Heritage Register
Fairfield

228 Memorial Crescent
(ex-3 Lovers' Lane, 1658 Dallas Rd)
Pala House

Built 1892
Heritage-Registered

For: Burrell Baukins

Builder: Burrell Baukins

ARCHITECTURE:

Numbers 228 & 240 are a pair yet they weren’t built for the same owners. This 2-storey Italianate has a front-facing gable with fishscale shingles. Like its neighbour, the upper floor overhangs the main floor, which has an angled bay and a recessed porch. But a riot of fish-scale shingles also covers the porch posts, the main floor walls, and they even create a form of dentilation below the gable. Decorative turned rods also play a major role here, acting as trim (both vertical and horizontal) on windows, corners and bay. A front panel between the floors is defined by unique “finial-like” tapered blocks, echoing the shingled belts on the other houses. The porch has several latticework panels. (The attic window is likely a later addition; possibly a sunburst pattern was removed to accommodate it.) An ancient holly bush in front is likely original.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

Stewart Harrison bought this house from Burrell Baukins in 1893 and owned it until 1899. Henry Purdon Bell (c.1841-1910) paid taxes on this property from 1899-1905. Born in County Atrim, Ireland, Henry was a civil engineer and pioneer surveyor and miner of BC.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

Like most of the houses on this street, this house was rented out to various families during the 1890s and early 1900s. The earliest known occupant of this house was Arthur Heathorn (1863-1939), son of William and Mary Claxton Heathorn, who lived next door at 240 Memorial Cr. He was listed here in 1894 and for several years. He worked at the short-lived Suspect Station across the street at the corner of Fairfield Rd. In 1889 he married Priscilla Cudlipp Luney (1869-1952), sister of prominent bricklayers and builders William and Walter Luney. She and Arthur lived next to her brothers and mother at 263 Douglas St in 1901, and Arthur had begun his lengthy career as a stevedore.

By 1898 the Suspect Station was closed, and the Home for the Aged and Infirm opened. One of its caretakers, civil servant Henry Herbert Hobbis (1850-1930), lived here until 1902 with his wife, Mary Elizabeth (Osman, 1847-1929). Henry was born in Leafield, England, and Mary in Peterborough. They came to Victoria in 1891.

Following a brief period of vacancy, James A. Shanks bought the house in 1906 and lived here one year. He was a barber. From about 1907-10 Thomas H. (c.1838-1910) and Olive M. Towers owned the property, but didn’t live here. Carpenter William C. Van Munster (1857 & 1871 Fern St, Jubilee) lived here in 1907-08 and called it Pala House. The house was vacant from 1909-11.

William (1879-1955) and Annie (Pollock, 1882-1956) Stark lived here from about 1912-15. Born in Scotland, the Starks came to Canada in 1910. William was a carpenter or teamster while he lived here, but joined the City Police and retired as a detective in 1939. Their grandson, Stuart Stark, owned and restored 252 Memorial over a number of years.

Herbert Dowsley (1882-1974) and Maud Mary (Gammon, 1883-1974) Cluff lived here 1918-24 after moving from Ontario. Herbert was a plumber for Andrew Sheret and later secretary of the Dominion Plumbing & Heating Co. Various tenants occupied this house between 1925-34.

The Laming family lived here for over 20 years from 1935. William Arthur (1879-1969) and Wilhemena Augusta Marie (Trauska, 1894-1975) Laming came to Victoria from Holland in 1924. William was a labourer.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:

• Fairfield History

• Fairfield Heritage Register



• This Old House, Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume Four: Fairfield, Gonzales & Jubilee