1320 Coventry Street

ARCHITECTURE:

This is an Edwardian Vernacular Arts & Crafts house. This style was built in large numbers in the decade before WWI, modelled on Samuel Maclure’s Chalet style designs. It is 1½ storeys, with a sleeping porch in the front gable and a full-width inset front verandah below. The gable, originally stuccoed and half-timbered, has now been shingled except for a small section in the apex. A small pent roof has been built above the balcony of the sleeping porch. The verandah has three square posts on each corner and two grouped in the centre of the balustrade. There are two protruding wall dormers above box bays on the sides, which are also now shingled. The body of the house is clad in stucco. The house plans are unsigned.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

1911-63: William Hodgson “Billy” Davies (b. Durham, ENG, 1885-1950) and Marion (née Kennedy, b. Wellington, BC, c.1888-1967) married in 1910 at St. Saviour’s Church (310 Henry St, Vic West). Billy was educated at the Blue Coat School in England. He emigrated with his family to the USA in 1903 and worked on a cattle ranch, then came north to Victoria about 1909. [Note: Marion’s parents, Elizabeth and James Kennedy, a stationary engineer, were married in Nanaimo in 1886. The family lived at West Lynn, 908 Russell St, Vic West for decades until after Elizabeth died in 1940. Elizabeth was born in 1869, on the “High Seas: Enroute to Canada.”]

At the time of the 1911 Census, Billy, Marion and their baby Albert “Albie” were living with Billy’s parents William Moses Davies (b. ENG, c.1856-1915) and Harriette (née Hodgson, b. Durham, ENG, 1855-1941) on Craigflower Rd, waiting for their new house to be finished. In 1912 they and Billy’s family moved into the house. His father William was a City of Victoria labourer, but had been a County Court clerk in England. In 1930 this house was 610 Coventry and Billy and Marion’s offspring were living with them: Norman “Jumbo,” a carpenter; Marigold, a maid; and Albie, a floor layer at Van Isle Hardwood Floors, a company owned by his uncle Albert Henry Davies.

Billy was a realtor, then an accountant and office manager with Empire Realty, Real Estate, Financial and Insurance Services; he became managing director in 1935. During WWI Billy volunteered in 1915 and was made athletic director of the 67th Western Scots, CEF. He served on Victoria City Council and as a director of many charitable organizations, including the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, the Victoria Old Men’s Home and the Fred Landsberg (106 Medana St, James Bay) Sunshine Camp Committee. Marion was a member of the Vancouver Island Athletic Association’s ladies baseball team, as were her mother and two sisters; she lived here until 1963.