Peter O’Reilly’s 1859 Diary

FOREWORD

Peter O’Reilly’s 1859 diary has been voluntarily transcribed for informational purposes only. Researchers interested in this diary are advised to consult the original document housed at the Royal British Columbia Museum & Archives, found in MS-2894, the O’Reilly family fonds, Microfilm Reel A01907, Box 1, File 2.

TRANSCRIPTION NOTES

Each year’s transcription includes a brief diary summary for each month.  A reference and comments section is also provided to identify people, places, events, or things mentioned in the diaries.  Comments, where provided, are discretionary and are given when it appears helpful to the understanding of the diary contents.  The existence of a reference or comment within the diary is indicated by an asterisk beside the diary date.  Multiple asterisks indicate multiple references or comments for the same date.

Square brackets are used to denote transcriptionist comments. Best guesses of words or phrases appearing in the text are enclosed in square brackets and not italicized, while functional comments about the text are italicized.  The following are examples of functional comments.

[illegible] – a word cannot be read. 
[deletion] – a strikethrough cannot be read.
[no entry] – no entry in the diary for that date.
[left blank] – a space reserved for text entry. 
[overwritten text] – text written over the top of other text.
[loss] – text that is too faint to read.

Spelling inconsistency is commonly found and is usually not corrected from the original, however, letters are occasionally inserted in square brackets to clarify the understanding of an otherwise misspelled word.

Deleted words and sentences are included and struck through where legible.