ROTARY 100

Kamloops, Dr. RW Irving, Tranquille Sanatorium

 and the Rotary Club of Kamloops

Presented to the Club on April 25, 2002 by Ken House

    In the year 1811, the first fur traders arrived in Kamloops from the USA. Not long after the Hudson's Bay Company came west and by 1821 the H.B.C. held sole trading rights throughout the fur territory. They were the source of supplies for the trappers and the indigenous people. In 1861 the HBC built the Thompson's River Post on the south side of the Thompson River. This was the beginning of Kamloops as a settlement.   The Cariboo Gold Rush of 1865 increased Kamloops' importance as a supply depot. Up until 1869 the Hudson's Bay Company was the "de facto" government in the area. That was to change. By virtue of the British North America Act, Canada became a nation. Confederation occurred in 1867. It was to be four years later, 1871 that British Columbia was to enter Confederation, on the condition that a railway was to be built connecting BC to the railway system in eastern Canada within 10 years.

   Surveying work began for the Canadian Pacific Railway, Kamloops continued to be the source of general goods for the surveyors, miners, the first farmers and ranchers. Kamloops had grown up west of First Avenue, development was promoted to the east. More and more settlers were coming from the surrounding district and Kamloops became a small market town with a rapid increase in stores.

   On July 1885 the first train reached Kamloops from the Coast, construction continued east and the last spike, joining the nation by rail was driven at Craigellachie (near Revelstoke) on November 5, 1885.  

   Incorporation as a city came in 1893. The City acquired the existing water works and electrical system from local entrepreneur James McIntosh. Telephone service arrived, a post office was built as well as a bridge to North Kamloops proving a great boon to farmers at Tranquille and along the North Thompson River.

   Stuart Wood school was built in 1907, health care up to this time was provided by the CPR doctor who took in private patients in addition to his CPR duties.

The first hospital was opened on Lorne Street in 1885 - the community had raised $3,900. to build the two storey building. After incorporation the City named it the Royal Inland Hospital. Elenor Potter was the first Matron of the hospital,  Nurse Jean Matheson was to take her place as Matron in 1901.   Kamloops had a new fire hall in 1905, and two newspapers, the Kamloops Standard and the Inland Sentinel.

The CPR mainline still ran through the centre of Main Street (now Victoria Street West) - it wasn't removed until 1914).

And the first new autocars were beginning to compete with old-fashioned horse power.   This was Kamloops in 1906.  In December of 1874, a boy Robert Washington Irving was born to parents David and Ellen Irving near Toronto, Ontario. Robert's grand parents had emigrated from Scotland. Young Robert grew up and attended the University of Toronto.

He graduated with Honors from the U of T Trinity Medical College in May 1902. That's him, top left. The photograph illustrates that the Medical College was a most prestigious institution and Robert Irving was an active participant, a member of the  Literary Society and the Banquet Committee.

    As Robert Irving began his medical career, he married Eva Parsons Roden in 1904 (she was 24 years old , Robert 30). Eva's background is most interesting. Her grandparents left Ireland by ship in 1847 bound for Canada. However her grandfather died "at sea", Eva's father was just 8 years old, one of the 7 children that grandmother Margaret Roden arrived with as a widow at the age of 36.

 Now back to Kamloops.    In the late 1800's Tuberculosis was pandemic and the world's leading cause of death. In BC the death rate was at least 200 per 100,000 population.  By the early 1900's, there was much public concern about tuberculosis, also known as "consumption" and "the white plaque". In British Columbia, the "Anti-Tuberculosis Society of the Province of  British Columbia" was formed in 1907 and headed by Dr. C.J. Fagan. This provincial body took over lobbying of the provincial government for assistance, fundraising and administration for an isolated provincial sanatorium. It was decided that the sanatorium should be established at Tranquille in Kamloops where there was already a precedence.

   During the 1890's, two large ranches (Fortune and Cooney) had begun to accept "consumptives" as boarders. The infected individuals lived in small cabins or tents near the ranch houses and generally took care of themselves as long as they were able.

    When the "Anti-Tubs" Society had raised the funds, it purchased the  Fortune ranch as a base for the hospital. William Fortune was an original "Overlander" arriving in Kamloops by river raft in 1862. He actually sold his Tranquille ranch to a steamboat Captain Troup, however payments by the Captain lapsed. The Captain had built a 19 room mansion on the property and Fortune repossessed the ranch and sold it to the Society. The mansion was large enough to house 10 patients.

Doctor R.W. Irving got the call to become the first Medical Director of the Tranquille Sanatorium. It was obviously a great opportunity for the young doctor, but not without its challenges, Eva Irving had just given birth to their first child, son Roden Irving on October 10, 1907. The records show that on November 28, 1907 with Dr. Robert Irving as the first Medical Director, the Tranquille Sanatorium, TB Treatment Centre for all BC opened. The matron of the RIH in Kamloops Jean Matheson left her position to join Dr. Irving at Tranquille, she became the first "Lady Superintendent".

   It turned out that Dr. Irving found "remote control" of the hospital by Dr. Fagan in Victoria somewhat irksome, so in 1910 he gave up his position at Tranquille. He moved into Kamloops where he developed an excellent practice, the basis of the present Irving Clinic.

   A major factor in the rising incidence of TB in the 1910's was related to the large number of military personnel infected during World War I (1914-1918). Recognizing the need for care, the federal government began to pay a portion of the cost for veterans being treated. Dr. Irving opened two private TB facilities in Kamloops, first the Riverside Cottage Sanatorium and later the Sunny View Sanatorium in Powers Addition which continued into the 1920's

   Dr. Irving was not the only one to have difficulty with the Tranquille management. Matron Jean Matheson survived a bitter dispute with Dr. Irving's successor who charged her with insubordination. The Board investigated and expressed its full support for Miss Matheson. She remained at Tranquille until December 1911. Dr. Charles Voorman took over from two short-lived successors to Dr. Irving, managing the facility from 1910 to 1918.

 A daughter Evelyn was born to Dr. and Mrs Irving in 1912. In 1919, Dr. Irving was very involved in the city, joining with other prominent citizens in a community drive to raise funds for the efficient operation of  R.I.H. Surprisingly, considering that this was immediately after WWI and money was not plentiful, the drive managed to raise $20,000.

   In 1922 the Red Cross Guild managed to hire a public health nurse and held Baby Clinics every two weeks. The nurse and a local doctor were in attendance at these clinics. This picture shows Dr. Irving  (on the left) attending one of the clinics.

The next picture I believe is of all the Kamloops doctors that volunteered at the Baby Clinic. (Dr. Irving is centre, back row). The reason I say that the Doctors volunteered at the Clinic is because in this next picture,all of the doctors have a baby in their arms! 

And now to Rotary in Kamloops.

   From 1914, the Rotary Club of Vancouver began raising money for a large free standing Tuberculosis clinic. In January 1919, the long awaited Rotary Clinic opened in Vancouver and Dr. Charles Voorman came from Tranquille in Kamloops to manage the facility.    I think it is obvious that Dr. Irving became aware of Rotary through his TB connection with Dr. Voorman at Tranquille.

    In July 1921, Dr. M.T. MacEachern, a member of the Rotary Club of Vancouver first discussed the idea of a Rotary Club in Kamloops with Dr. Irving. He then talked with his Vancouver Club, the Governor of Rotary District 22, who in turn contacted Rotary headquarters in Chicago. Word came back to proceed, "that Kamloops was decidedly a place for the establishment of a Rotary Club."   Dr. Irving was appointed chairman of an organizing committee "with a view to having Kamloops put on the Rotary map and fully equipped and ready for the District 22 Conference in Vancouver April 1922."    On January 7th, 1922 the Rotary Club of Kamloops came into being after a dinner at the Leland Hotel. Dr. M.T. MacEachern was in attendance and Vancouver Rotary Club President W.C. Shelly installed the 25 charter members with Dr. R.W. Irving as President.

     The evening was duly reported on the front page of the Kamloops Standard-Sentinel and the story concluded thus: "it was a memorable night and the morning of Rotary in Kamloops has a somewhat benevolent forecast, suggestive of weather that will be as bright and happy as the day is long."    President Irving was quick to credit J.T. Robinson (former Mayor of Kamloops 1908-1913) for being the first man to to place tangibly before him the need for just such an organization as the Rotary Club in order to weld the different factions together for the common good of the community. The members included "most of the elite of the City". Mr. Robinson was just one of three former Mayors in the new Club plus a future Mayor. Others included the Chief of Police, the Fire Chief, City Manager, Supervisor of Schools, Public Health Officer, manager of the Hudson's Bay Company, a Bank Manager and a Lumber Company Manager.    President Irving attended the District 22 Conference in April in Vancouver and received our official charter as Club # 1119 in the International Association of Rotary Clubs.

   With the start of the 1922-23 Rotary year in July, Dr. Irving was reaffirmed as Club President. He remained very active in the Rotary, and (for unknown circumstances) he served a second term as Club President 1932-33.  In 1939, Dr. Irving was nominated by the Club for the position of  Rotary District Governor. He was not successful, however he was nominated again in 1945 and served as District Governor of the newly formed District 103 in 1945-46. It was a large obligation, the District included Clubs in all of B.C., Washington and Idaho, USA.

   This page is from the Club bulletin of May 1945.  It includes congratulations and this poetic tribute from the current District Governor:

        "The actions of men interpret the thoughts,

        only leaders like Bob sail to life's finest ports;

        he counts the day lost whose low-setting sun

        views from his hand no good action done."

The caricature in the bottom corner is captioned:

        "many worthwhile Rotarians have an eye upon the Governor's chair --

        but just look what our BOB has upon it......"

    Dr. Irving remained active in Rotary. Sadly, he passed away in Kamloops in 1950 at the age of 75. His wife Eva had predeceased him in 1938, his son Roden graduated from UBC in 1935, married and moved to Los Angeles, California where he worked as an Aeronautical Engineer.    Roden passed away in 1986, Dr. Irving's granddaughter Chris Cameron and two great grandsons are living today. Dr. Irving's daughter Evelyn never married and passed away in Kamloops in 1979. 

The City of Kamloops and the Rotary Club of Kamloops owe much to our founder Dr. Robert Washington Irving.