Stowaway!
By Paul Galinski
Fifty-eight years ago, after jumping ship to live in Powell River, John Morris was escorted by police to the courthouse in the Townsite and sent back home to England.
In September 2010 Morris revisited Powell River but this time he was welcomed as a guest at the Old Courthouse Inn while visiting friends he made here nearly six decades ago.
Morris's first visit to Powell River was in 1952 aboard an English freighter called the Temple Inn. He was a crewmember and had made several stops along the BC Coast before berthing here to unload China clay at the pulp and paper mill.
"I fell in love with Powell River," he said. "I was impressed with the country. I had no future in England. I wanted adventure and to find another place to live."
Morris boarded the Temple Inn when it was disembarking Powell River, but when the freighter arrived in Vancouver, he and another crewmember jumped ship. They boarded the Princess of Nanaimo, which provided passenger service to Powell River, and steamed back up the coast. Upon disembarking the passenger ship in Powell River, the men found a place to board here with the Routley family and started settling in. It was through that connection that he met the Williams family, his current connection to this community. Val Williams, now Keddy, befriended the wayward mariner those many years ago and has kept in touch all this time through letters, and lately, through email.
During his three-week stay in Powell River in 1952, Morris settled in very quickly.
"The first job I got was with Petes Transfer," Morris said. "That didnt last long because it was casual work. So, I got a job with Mahoods logging camp as whistle punk (the person who operates a steam whistle or horn as a means of communication in the woods).
"Incidentally, I never got paid because I got arrested."
Morris was collared while mailing a letter to his mother at the Powell River post office. "Standing right there while I was posting the letter was a Royal Canadian Mounted Police member," Morris said. "I didn't know that at the time.
"I put the letter on the counter. He's obviously seen the address and the name. He said, 'Mr Morris' and I said, 'Yeah?' He said 'My names Winegarden from the RCMP. Weve been looking for you.' That was the end of the trip."
After being taken to the courthouse for processing, Morris was allowed to go back to the Williams house to have dinner. He then packed his belongings and prepared to head back to Vancouver on the passenger ferry. Morris and his friend boarded the vessel unaccompanied by a peace officer and Morris suggested that because the police had let them go, when they got to Vancouver, they could turn around and start all over again. When they arrived in Vancouver, however, there were four "heavies" in plainclothes greeting them.
"We were locked up in the immigration jail in Vancouver," Morris said. "I was there for two weeks until there was a ship to take me back to England. It took 28 days to sail there and I just wanted to get back to Canada."
Val Keddys mom tried to assist Morris and his friend in returning to Canada, and she wrote letters to the immigration department to sponsor them both, but the authorities would not relent. Morris was not welcome in Canada.
After being repatriated to England, Morris returned to the shipping industry, but there were no vessels coming to Canada. Morris did however make a journey to Australia and discovered that old habits die hard. Once again he jumped ship and this time found a different reception than the one he received in Powell River. He was able to stay under the radar in his newly adopted homeland.
The immigration department in Australia didn't catch up to Morris until hed been there for about 18 months, but by that time, he had cemented a job and was paying taxes.
"If you were not living off the state, you could stay," he said. He became a naturalized Australian and he's even earned respectability as a citizen, having been appointed as a Justice of the Peace.
When Morris arrived in Australia he left the mariner's life behind. One of the highlights for Morris was when the Beatles performed in Australia in 1964 and he was serving as a bodyguard. In a scrapbook that he brought with him to Powell River, he showed a photo with him and the four Beatles.
"I was the fifth Beatle," he said, laughing. "I sang with them coming down the lift (elevator) -- we will row, row, row, way up the river," which Morris once again crooned during his interview.
His most memorable vocation was in the hotel industry. Morris worked for Hilton Hotels for a number of years and has photos of famous people who stayed while he was working. He was befriended by actor Ed Asner and has corresponded with him for years.
Through his work in hotels, Morris became a member of the Golden Keys, an elite organization of concierges around the world. He served as a concierge for about 15 years and thoroughly enjoyed meeting and greeting people and assisting them during their hotel stays.
"It was certainly better than working in a logging camp. I cant think of a better vocation."
Morris retired in 2004 and has spent some of his retirement travelling. He wanted to return to Canada and he kept asking his daughter Samantha to travel here with him. Finally, she relented. "We thought wed come and visit Val and Owen, see their family, see Powell River and combine that with some other things I wanted to do," Morris said.
He says it was probably a blessing in disguise that he didnt stay in Powell River, given the great life hes had Down Under. Now hes trying to coax the Keddys to travel to Australia.
"Weve had great time and a lot of good laughs with Johnny Jumpship," Val said.
