CLAY, ELLIS & AVERY 1940 – 1960

1940 – 1950

1945 The Shawnigan Lake property was passed to the Clay Children upon their mother’s death.  In 1946, The original cabin burned in a Fire. 

Helen (Clay) Ellis built their family Pan-a-bode cabin in 1948, and Jack and Laura Clay built their other cabin in 1947. Both cabins still stand today.

After the original cabin burned down in the fall of 1946, Helen Clay and her sisters had the Pan-a-bode cabin built in 1949 for them. Their brother Jack built the other cabin in 1948 with his new wife, Laura. 

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  1947 Jack & Laura’s Cabin

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  1948 Pan-a-bode

Richard (Dick) Ellis married Shirley Constance Shaw in Sept 1949 (born Dec 15, 1920, d. April 30, 2021 )  

Barbara Joan Ellis married (Duke) Charles Avery in 1956. ( d. December 4, 1996) 

The property was passed down to Dick and Joan and their spouses in 1972.  At that time, you could transfer property to your family for 100 dollars before the capital gains taxes were established a few years later by the then-Sr. Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau.    

Clay, Ellis & Avery 1950 – 1960

Then came the next generation, who currently care for the family cabins.  Dick and Shirley Ellis had five children starting with Debbie in 1951, Cathy in May 1952, David in March 1954 d. Sept 6, 2021. Barbara in March 1957 and ending with Patricia B. Nov 1959 d. April 1, 2021.   Joan and Duke Avery had two children, Helen in October 1957 and Richard Avery in Oct 1959 – d. November 13, 2013.   The Ellis and Avery families have shared both cabins to the present day.  

The Ellis family lived in Vancouver and moved to Victoria in the early 50’s.   

Dick Ellis (Inducted into the BC Rugby Hall of Fame in 2006) followed in his father’s footsteps with his lifelong passion for rugby, which filled his every spare moment his entire life.  He was a very active member of the Oak Bay Wanderers at the time of his death in 1974 (from a scuba diving accident).  Dick Ellis Memorial Fund Provides Support to National Team Captains.  The Dick Ellis Memorial Fund (DEMF) originated in 1978 as an ongoing memorial to Mr. Dick Ellis, a Rugby Canada President, who had passed away in office.

Richard “Dick” Ellis was called to the bar in 1950 and joined Clay & Macfarlane and became a partner at Clay, Macfarlane, Ellis and Popham, known as Clay & Company. Joan Avery also followed in another of her father’s loves, golf and did very well as an amateur golfer for many years.