place as a part of how we understand…

  • McTaggart-Cowan archives highlight importance of Mack Laing

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    The recent opening of the Ian McTaggart-Cowan archives in the University of Victoria have again highlighted the importance of Mack Laing’s legacy. McTaggart Cowan was a field assistant to Mack Laing during his most productive years as a writer and naturalist. A plaque at the official opening expresses this importance. An article in the Victoria…

  • “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…

  • Mack Laing homes subject to Trust Law

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    The Mack Laing Heritage Society has received the opinion of a retired lawyer, William Pearce QC, regarding the obligation of the Town of Comox in relation to the bequest it accepted from Hamilton Mack Laing, and the agreed upon disposition of his home and property in perpetuity. The legal opinion can be read here:William Pearce…