ARCHITECTURE:

This single-storey Edwardian cottage has a hipped roof and front gable-on-hip extension with a triangular window in the small gable. The porch to the left has several Tuscan columns and a solid balustrade. The water table is continuous with the porch rail. There are two pairs of one-over-one, double-hung, sash windows with horns on the front, a central entrance door, and side-facing steps. On the left side is a small enclosed entry porch, and on the rear, a hip-roofed extension. There are three corbelled brick chimneys. The house is clad in bevelled siding and the foundation is concrete.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

The BC Government built this house for the head gardeners of Government House1401 Rockland Av.

1910-12: John Harper Randall (1871-1961) and Irene Mabel (née Dandridge) came to Victoria from England in 1910. John, a landscape gardener, retired in 1939.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

1913-15: Percy E. Lamb.1917-18: John Shiner (b. Somerset, ENG 1884- 1924) and Sybilla Henrietta (née Boothby, 1886-1957) came to Canada in 1913-14. John then moved to Tod Inlet as head gardener for Jennie Butchart (1737 Rockland Av906 St Charles St, Rockland) until his death.

1920-21: Ernest and Elizabeth Barlow.

1921-50: William Gray Darling (b. Scotland 1886-1975) and Jessie (née Bailey, b. Lancashire, ENG 1880-1960) came to Canada in 1910 and Victoria in 1917. William was head gardener at Government House for about 30 years.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:

• Map of Victoria’s Heritage Register Properties

• Rockland History

• Rockland Heritage Register

• This Old House, Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume Three: Rockland, Burnside, Harris Green,
Hillside-Quadra, North Park & Oaklands