January 17, 2026

Eva Drew was a skilled milliner and independent businesswoman whose career reflected both changing fashions and the growing presence of women in Vernon’s early retail scene. Born in 1877 in Somerset, England, Eva was the daughter of Robert and Louise Drew. In 1907, she immigrated to Canada with her family, settling in Vernon at a time when the town was expanding and establishing its commercial core.

Soon after arriving, Drew found employment at S.A. Shatford’s clothing store on 30th Avenue, then known as Barnard Avenue. Established around 1895, Shatford’s was one of Vernon’s long-standing retail businesses, and it was here that Drew learned the specialized craft of millinery. Hat making required both technical skill and an eye for fashion, and Drew quickly developed a reputation for quality workmanship.

Miss Drew (seated) with a friend, circa 1911. Right: A 1933 Vernon News advertisement for Miss Drew’s business.

By 1911, Drew had opened her own millinery shop, located just a few doors down from the Bank of Montreal on 30th Avenue. Her handmade hats became popular among Vernon’s fashionable women, who sought styles that reflected broader trends while still being locally made. Like many milliners of the period, Drew produced hats in felt, velvet, and other materials, including structured daytime hats, decorative evening pieces, and hats adorned with veils—an especially popular accessory in the early twentieth century.

As fashions evolved, so did Drew’s business. She gradually expanded her merchandise to include ladies’ wear, reflecting a shift from specialized millinery shops toward broader women’s fashion retail. In 1929, she relocated her shop further east along 30th Avenue. Her afternoon and evening dresses sold for between $14.50 and $32.50, prices that placed them within reach of middle-class customers seeking well-made, stylish clothing.

While no hats in the museum’s collection can be definitively attributed to Eva Drew’s shop, the examples above reflect the styles she would have created. Dating from the early 20th century through the 1940s, these hats illustrate the evolving fashions Drew would have encountered—from ornate Edwardian designs to the gentler silhouettes of the interwar and wartime years | Artifacts 1976.032.003, 1983.188.033, and 1983.188.056.

Drew remained in Vernon until about 1940, when she moved to Victoria with her mother following her father’s death. There, she opened another shop and continued her work in fashion retail. Around 1951, she returned to Vernon, where she lived for the remainder of her life.

Although she never married, Drew raised one of her nieces and maintained strong family ties. She was also actively involved in her community and played an instrumental role in establishing Vernon’s Emmanuel Baptist Church in the late 1920s.

Eva Drew died in Vernon in 1976, at the age of 99.

Archives Manager, Gwyneth Evans