Heritage Register
James Bay

643-45 Niagara Street

Built 1907
Heritage-Designated 1986

For: William Moore & Ernest Whittington

Contractors: Moore & Whittington

ARCHITECTURE:

This 1½-storey, front-gabled Edwardian Vernacular Arts & Crafts house has a large gabled dormer on its left side and a rear-gabled addition on the roof behind that dormer; on the left main floor towards the rear is a shed-roofed, glassed-in extension. There is a large, through-the-roof wall dormer above an angled bay on the right side of the house. The front gable has a shallow, bracketed box bay with three windows beneath the jettied upper gable and string course. Another string course separates the symmetrical upper floor from the asymmetrical main floor; there are dentils on all the string courses. Side facing stairs lead to the porch landing and the inset front porch on the left, which is balanced by the angled bay on the right. Three Tuscan columns, one centrally located and one on each corner of the façade sit on the solid balustrades of the porch and the bay. The far left of the porch has been partially enclosed for the front door to another unit upstairs. The main floor is clad in bevelled siding; the gables, porch landing piers and basement are shingled. The basement, which was covered in asphalt shingles for many years, has a new window on the right side of the house towards the front. There are two brick chimneys. The original stable building still sits on the right rear of the property.

This type of EVA&C house was formerly very common in James Bay. The few remaining on Niagara St form one of the best groupings left in the neighbourhood. This one was built as speculative housing by the prolific construction firm of Moore & Whittington (1433 & 1437 Vining St, Fernwood) “Our specialty - moderate price homes.”

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

William McLaren and Charlotte (née Williams) were the first owners and residents 1907-c.1916. Born in Dundas, ON, William was a real estate agent with an office in the Sayward Block in 1912, but was listed as a retired merchant by the time of his death in 1943, aged 84. Charlotte was born in Palmira, WI, in 1863 and came to Victoria with her husband from Central Canada. She died shortly after her husband in 1943 at 80.
George Dixon and Margaret (née Driver) lived here in the mid-to-late-1920s. George was born in Perth, ON, but lived in the Dunsmuir coal mining town of Wellington on Vancouver Island until 1913, then moved to Victoria. He was storeskeeper for the E&N Railway, then the CPR when CPR bought the E&N, until he retired in 1948. He was a member of the CP Lawn Bowling Club and Canadian Pacific Pensioners. George died in 1971 at 87.

Margaret was born in Victoria in 1888. She graduated from Vancouver Normal School in 1906, and taught at Ferndale Mission, near New Westminster, then in Wellington. She was working for the Victoria School Board as a substitute teacher when she married George in 1913. Margaret died in 1978 at 91.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

George and Margaret (Driver) Dixon lived here in the mid-to-late-1920s. George was born in Perth, ON, but lived in the Dunsmuir coal mining town of Wellington on Vancouver Island until 1913, then moved to Victoria. He was storeskeeper for the E&N Railway, then the CPR when they bought the E&N, until he retired in 1948. He was a member of the CP Lawn Bowling Club and Canadian Pacific Pensioners. George died in 1971 at 87.

Margaret was born in Victoria in 1888. She graduated from Vancouver Normal School in 1906, and taught at Ferndale Mission, near New Westminster, then in Wellington. She was working for the Victoria School Board as a substitute teacher when she married George in 1913. Margaret died in 1978 at 91.

Lawrence and Sadie McLaren lived here 1930s-45. Lawrence was the son of William and Charlotte McLaren, born in Souris, MB, in 1889. He had lived in Victoria with his parents until he married Sadie in 1914 and moved to Lanigan, SK. After moving back here, Lawrence was a general merchant; he died in 1981 at 92. Sadie, the daughter of John and Lettie Ann Cherry of 1014 & 1020 Catherine St, Vic West, died in 1972 at 81.

From 1945 until her death at 77 in 1957, the occupant was Jessie, widow of Alexander Pover. Alexander was born in Dumbarton, Scotland, and served in the South African War and with the 67th Western Scots during WWI. He died accidently while working in Metchosin in 1944 at 65. Jessie Stevenson was born in Harbour Grace, NF, and came to Victoria in the mid-1890s. She married Alexander shortly after WWI. Jessie was a stenographer with Metropolitan Life Insurance Co for 30 years until 1944. The house was duplexed in 1958 for $200 by the next owner, W.J. Longman.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:

• James Bay History

• James Bay Heritage Register



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