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Anita Allardice Lancaster (1905 – 1989)

Anita was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In that day, Edward VII was King, Canadian women were not ‘persons,’ Manitoba was a ‘postage-stamp’ province, and Winnipeg was dominated by the Hudson’s Bay Company and the Church of England in Canada.

In 1934, after marrying The Reverend Thomas Reed Lancaster, an Anglican priest, she moved to Victoria and embraced the role of clergy wife and the Vancouver Island lifestyle. After her husband’s early death she became solely responsible for two young children, and so she returned to the work force.

Although circumstances had conspired to keep Anita from completing high school, she compensated by becoming a constant reader, not merely of fiction, but also of history, especially Canadian history. She ensured that both her children graduated from university and had the satisfaction of seeing them established in their respective careers, John (Victoria College ’58) in the clergy and Susan (BA Psychology ’69) in business.

The Church was always a vital aspect of her life and the many lifelong friendships it engendered were important to her. A sampler on her wall read, ‘Warm friendship, like the setting sun, sheds kindly light on everyone.’ Her sense of humour nurtured her relations with others.

She and John were present at UVic’s inauguration ceremony on 2 July 1963.

This scholarship, endowed by her children in 1990, reflects not only gratitude for an outstanding mother, but also the eleemosynary instincts she and her daughter shared.