Special thanks to Susan Tomlinson Durbin – Great-Granddaughter, for her contributions to this entry.
Alice Woods was born in Ireland in 1851. She immigrated to Victoria with her family in 1878, Alice married Robert Tomlinson in a ceremony at Saint John’s Church in Victoria. After the wedding, Alice accompanied her husband, traveling by open canoe to the mission he had established at the mouth of the Nass River in mainland British Columbia, which he called Kincolith. Alice would continue to follow her husband as his work as a missionary took him throughout the northern interior and eventually to Alaska. Alice’s life as a missionary’s wife would have been quite different from her time spent in Victoria, away from the comforts of the city. Alice remained quite close with her family in Victoria, particularly her sisters. She wrote to them frequently and visited whenever she could.
Alice and Robert had nine children, six who survived to adulthood and three who died in infancy. They later adopted two orphaned siblings from Golden, BC. Alice lived and raised her family amongst the Nisga’a on the Nass River (1868-1879), Gitksan on the Kispiox (1879-1883) and Skeena (1888-1933) and the Tsimshian at Metlakatla, BC (1883-1887) and Alaska (1908-1912). She spoke the language, helped her husband attend to their medical needs, and taught school. Alice was adopted into the Eagle Clan by the Nisga’a at Kincolith (Gingolx).
In 1912 Robert and Alice (along with their adopted children Hazel and Harold Cook) returned from Metlakatla, Alaska to their home in Meanskinisht (Cedarvale) British Columbia. Rev. Robert Tomlinson died in September 1913 at Meanskinisht and is buried in the Meanskinisht Churchyard Cemetery. Alice continued to live there until her death.
List of Calling CardsThe Point Ellice House collection contains hundreds of calling cards left for the O’Reilly family by visitors. This initial research was conducted by Public History students at the University of Victoria, and these biographies constitute only a portion of the individuals represented by the calling cards within the collection.