Where did you get that photo? That's a wonderful view of a tall ship at dock on the New Westminster waterfront."
The image was from an aerial photo taken in the summer of 1929, and prominent in what can be easily identified are the waterfront and the ships moored there.
The photo was not taken to intentionally show this ship, but it is an important part of the scene.
As we have noted recently in this column, old photos can often supply views of things in our history - things that were not the focal point for the photographer, but just happen to be part of the scene.
It is this type of "find" that keeps us searching old prints for the ancillary information that can be obtained.
Today a few more comments on photos we would like to see, or see again. We were reminded recently, during a presentation on Columbian College, that years ago we were shown a photo album filled with snapshots from a woman's time as a student at the college.
The snaps were wonderful, candid shots of people doing things at the school, interior shots of rooms and events. Wonder if the album is still sitting somewhere waiting to be seen and enjoyed once again?
A couple of the photos we would love to see and that must be out there somewhere concern the old Royal Columbian Hospital between 1889 and 1913. Apparently there were stained glass windows on either end of the upper floor of the hospital - someone must have taken a photo of them.
The other image concerning this hospital would likely be in the family collections of people who used to live on lower Keary Street adjacent to RCH property.
Somewhere in the background of a family group snap or a view of the backyard will be the old hospital, and we would really like to see it. Again, we know that it has to be out there somewhere.
From more modern times, we have been told of photos of the air ambulance helicopter sitting in Sapperton Park where they used to land prior to construction of the dedicated hospital landing pad.
This image is part of the current Royal Columbian history, one that we would like to see and show others, possibly on our weekly RCH 150 anniversary blog at www.RCH150. wordpress.com.
We so frequently say that we know that there has to be a photo, and we say it a lot about the local cemeteries.
We have some images, but there should be others, such as ones of the large funerals of William Irving, Robert Jamieson, J.T. Scott (we do have his long procession), Frances Herring, Flora Ross.
In a few weeks we'll tell you of some special images that have actually turned up.
We knew they "had to be somewhere," and these were certainly worth the wait.
