B.C. newspaper magnate David Black has purchased a farm on an island near Nanaimo that once hosted a 1920s-era cult.
The 105-acre De Courcy Island Farm was a refuge from the world for cult-leader and alleged swindler Brother Twelve and his disciples. The cult leader formed his Aquarian Foundation in 1927, and tales of black magic, sex scandals and lost treasure followed.
B.C. Assessment records show Black’s company, Black Press Holdings Ltd., closed a sale on the property for $1.6 million. It was listed for $2.19 million last fall.
Black, who also owns property on a nearby island, said he purchased the farm as “a vacation place.”
He said he has no plans to alter it. A couple hired to maintain the gardens will continue to do so.
“I wanted to protect it and the people associated with it have been talking about it with me for some time about making investments, so it can stay the way it is,” Black told the Times Colonist.
Realtor Mark Lester, senior vice-president of Unique Properties, said an agreement was reached for the sale before Christmas. The deal didn’t close until this year, because it required removing a community fire hall from the property through subdivision. “That property was part of the farm and the previous farm owners had done a long-term lease on it,” Lester said.
“I think everybody involved, including the vendors and purchaser, felt that it was appropriate in terms of the long-term utility of that community function for it to be something that had its own land title.”
There are about 20 full-time residents on De Courcy Island, and the population swells on weekends and during the summer.
Lester, speaking from his own property on the island, said the farm has significance beyond its cult history.
“It’s the largest property [on the island] and it forms sort of the backbone of the rural nature of the island,” he said.
“It’s a real win for the island. A lot of people were very concerned about the sale of the farm and potential for change, with such an important property on the island. So I think that the previous farm owners were quite happy and the people on the island are quite happy, because it’s kind of status quo.”
Black owns the Black Press community newspaper chain, which includes the Nanaimo News Bulletin and the Victoria News.
Brother Twelve, a retired sea captain born as Edward Arthur Wilson, believed he was selected as a spiritual leader by an ancient Egyptian.
In the course of three years in the late 1920s, he transformed himself from an isolated, penniless nobody to the leader of the Aquarian Foundation — an occult organization that attracted affluent investors, many of them heiresses.
On De Courcy Island, he trained followers to prepare for the imminent chaos and destruction of the world.
But his leadership quickly came under fire as a result of his sexual exploits — sleeping with women followers in the “House of Mystery,” a building ostensibly built for spiritual contemplation — and allegations that he had misused the foundation’s money.
Lore about Brother Twelve includes tales of treasure hidden before he disappeared, abuse of followers and a courtroom that erupted into unusual behaviour, with a judge growling like a dog.
One scenario had followers sipping blood from the skull of a young woman killed after she was unfaithful to Brother Twelve. The leader eventually fled with his mistress to avoid legal action from some of his former disciples, but his ultimate fate is shrouded in mystery.
De Courcy Island is a 460-acre, off-grid community, according to Decourcyisland.com. In addition to the farm, it includes the 76-acre Pirates Cove Marine Park, plus 186 residential-zoned lots that average one acre or less, many of which have not been developed.
It is located about 16 kilometres southeast of Nanaimo and neighbours Gabriola, Valdez, Mudge and Ruxton Islands.
About 80 lots have been built on, with everything from full-time housing to seasonal cabins, Lester said.
