Heritage Register
North Park
968 Balmoral Road (ex-38 Frederick, 968 Fisguard)
Built
1892
Heritage-Designated 1983
For: John & James Baker
Builder: John & James Baker
ARCHITECTURE:
968 and 1005 Balmoral Rd dominate this intersection
with their complementary Queen Anne details and
contrasting materials. This is a two-storey brick house
with a steeply-pitched, gable-on-hip roof. On the front
façade, an angled bay rises a full 2½ storeys, climaxing
in a through-the-cornice gabled dormer. The corbelled
dormer has wooden sunburst brackets on either side of a
multi-paned window. The front entry porch has a steeply
gabled roof supported on four turned posts and two
pilasters; the starburst motif is repeated in the gable. The
right side of the house has a 2½ storey gabled extension
with a round-arched window in the corbelled gable. To
the right is another gabled entry, which is recessed, and is
the main business entry. There are stained glass windows
in the gables and the front door. There are two corbelled
chimneys. The brickwork on 968 and another Baker house,
714 Discovery St, Burnside, were the Bakers’ billboards,
demonstrating the prowess of the highly successful Baker
Brickworks. Examples of
the Queen Anne style in
brick are rare in Victoria.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
Owners: 1893-1916+: Tax assessment
rolls list John Baker
(1851-1911) and James
Baker (1854-1929; 714
Discovery St, Burnside)
as owners of this rental
property until at least 1916. John and James
were born in London,
ON, and came to Victoria
with their family c.1866.
John and
James opened
Baker Brothers brickyard, where Mayfair Mall
now stands, in 1891 (see pg 20). Before that they
had been teamsters, and John was later owner
and manager of Victoria Ice Co. James lived
for many years at 713 Pembroke St, and John,
who didn’t marry, boarded with him.
The eldest Baker brother, Michael (1839-
1905) and his wife Johannah (1841-1908)
Baker lived at 30 Frederick St, then 954
Balmoral Rd, three doors to the west of this
property, from 1876 to their deaths. He was
born in Detroit, MI, and moved to Ottawa
when he was young. In 1862 Michael married
Johannah Hatch, and they moved to Victoria
with his parents c.1866. Michael had training
in furniture manufacturing and engaged in commercial agriculture before coming to Victoria. Here he
became a building contractor, and eventually a supervising
engineer with the HBC. He constructed many of the original
wharves that lined the Inner Harbour. In 1875, Michael
went into the grain merchant business with his father as
R. Baker & Son, and continued in this business until his
death. He was a founding member of the BC Agricultural
Commission.
Tenants: 1895: Scottish native William MacHaffie
(1836-1918) worked for Robert T. Williams & Co, bookbinders
and printers on Broad St, which produced BC
Directories for years. 1897-1908: Samuel Nish Reid
(1859-1943) and Barbara (née Wilson, 1869-1932) married
in 1894. Samuel emigrated from Scotland to Canada
c.1876. His first wife, Elizabeth Smith, died in 1890 at 27.
Samuel was manager and secretary-treasurer of S. Reid &
Co, clothing and furnishing store on Government St. He was a founding member of the BC Agricultural
Commission.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
Tenants: 1895: Scottish native William MacHaffie
(1836-1918) worked for Robert T. Williams & Co, bookbinders
and printers on Broad St, which produced BC
Directories for years.
1897-1908: Samuel Nish Reid
(1859-1943) and Barbara (née Wilson, 1869-1932) married
in 1894. Samuel emigrated from Scotland to Canada
c.1876. His first wife, Elizabeth Smith, died in 1890 at 27.
Samuel was manager and secretary-treasurer of S. Reid &
Co, clothing and furnishing store on Government St. He
later became an immigration agent. Barbara drowned in
the Gorge Waterway; her body wasn’t found for a month.
1909: Alexander R. MacDonald, a driver for Wilson Bros.
1910-15: Labourer George Clinton Heller (b. Pennsylvania
1864-1939) came to Victoria in 1885 with his first
wife, Swiss-born Mary Rose (née Bruno, 1861-1901), who
operated a dressmaking business above Spencer’s Arcade
until her death. George married 21-year-old Newfoundlandnative
Mary Smith in 1901. He was employed at Brackman-
Ker Milling Co for many years.
1917: Thomas Christopher Humphries (b. London,
ENG 1876), a bricklayer and cook, was on WWI active
service, but his wife Louisa and son Thomas C. lived here.
1918-25: Thomas Hall (1884-1956) and Florence (née
Orrick, 1887-1969) came to Canada from England in
1912. Thomas worked with the City Police for over 32
years, as a jailer, then a desk sergeant. He was an honorary
member of the Sons of England. The Halls then lived at
925 Balmoral Rd for many years.
1927: Percy and Vanda
Huddlestone, retired, who then lived in 1217 Yukon St,
Fernwood, in 1935-59. 1928-30: Sarah Elizabeth (née
Branigan, b. ON 1870-1946), widow of John Leslie
MacGregor (1870-1922), came to Victoria in 1906. Elizabeth
was a Salvation Army Captain when she married in
1906.
1931-32: Popular Cafe employee and carpenter Francis
Samuel “Sam” Dearborn (b. ON 1872-1944) and Mary
Jane “Jennie” (née Cumming, b. Langton, ON 1870-1953).
1933-35: Pipefitter James Allen and his wife Elizabeth.
1936: Mrs. Margaret Rees.
1937-55: Alfred James Pratt
(1873-1953) and Alice (née Hornett, 1878-1963) emigrated
from England to Canada in 1901. They farmed in Esther,
AB, until retiring to Victoria in 1936. Alice left the house
after Alfred’s death.
For many years, this was a rooming house, then narrowly
missed redevelopment. It was saved and rehabilitated
in 1981-82 by Barney and Joanna Hagar as a home for
themselves and their antiquarian bookshop, Poor Richard’s
Books. They won a 1983 Hallmark Society Award for their
superb restoration.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:
• Map of Victoria Heritage Register Properties
• North Park History
• North Park Heritage Register
• This Old House, Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume Three: Rockland, Burnside, Harris Green,
Hillside-Quadra,
North Park & Oaklands
