SOOKE HISTORY: The Welshes and Knox Presbyterian

One of the earliest immigrants to Sooke from the British Isles was James Welsh

SOOKE HISTORY: The Welshes and Knox Presbyterian Published 8:47 am Wednesday, July 15, 2026 One of the earliest immigrants to Sooke from the British Isles was James Welsh, in the 1850s, who followed right after the John Muir family. Three of his grandchildren are pictured here, holding commemorative gifts on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Knox Presbyterian Church. The four who were grandchildren to James Welsh were Ernest (not shown in this 1998 photo)

Harold, Helen and Pat. The youngest, Pat, with his arm around wife Miriam, stands alongside his sister Helen (Mrs Joe Yost), and brother Harold. The photo was taken at a ceremony in the current Knox Church which stands on Church Road today.

The original church building, erected in 1898, was moved in 1956 to a site on Throup Road, when the current church building replaced it. The original James Welsh married Mary Ellen Flynn in 1869 at Woodside Farm. Moss cottage was built for them, next to Woodside.

Sadly, in 1980, tragedy struck the family when Mary Ellen was lost in childbirth, and the children went to different homes. The eldest son William Welsh was brought up by the Muirs and went on to establish a large farm in central Sooke, where the children shown above were brought up. Eldest son Ernie Welsh also established a farm in Sooke, besides becoming a big contributor to the history of Sooke.

The Welshes pictured all attended Sooke Superior School; Harold joined the navy during World War II and later moved to Campbell River. Pat worked in a series of Sooke businesses, and with wife Miriam, raised a family in Sooke. Helen Welsh Yost was an enormous help in providing assistance to our museum and to the restoration of the Muir cemetery, where a number of the Welsh family members found their final resting place.

She passed away in 2012 in Victoria. Knox Presbyterian Church, Sooke’s first, was built on land donated by pioneer Scottish immigrants John Murray and Miss Janet Murray. The first board of management for the church consisted of John Murray, Edward Milne and George Throup.

At the time, though, doubters surrounded the project, and this comment was heard: “A church for Sooke – it will be many a day before you can raise money enough for the purpose.” As with many proposals in Sooke, the doubters turned out to be mistaken, and within a decade, two other churches had joined Knox Presbyterian. Elida Peers, Historian, Sooke Region Museum