Heritage Register
James Bay

225 Quebec Street (ex-82 Quebec St)

Built 1891; 1894
Heritage-Designated 1977

For: Ralph & Phoebe Borthwick

Architect: John Teague

ARCHITECTURE:

This 2½-storey, hip-roofed Queen Anne house has hip-roofed dormers on three sides and a hip-roofed extension to the right rear. There is a through-the-roof Scottish dorner on the left rear above a two-storey angled bay. On the left front, a wide, pedimented gable rests on two brackets which extend from the frieze; the gable sits over a narrow angled bay above a wider angled bay, similar to the bays on the left. Both lower bays have wide pent roofs which are contiguous with the belt course. The lower front bay roof has a triangular eyebrow with a sunburst design. The pediment-gabled front porch to the right of the lower bay has decorative posts and flat-topped arches. The two front gables have board-&-batten, there is latticework on the walls of the Scottish dormer, the belt course is clad in a square-butt shingle pattern, and the house in drop siding. The foundation is concrete and there is one brick chimney. A substantial addition in 1894 was noted in the Colonist. The house has been well maintained and painted. It operated as Pablo’s Restaurant for more than 30 years.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

Owners: 1891-1911: Ralph and Phoebe Borthwick (221 Quebec St) lived here in the 1890s.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

1912-16+: William and Jean (née Orr) Williams rented it out. William, born in Leeds, ENG, came to BC in the late 1870s via Panama. His family was directly descended from Roger Williams, Puritan settler of Rhode Island. His mother, Elizabeth, was a sister of David Spencer (527 Michigan St, James Bay). William worked in his father’s clothing and furnishing business, B.Williams & Co on Yates St, established 1882. He became manager and it grew to one of the largest clothing stores in Victoria. In 1911, he sold the business to J.N. Harvey of Vancouver and became vice-president of that corporation. He was also president of City Land Company. William was a member of Arion Male Voice Choir, Victoria Golf Club, AF&AM, and other social clubs. He died in 1931 at 64.
Jean, born in Battleford, SK, came here at 19 and graduated with honours from Royal Jubilee Hospital nurses’ training school. Before her marriage in 1912, she was head operating nurse at the Jubilee. She died in 1923 at 37.

Tenants: c.1900-02: Isaiah and Helen Sparrow; Helen, born in New York, moved to Canada in 1833; Isaiah, born in Ontario, lived in Victoria by 1898. He was an accountant for W.J. Pendray (309 Belleville St, James Bay). He died in 1904 at 81, Helen in 1903 at 72.

1905-08: Edward and Phoebe Foot moved to 334 Michigan St, James Bay, then Comox, BC.

1909-12: widow Annie Maria Langley, born in St John, NB, the youngest of John and Harriet Thain’s 12 children, came to Victoria in 1860 across the Isthmus of Panama. In 1861 she married James Langley 1823-95) from Staffordshire, ENG. He came to Victoria from California with his brother Alfred in 1858. They opened a pharmacy, Langley Bros, later Langley & Co, in a building called Apothecaries Hall. From 1894-1900, James and Annie lived at Fairview, 520 Menzies St, where the Dunsmuirs lived while Craigdarroch Castle (1050 Joan Cr, Rockland ) was being built. James died in 1895. Annie ran 520 Menzies St, then 327 Quebec St and 225 Quebec St as boardinghouses until her death in 1912 at 74.

1915-21: John and Mary LeHuquet. Mary ran the Anglo-French Art Studio here. John came from Gaspé, PQ, to Victoria c.1910, and was a painter, then carpet upholsterer at Weiler Bros. He died in 1937 at 63.

1929-32: John and Emma (née Douglas) Dadds then moved to Port Alberni, BC. They came to Canada from Scotland and England, respectively, in 1905, to Victoria in 1907. Emma died in 1937 at 67. John retired in Victoria, but worked as a caretaker at a lumber mill for eight years in Port Alberni. He died in 1942 at 72.

1933-41: William A. and Mabel King. William, a butcher then a merchant, was born in Victoria in 1874. Mabel Ware was born in London, ON, in 1882; they married in 1900. William died in 1945, Mabel in 1953.

Owners: 1942-46: William B. and Alice Hodge rented rooms. 1947-60: George and Catherine Downman arrived here in 1941. George, a grain inspector, died in 1949 at 71. Catherine lived in the house until c.1960.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:

• James Bay History

• James Bay Heritage Register



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