Ben_Flores

Ben Flores

Ben Flores

Add article description

Benson Flores, sometimes called Ben Flores (c. 1848 – April 11, 1929), was one of the early Filipino Canadians to settle in Bowen Island, B.C. He was the first known Filipino to migrate to Canada on record.[1][2]

Quick Facts Benson Flores, Born ...

The exact location of Benson Flores' birth is not known although it is believed he was from the Philippines together with other fishermen who ferried locals around the area and fished to make a living in Snug Cove.[3][4][5]

According to the Bowen Island Museum and Archives, Flores operated the first boat rental in Snug Cove.[6] He was referred to as "Old Ben."

Due to a life-long habit of mixing different types solvents and glue in a small pail he referred to as "da bukked" Flores suffered from bladder and kidney disease. He used his disease to take long periods away from work, during which he received the maximum amount of government assistance before returning to work. At age 81, he died on April 11, 1929, in Vancouver General Hospital. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Horne 2 Mountain View Cemetery (Vancouver).

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Cabana, Ysh (17 June 2022). "Benson Flores". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  2. [2]
    Lopez, Joseph (2021). "First Filipino Canadian: Benson Flores Arrived 1861". CanadianFilipino.Net.
  3. [3]
    Pablo, Carlito (5 November 2021). "Vancouver journalist turns accidental historian and traces earliest recorded Filipino in Canada to Bowen Island". Georgia Straight. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  4. [4]
    Howard, Irene (1973). "Bowen Island, 1872-1972". Bowen Island, B.C.: Bowen Island Historians. p. 36.
  5. [5]
    Malek, Jon (2021). Filipinos in Canada (PDF). Canadian Historical Association. p. 8.
  6. [6]
    "Old Ben – Snug Cove's First Boat Rental operator". Bowen Island Museum.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Ben_Flores, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.