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“allowance” for serving as the minister for the Victoriaarea. 25 Later this agreement and the events of the daywould be the cause of this minister’s great anxietyand hardship. On accepting the position the ReverendCridge immediately had the Company send £50 peryear to a bank in Barnstaple, North Devon, throughhis sister Elizabeth. 26 These monies would help defraythe family debts and provide a little towards hissisters,’voyage in late 1855.After a whirlwind of activity the newly marriedcouple waved goodbye to their native land onSeptember 20, 1854. Edward was leaving his twosisters and his father and Mary was leaving hermother and sister. The sad news of John Cridge’sdeath came when Edward’s voyage was only halfover. Their journey followed the usual route of theday from England across the Atlantic sometimescarried by favourable winds, down the east coast ofSouth America and around Cape Horn, and puttinginto the Sandwich Islands for several weeks.Refreshed and well rested, the voyage continued tothe southern tip of Vancouver Island. When theyarrived, April 1, 1855, neither Edward or Mary dwelton the negative aspects of the sombre log-hewn fort,the muddy streets, noise and smells or the conditionsof their lodgings but accepted them gracefully.Services would be in the fort mess hall with theirliving quarters close by. This kind of first appearanceto others endeared the Cridges to them and was abeginning to good relationships with theircongregation and the community at large. Afterperforming services, providing for needs of thecommunity, and lodging in the fort for severalmonths, the parsonage was finally finished. Just afterthey moved in, Edward’s sisters arrived on thePrincess Royal. It was December 17 when the shipanchored in Royal Bay but they did not come ashoreuntil two days later due to foul weather. 27 With thisreunion the Cridge family had great cause for athankful and joyous first Christmas at Fort Victoria.The Reverend Edward Cridge displayed no fearof this outpost on the edge of the British Empire forhe believed in “the great clearness with wh [ich] ourheavenly father marked our path from the beginning,every step being made so plain that there was nomistaking.” 28 However, he also threw his lot in withthe Honourable Company, and as he found later eventhis powerful organization was unable to help him inhis hour of need. Yet he still believed his leap of faithwas justified and this belief would carry him throughmany dark times. •Fort Victoria, ca. 1850BC Archives photo A00903BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORY - Vol. 39 No. 1 9