Dr John S Helmcken 1824-1920

John Sebastian Helmcken was born in Brick Lane Whitechapel London in 1824. He was the eldest son of eight children.  His father Claus was initially a sugar refinery worker but shrolty after Jon’s birth became the licensee of the White Swan public House.  A task that was taken on by his mother upon his father’s death in 1839.  Dr. Helmcken’s career began in 1837 as a runner delivering medicine to patients of a Dr Graves. In 1839 he apprenticed to Dr. Graves as a chemist and druggist. His medical studies began at Guys Hospital, London, in 1844, where in 1845 he took the first prize for Practical Chemistry. He took contract medical work on ships sailing for York Factory and Bombay before arriving in Victoria on March 24, 1850. He was stationed by the Hudson’s Bay Company for a short time at Fort Rupert before taking up permanent residence in Victoria. Governor James Douglas liked his managerial decisiveness as a Hudson’s Bay Company employee.

John Sebastion Helmcken, 1895
BC Archives, A-01349

John Sebastion Helmcken, 1910
BC Archives, A-01348

Dr Helmcken in his Garden about 1916
City of Victoria Archives, HP43