John 'Blacky' Blackham (1922-1975)

Founder of Blacky's Auto Wrecking 1960

After serving for Britian in the Defense of England during World War II, Blacky moved to Canada , having spent time in Canada during the war as an flight instructor , he spent time in Vancouver and the then Cassidy airport (now the Nanaimo airport) as an flight instructor . The family moved to Ladysmith in about 1956 . He had a job as a bush pilot in Whitehorse that lasted three years , it was a seasonal job , in the winter he would hang around Cassidy Auto Wreckers then owned by Martin Stenberg , liked what he saw and in 1960 bought land south of Duncan and started Blacky's Auto Wreckers and to the best of my knowledge never flew again

.... following in his fathers footsteps, John Blackham has not only grown up with the business but has grown Blacky's Auto Recyclers into one of the finest, most reliable, well run auto recycling business on the west coast.