ARCHITECTURE:
This 2½-storey, wooden Queen Anne house provides an interesting comparison to the brick house at 968 Balmoral Rd. It is front-gabled with a gable-on-hip at the rear. The front gable is pedimented at its apex, with three small windows below the pediment. The gable is separated from the upper floor by a string course which is continuous with the frieze. A wide, shingled, flared belt course separates the two floors. To the right of the main entrance is a one-storey angled bay; the entrance is a recessed porch with brackets and square posts and balusters. A pedimented gable on the right side sits above a square bay over an angled bay with bracketed corners. On the left side in another two-storey gabled extension. A steep shed roof extends from the main roofline at the rear. The house is clad in drop siding and decorative shingles. The porch was enclosed in the 1970s, then reopened with a second door when a suite was added in 1980.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
Owners: 1891-1916: Blacksmith and carriage trimmer William James Powell (b. Jersey, UK 1833-1896) married Hannah Elizabeth (née Fletcher, b. Sydney, ON 1844-1922); in Hasting, ON in 1860. They came here in 1885; she moved to 1010 Mason St in 1904.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
Tenants: 1908: Mt Royal Milling & Mfg Co supt John McLorie (1859-1945) married Elizabeth (née O’Neil, b. SCT 1862- 1934) in Montréal, QC in 1883 and came here in 1907. They then lived in 934 Empress Av for the rest of their lives.
1910-15: William Sibley Beckwith (b. Cornwallis, NS 1853-1926) married Ellen Louise (née Geldert, b. Halifax, NS 1860-1938) in Hants, NS in 1886 and came to BC in 1889. He was an expressman then a clerk with BC Lands & Works Dept. She moved to Riverside, CA, USA in 1932, and died in Seattle.
1917-20: Stevedore Thomas Frederick Bourne (b. Kings Lynn, Norf, ENG 1876-1935) married Ada Mary (née Richardson, b. Kings Lynn 1875-1956) in 1908 and they came here c.1910. A veteran of the Boer War (16th Queen’s Lancers) he enlisted in 1915 and went overseas with 103rd Btn. CEF. He was sec of Longshoreman’s Assn, then sec-treas, Riggers & Stevedores Assn. Ada was pres of Ladies Auxiliary, Britannia Branch, Canadian Legion.
1921-23: Cpl. Drummer James Higgens (b. Curragh, Kildare, IRL 1879-1923) married Florence Ellen (née Hazeltine, b. IRL) in 1900. They came to Canada in 1907. He enlisted in 1916 with 103rd Btn CEF. Between the Imperial Army and CEF he served almost 20 years and was given a military funeral from St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Cathedral.
1923: Chinese silk merchant Wah Lee.
1924-25: Residents noted as “Japanese.”
1926: Driver Peter Stephen Lanchick (b. RUS 1884-1957) and Vasalassa (née Harvey, b. Pernii, RUS 1887-1952). Daughter Elizabeth “Betty” (b. RUS 1905), The Cabin Bakery & Confectionery saleswoman, lived with them and married cigar storekeeper Charles Anast Lewis (b. Greece) in 1926.
1928-30: Stationary eng William Henry James (1886-1928) and Margaret Jane (née Morgan, 1885-1940) came from Tredegar, S. Wales c.1910. He committed suicide, slicing his throat in the bath.
Owners: 1931-41: Widow Ann Elizabeth Leavitt (née Carron, b. Victoria, 1879-1969) married Henry Warren Leavitt (b. QC 1873-1930) in Nanaimo in 1903. A miner in Ladysmith, he later worked for Giant Powder Co, James Island.
1942-45: Cpl. Emil William Borgens, RCASC (b. Winnipeg, MB, 1905-1992) on active service and seamstress Lila (née Remin, b. ND 1913-?) married in Vegreville, AB in 1935. Tenants: 1946-49: Hollywood Beauty Salon operator Mary Aletta Louisa “Letty” Sylvester (née Silverthorne, b. Woodford, ON 1909-2001), wife of James Melvin Sylvester (b. St. Boniface, MB 1904-1957), and daughters Uldene Lillian (b. Richlea, SK 1926-89) and Patricia (b. SK 1931-2005). 1950: Duplexed by the Borgens.
1950-51: Dry cleaner Dorcy Ernest Danes (b. Victoria 1894-1977) and Elizabeth Rose (née White, b. Ladysmith, BC 1901-1960).
1952-53: Daisy May Shubrook (née Playford, b. ENG 1896-1974), widow of Charles William Shubrook (1893-1952) and daughter Grace May (b. Victoria 1921-1970), Northwestern Creamery (1015 Yates St) saleswoman.