Mary Buckerfield White remembers the stories well, and with pleasure. This is evident in her voice and her laughter as she speaks about her new book Buckerfield, the Story of a Vancouver Family. The book's narrative does not only cover White's life as the daughter of industrialist Ernest Buckerfield and the wife of opera singer Victor White, it also includes anecdotes passed on to her by relatives, friends and illustrious guests. A prominent backdrop is Bowen Island a place that holds special meaning for White.
Starting off the conversation, White suggests including a story about her father as a young boy, as a kind of prologue. "My father Ernest grew up in Harcourt, New Brunswick, in a rural district with a small corner store that was busy with children every Saturday. After receiving their weekly pocket money and anything else they'd earned (usually a few pennies), the children would converge on the store to buy sweets," White says. "One little boy, however, was different as he would always ask for prunes. Curious, one of the sisters who ran the store asked him, 'Your friends come in and put their money on the counter and ask for candy, why do you ask for prunes?' The little boy firmly replied, 'My mother told me that prunes make your brains grow big.' That happened to be young Edward Ernest Buckerfield, my future father, and the prunes certainly worked." With a laugh, White adds, "I love that story," and explains that her father was five at the time.
From there, White's father went on to become the owner of Buckerfield's Limited, the largest feed company in British Columbia. In 1937, he purchased shares in the Union Steamship Company. "The Union Steamship Company was owned in England but it was operating out here and they wanted to sell it. A group of business men including my father got together and bought it," White said. "Mother was delighted because he was so enthusiastic about his company, Buckerfield's, that he wouldn't take holidays." White says that her father's connection to the Union Steamship Company enabled her family to visit Bowen Island often.
White recalls that her mother often entertained guests for tea. "One time, we had Sir Ernest McMillan, the conductor of the Toronto symphony, staying with us," says White. "My mother was serving tea out on the patio on Bowen and I was handing it around," White said. "He looked at me with a twinkle and said, 'Stands the church clock at 10 to three, and is there honey still for tea?' That's a famous quote from Rupert Chawner Brooke." In 1935, McMillan was knighted for his service to the music of Canada. White laughs and says, "It feels like I am name-dropping but I hope I'm going deeper than that."
Another name White mentions is that of John Barbirolli, the conductor of the New York symphony. "At that time, Dad was the director of the Union Steamship Company and was able to loan him the director's cottage. Barbirolli had a two-week-gap between concerts and wanted to be away quiet with his wife," White said. "Dad brought Barbirolli up to the cottage after they stopped for newspapers." The Barbirollis were so relaxed and absorbed in their reading that, when White's mother showed up, they ignored her. "Mother was indignant because she thought they were being very rude but I think they just wanted to relax," White said.
White met her husband Victor at a cafeteria at the Edinbugh festival. "Victor fell in love with me at first glance. I had been married before and was a bit more hesitant," White recalls. "We both loved music and our first formal date was to the Chelsey Arts Ball, an iconic arts ball that was always held in the Royal Albert Hall on New Years Eve." White says that Victor became passionately fond of Bowen Island. "As the manager of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra for nine years, he needed his peace," White said. "Through a friend on Bowen, we heard about the cottage owned by Dr. McGeer. We rented it for a month. We were there for three days and that was it - we had to have it. It was lovely. Dr. McGeer was away on a fishing trip and we had to wait. When he got back, we put in an offer."
After purchasing the cottage overlooking Cates Bay, the Whites became active members of the Hood Point community. "The Hood Point regatta was always on the first weekend in August when the tide was right. It wasn't fancy ships more like a sports day at the beach. Victor was involved in that," White said. "At the time, he was the manager of the symphony and the conductor was Mr. [Kazuyoshi] Akiyama. Victor had told him, 'You can come up anytime and visit us.' Mr. Akiyama phoned us the morning of the regatta and said he and his wife would like to come up and Victor couldn't say no." White remembers that Mrs. Akiyama was driving and arrived terrified of the narrow Hood Point roads. And, with her husband occupied in regatta activities, she was the one in charge of taking care of the couple.
For White, there are many memories attached to the Hood Point cottage. "I remember the first time I was looking after grandchildren by myself on Bowen. They were eight or nine and very energetic it was quite exhausting. When they left, I was quietly trimming the forsythia in the lane," she said. "A car came along and the people asked, 'Can you help us, we are looking for the McGeer cottage?' I told them that there were two or three in the area and they said, 'The one with tree growing through the deck.' I said, 'That must be mine.'" White says that the driver's wife used to visit the cottage as a playmate of the McGeer girls when she was eight years old. White invited them in, showed them around and pointed them into the direction of the beach. "She came back with a big smile on her face and said, 'It hasn't changed.'" White said that her visitor had planted maidenhair fern and was happy that it was still flourishing all over the property.
White is very attached to the garden and wants to invite children to come and visit. "My idea is to have a children's garden club opening sometime in June because the roses are lovely then," she said. "I'm an old lady with hip problems and eye problems but Bowen and the flowers, that's my passion."
White says that her husband loved the cottage and they came to Bowen as often as they could. "Victor liked to sleep facing the sea. He had been in the navy and the water was his passion. Victor died in 1984," she recalls. "And I guess I was too emotionally involved to look after [the cottage] for a while but eventually I fixed it up."
White's island connection that is evident in her lively stories and the many historic photographs have made her book a local bestseller. It is available at Phoenix on Bowen.
