Heritage Register
James Bay

38 Paddon Street (ex-31, 38 Dallas Av)

Built 1902-03
Heritage-Registered

For: Charlotte Brown
Architect/Contractor: George Charles Mesher & Co

ARCHITECTURE:

This one-storey, shingled, hip-roofed Bungalow has a small front gable-on-hip above a shed-roofed dormer; there is a gabled dormer on rear. There are three shallow, bracketed box bays with shed hoods on the left side and two on the front, also with shed hoods. The wide bay on the right front balances the recessed corner porch on the left front. The flat-top- arched porch is now enclosed. The front windows have the multi-paned leaded, art glass in their transoms. There are three banded brick chimneys.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

The earliest known renters of this house were Frank Bennett and his new wife Mary (608 Trutch St, Fairfield) from c.1904-08. Frank was born in Chatham, NB, in 1862. His father was Superintendent of Education. Frank, youngest graduate of his time from the University of New Brunswick, was admitted to the bar in 1884. He arrived here in 1889 and became managing clerk with the legal firm Fell & Gregory, where he remained until his death. He was admitted to the BC bar shortly after his arrival. By 1903 Frank had married Newcastle, NB-born Mary Russell. He died in 1916 at 54, Mary in 1962 at 89.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

Dorothy and Philip Austin bought this property from the Blyghs (26 Paddon St) in 1909 and lived here until 1911. Philip was a Victoria-born accountant who married Dorothy Leeming of Manchester in 1908. Philip died in 1950 at 73, Dorothy in 1973 at 82.

By 1912 the owners and residents were Anastasia and Capt. Harry Mellin. Harry’s first wife Isabelle died of breast cancer in 1909, and he married Anastasia Musgrave in 1911. Harry came from Lancashire, England, in 1895, and was farming in the Cowichan Valley by 1901. Anastasia was born in Ireland and came to Vancouver Island in the late 1880s. She died in 1936 at 51. Harry was with the BC Survey Branch for many years until retiring in the early 1930s. He died in 1961 at 96.

From 1921-39, Lucy (White) and Henry Webster resided here. The family emigrated from Ireland to Canada in 1909, Victoria by 1913. Lucy died in 1925 at 55. Henry was a retired civil engineer. He died in 1940 at 78. From c.1940-56, Mary (Carder) Tribbey, widow of Joseph, lived here. Born in Chesley, ON, in 1866, she came to Victoria in 1930 and died in 1956.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:

• James Bay History

• James Bay Heritage Register



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