Large, Richard W. (1873 - 1920)

Reverend Dr. R.W. Large was a doctor and Methodist missionary. He moved to British Columbia in 1898 and worked at the Japanese hospital in Steveston. In December 1898, he went to Bella Bella. In 1899 he was ordained for special purposes at Nanaimo, and worked at a summer hospital at Rivers Inlet. In 1901 he moved into a new mission house built by the Heiltsuk at Bella Bella. In 1902 he was received into full conference of the Methodist church and opened a new hospital at Bella Bella. In December 1910 he left Bella Bella and in 1911 became the superintendent of the Port Simpson Hospital. During his years in northern B.C. he collected First Nations artifacts, and in 1901 and 1906 he sent 284 Heiltsuk objects to the Ontario Provincial Museum (ROM). He died at 47, and was buried at Port Simpson.