Heritage Register
Gonzales

1837 Crescent Road

Built 1909
Heritage-Registered

For: John Herbert Gray

Architect: William D'Oyly Rochfort, et al

ARCHITECTURE:

Little evidence remains of the “village” of seaside cottages that grew up on Foul Bay and later evolved into a lively artists’ and hippie colony. But this property still has hints of those days.

John Herbert Gray was a carpenter and cafe owner who owned the large lot centred on the bay. Over the years the compound expanded with three main structures and several outbuildings. As they were mostly intended as cottages, amenities were minimal, records are sparse and many occupants were transient. Gray appears on Crescent Rd as early as 1902 (Street Directory). The first building record shows a stable (now gone), but in 1909 plumbing was also being provided to a residence –possibly the tiny, multi-gabled cottage now in the middle of the property. The same year, Gray commissioned the respected architect D’Oyly Rochfort to design a charming two-storey tearoom with changing-rooms and a boathouse, right on the water’s edge –all for $800. That building, with bell-cast roof, though much modified, remains, but is only visible from the beach. (Both full-width front balconies have been glazed in.) And in 1912 plumbing was being added to a “tearoom building and little room on same lot” for Thomas J. Ryan, of 20 Paddon Av, then 651 Battery St in James Bay. Simultaneously, yet another residence was being built on the property, for Percy and Archie Wilson.

It is possible that one of these structures is the only building now visible from the street: a tiny 1½-storey cottage with hipped, bellcast roof, that appears to have originally had a storefront –possibly a street-level grocery store. But it’s difficult to sort out who owned or rented which of these informal cottages in the early days, and when they evolved into year-round residences.

Many adjacent properties which once had informal summer shacks now have huge modern homes on them: This lot is one of the few survivors to retain the Sausalito flavour.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

The first owner of the property, John Herbert Gray (1877-1965), was born in India, the son of Helen Stephen and Dr. Edward Gray. A veteran of the Boer War, John came to Canada in 1906, and in 1913 married Gladys Rosa Kinghurst McCallum. In 1909, his mailing address was listed in the assessment book as the Cosy Corner Tea Rooms at 616 Fort St. The Foul Bay Tea Rooms were open by the end of July 1909. By 1910 this property was owned by Eleanor Jane Hawthornthwaite (1862-1925), who was Gladys McCallum’s aunt. Eleanor was the proprietor of the Foul Bay Tea Rooms for the next three years, and lived on the property. Born in Ireland to a Lancashire father (hence the “thwaite”) and an Irish mother, Eleanor came to Canada about 1895 and was living with Arthur and Caroline McCallum, her sister and Gladys’s mother, in 1901. In the 1911 census Eleanor is listed on Crescent Rd with four lodgers, presumably in the cabins: Herbert Williams, Norbert Cray, William Hodson and Arthur Atherton. But by 1914, both Eleanor and the tearoom have disappeared from the city directory. She was living in Roberts Bay, Sidney, BC, when she died in 1925.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

In 1913 Frank William Ainsworth (1870-1953) and Max Otto Winkler (1875-1928) were the occupants. Frank was a rancher who came to Canada in 1893 and to Victoria in 1912. He had moved to Port Alberni with his wife, Mary McArthur, by 1920. Born in Germany, Max was a telephone technician who was married to Sarah Maud McNichol (1882-1942). Carpenter Thomas McCardia and gardener William J. Kershaw lived here in 1914.

The Wilson family was living here by 1920, and remained for several years. Archibald Wilson (1878-1970) was born in London, England, and came to Victoria in 1900. He married Ontario-native Eliza Jane Whetstone (1882-1932) in 1917. Their son, Archibald Whetstone Wilson (1918-1942), was one of 114 crew members who died in the sinking of the HMCS Ottawa east of St. John’s, NF, in 1942. Archibald was a boilermaker and worked at VMD and Yarrows for over 50 years. After Eliza died in 1932, he married Edith Spedding.

By 1924, the Smith family was living here and operating a confectionery on site, and various tenants occupied the other cottages for about the next six years. Charles Moses (1869-1947) and Jessie (Cooper, 1867-1951) Smith came to Victoria from Nova Scotia in 1913.

Archibald Wilson’s brother, Percy Walter (1886-1974) and Nellie (MacDonald, 1889-1976) Wilson acquired this property c.1930 and lived here until the early 1960s, when they moved to 570 Niagara St (James Bay). They rented out the other units to various tenants. Percy was born in London, England, and came to Victoria with his family when he was aged two. He married Victoria native Nellie in 1914.. Like his brother, Percy was a boilermaker at VMD for many years and retired in 1954.

Their son, Roderick Arnold Wilson (1918-1944), died, like his cousin, at sea when his ship, the HMCS Valleyfield was torpedoed 80km off NF in 1944. He was one of 125 casualties, and there were 38 survivors.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:

• Gonzales History

• Gonzales Heritage Register


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