John Boivin, Local Journalism Initiative
Robert Crellin with Florence Barbour, whom he rescued during the 1914 sinking of the Empress of Ireland. Both Crellin and Florence were from Silverton.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED June 05, 2021 - 4:30 PM Historians say they found a Kootenay connection in the chance discovery of some long-lost film footage of Canada’s worst maritime disaster. Shots of two Silverton survivors of the 1914 sinking of the Empress of Ireland were found in the ancient newsreel footage by Quebec media historians Se´bastien Hudon and Louis Pelletier. The film, sold at an auction in 2020, shows images of the arrival of a ship carrying the bodies of several of the disaster’s victims, and the unloading of coffins at the dock in Quebec City.