Nancy (nee Davis) Lester – Abolitionist Supporter
Image A-01627 Courtesy of Royal BC Museum and Archives.
Nancy Lester moved with her husband Peter and children to San Francisco from Philadelphia in 1850. Then in 1858, their 15-year-old daughter Sarah became part of a local uproar when the pro-slavery San Francisco Herald printed an anonymous letter demanding her removal from an otherwise all-white school. After several weeks of active debate on the matter, the Lesters removed their daughter from the school. In the spring of 1858, they arrived in Victoria.
On December 23, 1859 a notice was posted by the Lester’s daughter Sarah in the Victoria Gazette “MUSIC. S.A. Lester begs leave to announce that she will give instruction on the Piano. Residence Vancouver –street between Belot and Belcher.”
Son, Peter Jr. worked as a teaching assistant with John Craven Jones on Salt Spring Island.
Nancy died on 1892 and is buried in the Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria.