Heritage Register
North Park
916 Pandora Avenue (ex-112 & 112½ Pandora Av)
Built
1863-64
Heritage-Registered
For: George & Mary Ann Mason
ARCHITECTURE:
In 1857 George Mason purchased five acres from the
HBC on the NE edge of Victoria, dividing it by Mason St.
He built this house in 1863-64, when assessments show
improvements valued at $1,800. It is thought to be the oldest
extant brick house in Western Canada. This two-storey,
hip-roofed house has large wooden dentils in the frieze, and
three evenly-spaced windows across the upper front. The
1895 photo shows a wrap-around open front verandah.
It has a corbelled, denticulated chimney. For years the
main floor has been masked by the addition of a 1920 storefront.
In the mid-1860s, when Mason was forced to sell the
house, the auction notice mentions double parlours joined
by pocket-doors, fireplaces, and three upstairs bedrooms.
“The grounds are tastefully laid out, with a garden of choice
Flowers and Fruits…[and] a never-failing well of pure
spring water.”
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1863-66: *George Mason (b. Kent, ENG, c.1826-1893)
was one of BC’s earliest professional brickmakers. He came
to Victoria in 1851 on the Norman Morison with many other
labourers and contractors under a 5-year indenture with
HBC to help develop the Vancouver Island colony. George
initially made bricks with Robert Porter (151 Government
St, James Bay) in a yard located near the NE corner of
Beacon Hill Park. Later he entered into partnership with
George Balls, and in addition to brickmaking, they engaged
in saloon and real estate businesses. Their success was
bolstered by the 1858 gold rush. By 1859, Mason and Balls
had established the Beacon Hill Brickyard at Fairfield Farm,
likely in the same location of his original business with
Robert Porter.They sold the brickyard in the mid-1860s, but continued in the saloon business.
The economic depression of the mid-1860s forced
Mason to sell off his property, including this house. During
the 1860s and ’70s, he worked as a drayman and bartender.
His wife, Mary Ann (c.1832-1915), established a boarding
house on Fort St in the early 1870s. George re-entered the
brickmaking business with his brother Jesse in 1875 and
c.1880 they formed a partnership with John Coughlan to
establish the Pioneer Steam Brick Yard on Saanich Rd near
the brickyard of James and Robert Porter. George continued
in the brickmaking business until his death in 1893
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
Owners: 1866-92: Saloonkeeper and ship’s captain William
Patrick Farron and Anastasia “Annie” “Anna” Frances
(née Murray, b. IRL 1848-1921) purchased this house at
auction. William died, possibly at sea, and Annie remarried
in 1879, to widowed ship’s pilot Capt. William Clements (b. Nova Scotia, c.1833). They were listed in the house
until 1884. Annie’s son James Lawrence Farron (b. Victoria
c.1867), a clerk with VanVolkenburgh & Bros, butchers, lived
in the house in 1887.
1892-97: Arnold Pike of Esquimalt.
The house became a boarding house, operated by:
1890-92: Widow Eugenia O’Brien named her boarding house
“Sunnyside;” architect A. Maxwell Muir was one of her
boarders;
1893: Miss Margaret Bulman;
1894: Thomas R.
Cusack, compositor and printer (1202 Fort St, Fernwood);
1895: Mrs. Moore. 1897-99: Labourer Edmund Fredette and
Catherine (née Johnson) (331 Michigan St, James Bay).
Owners: 1898-1934: John William Mellor (1868-1913)
and then from 1902 his wife Rosina (née Bantly, 1875-
1942) owned the property until the City of Victoria seized
it for unpaid taxes. John came to Victoria from England
in 1888, and Rosina, born in California to German immigrants
Annie and Marcus Bantly (1127 Fort St, Fairfield),
came in 1884. John established the Mellor Brothers Paint
Co. The Mellors lived here in 1900-02. After John’s death,
Rosina lived at 1127 Fort from 1914-20.
916 Pandora continued as a boarding house:
Renters:
1903-04: Butcher John Duncan Manson (1867-1925) and
Florence Frances (née Bayntun) married here in 1895. John
was born in Victoria, Florence in Kent, ENG; she came here
in 1888. 112½ at the rear was rented to commission agent
Charles Rupert King (1845-1914) who came to Victoria
from Nova Scotia in 1884 (132 South Turner St, James
Bay).
1905: Bookkeeper Robert Wood.
1908 & 1910-11:
D. Jones.
1909: Painter James S. Ross.
1912-14: Alexander
McGhie (b. Glenluce, SCT, 1893-1966) was a clerk with
grocers Harrison & McDonald. He was living in Grand
Forks, BC, when he signed up for WWI in 1916, and died at
Shaughnessy Hospital in Vancouver, cared
for by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The house was vacant through WWI and
the 1920s to 1930, except for 1921: Grocer
Tong Sing.
1923: Confectioner Kun Lee.
1931 & 33: “Orientals.”
1934-40: The City rented the house to
Mae Chan (née Lee), the wife of John Hong
Chan (b. California 1875-1942), and their
son Edward Ben Chan (1912-1956). The
family operated dressmaking and wood
dealership businesses. Edward was born in
Victoria, and married Eylene Norma Wong.
1943-85: Lee Gong Due purchased
the property for his daughter Florence Ah
Yut Marr (née Lee, 1903-1982) who raised
her six girls and four boys and operated
her dressmaking business here. Born in
Victoria, she married Sing Fong Marr
(1891-1981) right after she graduated from
Vic High (1260 Grant St, Fernwood).
After her death, her family sold the house
in 1985.
* Research by Christopher J.P. Hanna
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
