ARCHITECTURE:
Firlands is a 1910 rebuild of a 1891 house, transforming it into a two-storey, hip-roofed Edwardian Foursquare. The left side of the house has an unusual, large, multi-light window towards the front. The right side has a full-height shallow box bay towards the rear; a cool cupboard sits beside it. The symmetrical upper front façade has two paired double-hung sash windows and is separated from the main floor by a beltcourse. The main floor has a central, shallow, cantilevered, hip-roofed box bay between a pair of double-hung sash windows on the left and a hip-roofed, square entry porch on the right. The entrance has a panelled door with leaded art glass sidelights. The side-facing stepped balustrade below the box bay leads to the porch which has square posts and balusters. There are small multi-light windows in the basement around the house. The house is shingled above the beltcourse, and clad in bevelled siding below. A detached, hip-roofed, period garage survives at the left rear of the house.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
This house was home to many different owners and residents during its first 20 years. Daniel Sullivan, a carpenter, likely built the house; he lived in it until 1893.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
By 1894 I.H. Mildram paid the taxes, and from 1895-96, Julius A. Teporten owned the property. By 1898 Henry Hodgins owned it and lived here until 1900.
The first multi-year owner and resident lived here 1900-06. Widow Caroline Durick lived here with her three children, Dorothy, Frederick Foster, and Madge. Born in Ontario, Caroline Huckell came to BC and married storekeeper James Durick in Golden in 1889. He died of pneumonia in Fort Steele, in 1898 at 33. Caroline came to Victoria, where she died in 1919 at 48.
From 1917-24 William Harrington Ellis and his wife Ada Leslie lived here with their son, Leslie. William was born at Port Hope, ON, where he apprenticed as a printer. He lived in Winnipeg for several years before coming to Victoria in 1884, joining the editorial staff of the Daily Colonist. In 1887 he married Ada Withrow, born in St. John, who had lived in New Westminster for about 10 years before coming to Victoria in 1884.
During the 1890s William was part-owner of the paper, with Albert George Sargison and William Ralph Higgins (638 Elliot St, James Bay), who purchased the paper from David William Higgins (1501 Fort St, Rockland). William Ellis was managing director of the paper for some time. After leaving the newspaper he became an immigration agent, then a realtor. During the early 1890s, William was an avid lacrosse player, and served as president of the association in 1892-3. William died in 1921 at 62. Ada lived in the house several more years. She had a keen interest in the arts, having studied painting in San Francisco, and having taught in Portland. She died in 1939 at 76.
William and Ada had three sons: Leslie Harrington, William Horace, and Lieut Duncan, MC. William died of diphtheria at 10 and Duncan died during WWI. Leslie, the eldest, was born in Victoria in 1889. He was a purser for the CPR then the BCCSS for many years. He married Mable Florence Kinsman during the 1920s, and died on board the Princess Adelaide in 1943 at 53.
By 1926 Frederick and Florence Daniels were the residents of this house. Florence, born in Bristol, England, moved to Calgary in 1908, where Frederick worked in real estate. As Florence’s health was fragile, the couple came to Victoria in 1919. In 1938, Florence and Frederick left by ship for England on the advice of Florence’s physician. However, she died on board at 54.
Frederick was a salesman for Cameron Lumber for 34 years until retiring in 1952. At some point he married Kathleen Thompson. Frederick still lived in this residence when he died in 1959 at 77. Kathleen died in 1961.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:
• This Old House, Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume Two: James Bay
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