Thomas Hooper was an architect with offices in Vancouver and Victoria. In 1912, the Provincial Government held an architectural competition with a cash prize of $4,000 for the best designs for the new university campus at Point Grey. The competition called for designs for four buildings (Arts and Science, Agriculture, Dormitories, and Power House) whose construction would begin at once and a sketch of proposals for the rest of the university. Amongst the 20 entries was one submitted by Thomas Hooper. In rejecting Hooper's designs, the judging committee suggested that "the practical issues such as appropriate planning and cost of erection have been sacrificed to grandiose and pictorial effects."

Elisabeth Margaret Hopkins was born in Fort Gilkicker, Hampshire, England, and trained as a nurse at Middlesex Hospital in 1916. Arriving in Victoria in 1954, she became known for her artwork late in her life. In the 1970s and 1980s, her paintings were exhibited at the Bau Xi Galleries in Vancouver and Toronto, and her children's book, "The Painted Cougar", was published by Talon Books in 1977. She lived on Salt Spring and Galiano Islands and was the subject of a film entitled "Hoppy: A Portrait of Elisabeth Hopkins."

Grace Hopp was the daughter of Sam Hopp, a Chinese farmer living on Lulu Island in Richmond, B.C. Grace was born on Christmas day, December 25, 1915. She was raised on the farm on Lulu Island but, later in life, lived in Vancouver’s Chinatown.

At one point, Grace was employed as a waitress, likely in Chinatown. At that time, working as a waitress, especially in a restaurant not operated by one’s family, was somewhat frowned upon by the Chinese community.

There is a lot of mystery and rumour surrounding Grace’s life. She is both a fascinating and a tragic character.

A record of marriage at the B.C. Archives indicates she was wed on August 17, 1940 to a man named LEE Yew Noy. He was 37 years old and worked as a waiter. Grace is listed as 24 years old but her name is recorded as Grace ENG, not Grace Hopp. On the document, she also claims to be a “spinster.” But her new surname suggests she had an earlier marriage or relationship or that she changed her name at some point in her early adulthood.

The family is aware that Grace gave birth to a boy, Robert, in 1935. It is rumoured that Robert’s father was a travelling Chinese opera performer with whom Grace had an affair.

It is not clear how long the legal marriage to LEE Yew Noy lasted. However, a mere five years later, Grace was involved with another man, a Jack Eng, who would father two of her children: Ken (b. 1945) and Catherine. As far as anyone knows, she never married Jack and there is no record of a legal marriage. He eventually left to live in Seattle, Washington.

Later, Grace would have another relationship, this time with a Joe CHEW. Again, there is no record of a legal marriage. But the relationship resulted in four more children. Interestingly, at least one of those children used the ENG surname.

Two of Joe and Grace’s children were adopted out to Chinese families. It was not clear why two of the four children were given for adoption, but the family believes it may have been due to Grace’s health. In fact, most of her children were, at some point, cared for in foster homes.

It was highly unusual at the time to have children out of wedlock. And it is not clear how Grace endured what would have been gossip and negative views of her unconventional family life. Or how she dealt with the stress of having so many children but no legal husband to help her care for them.

Grace passed away on December 6, 1987.

Grace’s granddaughter, Melody Eng, shared some family memories of this unique woman. “I was told that my grandmother really enjoyed Chinese opera as a young woman. I have a couple of pictures of her looking quite glamourous and was told she would have liked to have been in the opera or Chinese movies.

“On a funnier note, when she was much older, during a family get-together, pizza was ordered for dinner. When it arrived and the lids to the pizza were lifted, we all thought how good it smelled. Yet Grandma spoke out in her broken English, “I don’t like that pie.” We all laughed knowing she meant the pizza.”