Heritage Register
Rockland
1177 Fort Street/1043-45 Linden Avenue
(ex-Cadboro Bay Rd, 277 Fort St, 1185 Fort St)
Breadalbane, The Gables
Built
1900
Heritage-Designated 1977
For: John & Agnes Campbell
Builder: Duncan Farquhar McCrimmon
ARCHITECTURE:
This Queen Anne house, known as The Gables for its
many gables, has been extensively renovated; as no early
photographs have been found, it is difficult to determine
what it originally looked like. The front façade on Fort St
is symmetrical, the right on Linden is asymmetrical. The
cross-gabled roof sits on a flat roof, with modillions under
all the eaves. There are pedimented gables over two-storey
angled bays on the front and right side. There are three
main entrances fronted by gabled porticoes with square
supports. The semicircular windows in three of the gables
are recent additions. Most of the house is covered with
roughcast stucco. The left wall has its original cladding:
square butt shingles flared at the bottom on the second
storey, and drop siding on the first storey.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1900-26: Breadalbane was built for Rev. Dr. John
and Agnes Campbell, and assessed at $3,500. John (b.
Argyleshire, SCT, 1844-1930) came to Canada with his
family in 1851, settling in Simcoe County, ON. After
earning a BA from the University of Toronto in 1873,
he entered the Presbyterian Church and was ordained in
1874. He received his MA in 1883, and 10 years later,
his Doctorate from Bloomington University in Indiana.
He married Agnes (b. ON 1855-1933) sometime before
1892, when they moved to Victoria. He served the First
Presbyterian Church (see 1701 Quadra St, North Park)
until retiring in 1912. Rev. Campbell, was known for doing
“quickie weddings,” and married over 5,000 couples at
Breadalbane.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
1927-28: The house was vacant, then divided into
five apartments, numbered 1177-1185. There were several longer-term
tenants up to 1955:
1930-48: Kathleen Hamber (b.
Winnipeg, MB 1881-1973) was the sister of Eric Werge
Hamber (1879-1960), BC’s Lt.-Gov. from 1936-41.
Kathleen never married, and lived in 1177, then 1179, then
in the Marilyn Apts next door at 1195 Fort St. She lived at
the Cherry Bend Motel overlooking Elk and Beaver Lakes
for her last 20 years.
1934-39: Miss Muriel A. McKay,
a BC Government research assistant, in 1179.
1934-38:
Retired Rev. John Osborne in 1181.
1938-44: Mrs A.E.
Starr in 1183, then 1177.
1944-54: Empress Hotel waiter
Frederick and Judith De Witt in 1183.
1944-49: Widow
Geraldine D. Pritchard, a saleswoman at George Straith, in
1177.
1946-49: Empress Hotel waiter captain Ernest and
Kathleen Bland in 1181.
1950-56: BAPCO paint factory
clerk Lorne R. and Winnifred G. Glassford in 1177.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:
• Map of Victoria's Heritage Register Properties
• Rockland History
• Rockland Heritage Register
• This Old House, Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume Three: Rockland, Burnside, Harris Green,
Hillside-Quadra,
North Park & Oaklands
