On September 24, 2024, in the Mount Pleasant area of Vancouver, a Billy goat on the lam was spotted jogging along a sidewalk. What followed could be described as a wild goat chase as VPD officers tracked down the goat sheltering in a bush. One of them took the goat by the horns, and soon he was corralled and taken into custody.
Now, imagine North Vancouver, 100 years earlier, in September 1924 with a population of 400 goats. The ratio was one goat to every 33 humans! No kidding! These were domestic goats, not related to mountain goats, who are closer to antelopes, gazelles and cattle. Backyard goats “did not have much presence in North America until the 1920s when purebred dairy goats were imported from Europe.” 1
Early Settlers and Self-Sufficiency
For early 20th century immigrants to B.C., self-sufficiency was key to survival and success. Many of North Vancouver’s early settlers came from both rural and urban areas in Britain with established communities. Having been a colony of Britain, B.C. had, in the 19th century, attracted British settlers. During the 20th century, the numbers increased partly due to the 1922 Empire Settlement Act passed by the British Parliament. Its purpose was to provide an incentive for migrants to settle in the colonies, “At that time, the Canadian government favoured immigrants from Great Britain as a means of ensuring the predominance of British values.” 2 Attracted by the new world and facing difficult post-WWI conditions in Britain, many took advantage of the Settlement Act and some of them settled in North Van, adding to an existing British subject population.
It should be said that those of South Asian or Chinese backgrounds were not afforded the same ease of admission, being blocked by Canadian government exclusion legislation with the Chinese being subjected to an Exclusionary Act in 1923 even more restrictive than that affecting South Asians.
There was also “a small but strong Italian immigrant community in North Van.” 3
The first substantial wave of Italian emigration took place between 1896 and 1914 and early North Van Italian immigrant settlers arrived ahead of WW1. These families mostly came from the region of Calabria in the “toe” of Italy, where they left behind increasing poverty to find a new life and prosperity.
Whether from Britain or Italy, or other countries considered at the time to be admissible, adopting and adapting to an area where they literally had to build a new life hands on, must have been a challenge difficult to imagine today. Back in 1924, shopping for food was limited to a few grocery markets, butchers and dairies with a limited inventory that was often seasonal. Necessity led to the development of vegetable gardens, orchards, and to keeping poultry and goats, a backyard milk source often described as “the poor man’s cow”.
The following two ads in the local paper underscore the importance of goats in the 1920’s. The first is a For Sale ad for a house which makes mention of the inclusion of a goat house. The second newspaper clipping includes a whole set of ads in its very own section called Goats! The last ad in the section is particularly interesting, marketing the UR Brand Safety First, as “free from T.B.” and “no Milk of Magnesia required”!
House for Sale Ad, The North Shore Press, Fri Jan 30, 1925. Courtesy of newspapers.com
Goat Section, The North Shore Press, Fri May 7, 1926. Courtesy of newspapers.com
While cows and sheep graze, goats forage and are active browsers as they chew through what they can reach and that can even include washing on a line! A treat for a goat is a discarded Christmas tree. But yew trees are lethal! Horns give goats efficient butting weaponry that can be dangerous to live with. However, some settlers considered them to be, “intelligent, social, and people-friendly animals” 4 often being walked like a dog.
The newly formed North Vancouver Horticultural Society built a hall in 1908, at 23rd & Lonsdale, where the society held “Top Goat” trophy award competitions with several categories such as, “Mature Milk Goat; Best Purebred Doe Kid; Best Pure-bred Buck Kid; Best Doe, Open Milk Class” 5. With a ratio of 1 goat to 33 residents in North Vancouver, being a lonely goatherd was not a problem.
Horticultural Hall in 1908 with Welcome sign and group on steps. Photo courtesy of MONOVA/North Vancouver Archives, Inventory #35
Who’s Who of North Shore Goat-keepers in the 1920s
Edington Family
Charles Edington and his wife Ada May, who lived in a 1912 Edwardian era residence at the north-west corner of East 6th and Hendry Avenue, a house that still stands today. Charles F. Edington was a motorman for the B.C. Electric Railway, one of Vancouver's primary intercity transportation companies that ran electric tramways throughout the Greater Vancouver area.
The 1912 Edington Residence, 848 East 6th Street, N.V. Photo courtesy of Victoria Lawrence-Jeffery.
In a 1922 photo, his adorable, young son Charles B. holds his trophy alongside his winning goat, Inez. The trophy was won in competition at the Horticultural Hall, a hub for back yard farmers and for social events.
Charles B. Edington, son of Charles F., with prize goat "Inez" and the trophy won in a competition at the Horticultural Hall. The trophy was donated to North Vancouver Museum in May 2000. Photo courtesy of MONOVA/North Vancouver Archives, Inventory #12910
Galuzzo/Galozo Family
One block up from the hall on the west side, at 2349 Lonsdale, stood T. Galozo Groceries. In 1911 Tomaso and Catarina Galuzzo (or Galozo) arrived in North Vancouver from Calabria. They opened the business and established a home at 413 West Windsor, a home that would be in the family for over a century.
413 West Windsor, J. Galozo House, circa 1913. Photo courtesy of Colin Lawrence.
Mr. Tomaso and Mrs. Catarina Galuzzo/Galozo, ca. 1917 or 1928 with children Sam, baby Nick, Vincenzo (Jim) and Rose in front of family home on Windsor Rd. Photo courtesy of MONOVA/North Vancouver Archives, Inventory #12866
Jim Galozo was born at home in 1915 and his brother Nick a year later. Jim, at age 13 in 1928, is seen in the photograph below with his “little” brother Nick and their goat near their home at West Windsor and Mahon with Kits Korner Confectionary in the background. Close by was the North Star School on West Kings, opened in 1912 as a two-room school, now home to École André Piolat.
Jim and Nick Galozo in 1928 with their goat at W. Windsor Rd. and Mahon. Kit's Korner Confectionery store in background on W. Windsor near Mahon. Photo courtesy of MONOVA/North Vancouver Archives, Inventory #7107
Jim lived to be 96. The young goatherd and child of Italian-immigrant settlers, he lived his life in the home he was born in at West Windsor, and through his life contributed to keeping the history of North Vancouver alive. He was made a lifelong member of the then North Shore Historical Society and “many of his photographs which document everyday life in North Vancouver are part of the MONOVA photo collection.” 6
Bruchesi and Alvaro Families
There were other settlers from Calabria with backyard goats. Antonio (Tony) Bruchesi and Dominick Alvaro are seen in a later 1939 photo, on the 100 block West 22nd, each with a goat on a leash. Tony and Rosina Bruchesi, along with her brother Joe Bruchesi, sisters Carmen Lehto and Jennie LaRosa, emigrated from Mammola, Reggio Calabria in 1910. Writer and crime historian, Eve Lazarus, writes about Dominick’s parents, Joseph and Rosa, who lived a rather grand lifestyle in Vancouver despite the great depression that Lazarus explains was the result of Joseph’s involvement in bootlegging and having an “in” with the Vancouver Chief of Police.
In 1939, Antonio Bruchesi (left - originally Bruzzesi) and Dominick Alvaro and goats, 100 bl. W. 22nd St. Photo courtesy of MONOVA/North Vancouver Archives, MONOVA, Inventory #5699
Elizabeth Rebbeck MacEachran
The Galozo West Windsor home is steps from Mahon Avenue which is named after Edward Mahon, the Anglo-Irish Chairman of the North Vancouver Land and Improvement Company, who was involved in mining in the Castlegar area, development in North Vancouver including the Green Necklace and Spuraway in West Vancouver close to the Capilano River. In 1910 he purchased the Capilano Suspension Bridge that had been built by a civil engineer, Scotsman George Grant Mackay.
Also in 1910, Mahon’s friend, James Knight Rebbeck, had recently died in Victoria and before his death he had asked Mahon to look after his wife Elizabeth, hoping that Mahon would marry his widow. But Mahon, at age 49, was enamoured with James and Elizabeth’s 20-year-old daughter, Lilette. Mahon offered to move the family to North Vancouver, offering Elizabeth the position of manager at the suspension bridge, allowing him to keep his promise of helping his friend James’ family, but also the opportunity to court Lilette. They were married in 1911. Two years later their son Bryan was born and he “was often brought to Capilano to be with his ‘grannie’, and her flocks of goats.”7
Elizabeth Rebbeck MacEachran in 1924 with her goats Maurice and Barletta on Capilano Road at the Capilano Suspension Bridge gate house and entrance to bridge grounds. Photo courtesy of MONOVA/North Vancouver Archives, Inventory #151-48
In 1921 Elizabeth married a Scotsman two decades her junior, a forest ranger Archibald MacEachran. Archie proved to be a competent attribute to the development of the enterprise. By 1935, Elizabeth was dead and Mahon had sold the Capilano Suspension Bridge business to MacEachran, his much younger step-father-in-law!
Monteith Family
East of North Lonsdale Avenue, at 388 Wellington Drive, Elsie and Francis Monteith’s goats were more than a poor man’s cow. They were champions! Elsie was a woman of many interests that included music, gardening, reading, philanthropy and raising goats. She became a goat judge serving at agricultural competitions. I like to think she was the judge who decided that the adorable, young George B. Edington’s goat Inez was a winner!
Monteith's goats, North Lonsdale, 1920. "Mother [Mrs. Monteith?] and three Toggenburg Goats” is the North Vancouver Archives photo description. Inventory #13266. Please note that the identical photo is also attributed to a Mrs. Beatrice Bromley, 600 E. Queens Rd. with Grade Toggenburg goats, Inventory #5278. Photos courtesy of MONOVA/North Vancouver Archives.
Born in Wales in 1882 as Elsie St Etienne De Wolf, as a very young child, she studied music in Germany. In 1888, she accompanied her mother to Vancouver, where she attended private school. Later, she would meet Scotsman and surveyor Francis Bernard Cameron Monteith, who had immigrated to B.C. in 1911. They married in 1913.
Francis was born in 1880, the 5th of 13 children. He was raised in Scotland in an affluent family in a large impressive house, called Monteith House, near Carstairs, which is close to the English border. At age 21, he entered a Jesuit community in Roehampton, London, as a novice. The Jesuit community was housed in a striking neo-classical Palladian villa, Manresa House. I mention this as although 388 Wellington Drive is an attractive early North Vancouver house, it is a far cry from both Monteith House and Manresa House. Francis left the community before taking his vows and then qualified as a surveyor. He died in 1957 at age 77.
Monteith House, built in 1914, and located at 388 Wellington Drive, N.V. Photo courtesy of Colin Lawrence.
In the 1930s, Francis and Elsie bought a summer place at Roberts Creek, where Elsie continued to raise goats and was living there at the end of her life in 1964. Elsie’s goats were Grade Toggenburgs, a smaller breed of goat from the Toggenburg Valley, Switzerland. Toggenburgs are valued as good wintertime milkers. They have a distinctive dark brown coat with white stripes on the face and erect ears, as you can see in the photo of Elsie with her goats. But is it Elsie?
Bromley Family
As mentioned in the photo credit, there is a mystery about the archival photo of Elsie with her goats as there is an identical archival photo attributed to a Mrs. Beatrice Bromley who lived with her husband, Vincent, reportedly at 600 East Queens Road (however according to the archival BC Directories, the exact address was 660 East Queens Road which still stands today and according to the BC Assessment site, was built in 1923). There is additional evidence to support that Elsie raised goats but no additional evidence to support that Beatrice Bromley did so – except that in emails with North Vancouver Archives archivist, Georgia Twiss, I discovered that a Bromley family member donated the photo to the archives. For that reason, I am including the Bromleys as goat-keepers but ask you the reader that if you have any knowledge of either the North Lonsdale Monteiths or the Bromleys to leave a message in the Comments Box at the end of the article.
660 East Queens. Home of Vincent and Beatrice Bromley from 1923, when the built it until sometime in the 1940’s. Photo taken in March 2025, courtesy of Jennifer Clay.
660 East Queens is where Beatrice Bromley and her husband Vincent lived. It is a short walk from Wellington Drive, where the Monteiths lived. Vincent served on the North Vancouver police force and then joined Canada Customs Service. He also served in WWI for Canada. Beatrice was born Beatrice Adelaide Whish in Devon, England in 1881, the 5th child of 7. Her two younger siblings also moved to North Vancouver. Her father was a Royal Navy Inspecting Officer of the Coast Guard. She arrived at Ellis Island, New York City, in 1910 from Southampton, England, and in that same year married Vincent in Annapolis, Washington State. They settled in North Vancouver, where their four sons were born. Vincent, born in Portsea, Hampshire, England in 1884, was the son of Sir Arthur Charles Burgoyne Bromley, a Vice-Admiral with the British fleet. Vincent attended Haileybury College in Hertfordshire, among notable alumni are Clement Attlee, Rudyard Kipling, Alan Ayckbourn. Vincent died in 1946 at age 64, his address is given as East Queens, North Vancouver, but no house number. Beatrice lived until 1957.
Larson Family
Peter Larson, born 1858, was a Swedish sailor who jumped ship in Victoria in the 1880s, and in 1902 opened the impressive North Vancouver Hotel on West Esplanade. The Larson name remains today with Larson Road, Larson School and Larson Bay. The Larson home in Ottawa Gardens at 254 W 6th still stands today.
In 1923, Peter Larson is seen in a lovely photo in the Deep Cove area, a grandfather with his young granddaughter, Thelma Witton, and what appears to be a young goat. I wondered if there was any record of an older Thelma and to my delight came across that in 1933 – 34, Thelma E. Witton of North Vancouver is listed as a second-year undergraduate in Arts and Science at UBC. Thelma would have been raised in the Witton Residence at 242 West 6th, steps from her grandparents’ home. Both homes can be seen in Jenny Morgan’s article, Beautiful Blackadder Buildings.
Peter Larson and granddaughter, Thelma Witton, with a young goat at Deep Cove in 1923. Photo courtesy of MONOVA/North Vancouver Archives, Inventory #6818
Mabel Brown
I live close to 522 West Keith. The original house no longer exists, but now, in the research for this article, I came across a 1921 photo at that address of the young Mabel Brown with one of her goats. Her goats were well worth their keep as one of them was recorded producing close to 6 litres of milk daily.
Mabel Brown in 1921 with a goat at 522 W. Keith Rd. Photo courtesy of MONOVA/North Vancouver Archives, Inventory #10054
Sarah Jane Ramage
And then, there is Mrs. Sarah Jane Ramage, seen with her goat, Nellie, on the 100 block W. 14th St. While I can find no further record of Mrs. Ramage, most North Vancouver readers will have stood where she stands. It is the location of the City of North Vancouver Library and the City of North Vancouver City Hall.
1920s, Mrs. Sarah Jane Ramage and her goat Nellie, 100 block W. 14th St. Photo courtesy of MONOVA/North Vancouver Archives, Inventory #3180
Conclusion
I am struck by just how different life in North Vancouver must have been for all the early settlers, from the life they had left behind, and from our lives today. Many of the settlers came from quite different backgrounds compared to each other, with not much in common. But in the 1920s in North Vancouver, what many had in common was owning a goat. The idea for this article came from a North Shore Heritage member and for me it opened a window into the backgrounds of ordinary North Vancouver residents who shaped the beginnings of the North Vancouver we know today. I hope it has given you a glimpse into the lives of some of North Vancouver’s earliest settlers who are no longer with us and whose stories have almost disappeared, just like the goats.
North Vancouver grew rapidly as an urban area and that did not intersect well with subsistence farming and eventually the roles of backyard husbandry had to give way to new city bylaws especially around sanitary concerns. Local goat ownership declined in the 1930s because of increasing human populations, loss of land due to new home construction, and ultimately the regulations banning the sale of raw milk and keeping farm animals in the city. 8
Perhaps you are wondering what happened to the goat on the lam in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant area last September – he had been reported missing from a farm in Langley and no one could figure out how he escaped to Vancouver. Seems that goats are known to be notorious escape-artists. Kidding aside, perhaps that’s the real answer as to why they have disappeared from the North Shore!
Do you have some input to add about the 1920’s North Vancouver goats, or the owners I have mentioned? Just scroll down to add a comment. We’d love to hear from you.
Except where indicated, text and images Copyright @ North Shore Heritage and Anne-Marie Lawrence. All rights reserved. Republication in whole or in part is prohibited without the written consent of the copyright holder.
FUN FACTS
Goats are sometimes stabled with race-horses to calm the horse
Goats do not have upper front teeth
There are over 210 breeds of goats
Old goats – goats appear in 12,000-year-old European cave art
NORTH SHORE HERITAGE RELATED ARTICLES
Edward Mahon
https://www.northshoreheritage.org/blog/2022/10/20/wish-you-were-here-in-capilano-north-vancouver
https://www.northshoreheritage.org/blog/2022/10/7/spuraway-heritage-gem
https://www.northshoreheritage.org/blog/2024/12/4/the-jewel-in-the-green-necklace
Peter Larson
https://www.northshoreheritage.org/blog/2023/3/28/north-shore-farm-to-table-tradition
Peter & Gerda Larson Residence, 254 W 6th and Witton Residence, 242 W 6th
https://www.northshoreheritage.org/blog/2024/2/18/blackadder-houses-of-north-vancouver
https://www.northshoreheritage.org/blog/2024/4/18/sidetracked-on-a-side-street
https://www.northshoreheritage.org/blog/2021/12/9/heritage-tree-post-2-heritage-apple-trees
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND SOURCES
North Vancouver Archives, MONOVA, Special thanks to Georgia Twiss.
The Green Necklace: The Vision Quest of Edward Mahon by Walter O. Volovesk. This book is available at the North Vancouver Museum & Archives, 3203 Institute Road, North Vancouver and at the MONOVA Museum Store, 115 Esplanade W, North Vancouver. https://trailsintime.org/otmarpublishing/
Volovesk articles in the CastlegarTimes. - https://www.castlegarnews.com/columns/time-windows-lilette-mahon-a-mentors-gift-4694117
North Shore News Time Traveller https://www.nsnews.com/in-the-community/time-traveller-north-vancouver-residents-used-to-love-owning-goats-3120781
Goats in North Vancouver by Sharon Proctor, MONOVA, Express Publication, March 2017, page 3. https://monova.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/March-2017-Express-website-version.pdf
Horticultural Hall by Sharon Proctor, MONOVA, Express Publications, June 2016. https://monova.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/June-2016-issue-website-version.pdf
North Shore News, Jim Galozo, https://www.nsnews.com/in-the-community/time-traveller-photographer-jim-galozo-captures-everyday-life-in-north-van-8552927
MONOVA -Jim Galozo, https://www.facebook.com/visitmonova/photos/jim-galozo-was-born-in-1915-in-north-vancouver-and-was-part-of-a-small-but-stron/768114378629639/?_rdr
Mount Pleasant escaped Billy Goat - https://bc.ctvnews.ca/goat-found-wandering-streets-of-east-vancouver-apprehended-by-police-1.7055862
WikiTree https://www.wikitree.com
Family Search Canada https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/location/canada/undefined
Eve Lazarus https://evelazarus.com/tag/joe-alvaro/
Capilano Suspension Bridge - https://mysteriesofcanada.com/bc/capilano-suspension-bridge/
Elsie & Francis Monteith – D.N.V. Heritage Registry, 1993.
Alberta Goat Association - https://www.albertagoats.com/history
Empire Settlement Act 1922 - https://pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/empire-settlement-act-1922
Italian Canadians - https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/italian-canadians
GOAT ARTICLE QUOTES
Backyard goats “did not have much presence in North America until the 1920s when purebred dairy goats were imported from Europe.” Alberta Goat Association
The Empire Settlement Act was passed by the British Parliament and its purpose was to provide an incentive for migrants to settle in the colonies, “At that time, the Canadian government favoured immigrants from Great Britain as a means of ensuring the predominance of British values.” The Harvester Scheme and the Empire Settlement Act March 4, 2015 Sandra McHugh
There was also “a small but strong Italian immigrant community in North Van.” https://www.nsnews.com/in-the-community/time-traveller-photographer-jim-galozo-captures-everyday-life-in-north-van-8552927
“intelligent, social, and people-friendly animals” Goats in North Vancouver by Sharon Proctor March 2017. MONOVA EXPRESS
“Mature Milk Goat; Best Purebred Doe Kid; Best Pure-bred Buck Kid; Best Doe, Open Milk Class” Goats in North Vancouver by Sharon Proctor March 2017. MONOVA EXPRESS
“Many of his photographs which document everyday life in North Vancouver are part of the MONOVA photo collection.” MONOVA https://www.facebook.com/visitmonova/photos/jim-galozo-was-born-in-1915-in-north-vancouver-and-was-part-of-a-small-but-stron/768114378629639/?_rdr
“was often brought to Capilano to be with his ‘grannie’, and her flocks of goats.” Walter Volovsek. Nov 23, 2016, Castelgar News.
Source – Goats in North Vancouver by Sharon Proctor March 2017. MONOVA EXPRESS