Heritage Register
James Bay

623 Avalon Road (ex-25 Avalon Rd)

Built 1899
Heritage-Designated 1977

For: Thomas & Agnes Booz

ARCHITECTURE:

This one-storey, hip-roofed Queen Anne Cottage has a shed-roofed dormer on the front and, to its left, a pedimented gable above an angled cutaway bay extension; a hip-roofed porch to its right retains its original balustrade but has lost the spandrel and details on the posts which are evident in the 1948 photo. There is a hip-roofed box bay on the left side. The windows are one-over-one sash, with Queen Anne stained glass above the central bay window. It has two corbelled and ribbed brick chimneys. Asbestos siding covering the original drop siding was removed in 2017.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

1899-1920: The owners first paid tax on the property in 1899 and took out water connection permit #338 in April 1899; in 1900 they were assessed $1,200 for their new house. Thomas A. Booz and Mary “Agnes” Hutchinsen were born in England and came to Canada four years before moving to Victoria c.1888. They lived in this house until Agnes died in 1920 at 54. Thmas worked at the Victoria Daily Times and was foreman of the composing room until his retirement in 1922. A member of Columbia Lodge No.1, AF&AM, and the Typographical Union, Thomas moved to Toronto in 1922 to be near family, and died at 78 in 1937. He is buried beside Agnes in Ross Bay Cemetery.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

1921-28: Carpenter / painter Reginald Taylor and his wife Georgina (née Higginbotham) came here in 1909 from England. They were living in Sidney when Reg died at 64 in 1965. Schoolmaster Arthur T. Hunkin boarded here when he married stenographer Betty Harkness (1803 Belmont St, Fernwood) in 1926.

1929-35: Alfred W. and Mabel E. (née Gibson) Colton also came here from England in 1909. Alfred was proprietor of the Baby Buggy Exchange, then worked for the Red Cross. They were living at 541 Toronto St when they died, Alfred at 73 in 1939, Mabel at 71 in 1943.

1937-45: US immigration inspector Emerson F. and Patricia David, and their daughter Virginia from 1943-45. 1946-48: Alex, a carpenter, and Eva Luke.

1949-2000: Edward Charles Carr and Kathleen (née Hopper, b. Yorks, ENG 1906-1970). Kathleen emigrated to Canada in 1948. Charlie was a city labourer and lived here until his death in about 2000.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:

• James Bay History

• James Bay Heritage Register



• This Old House, Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume Two: James Bay