Heritage Register
Rockland
1007 Joan Crescent
Built
1915-16
Heritage-Registered
For: Harry & Mary Bullen
Architect: Henry Sandham Griffith
ARCHITECTURE:
This is a two-storey, front-gabled Craftsman/California Bungalow with a smaller front-facing right
gable. It has wide, open eaves with exposed rafter tails and
knee brackets in stucco and half-timbered gables. A fullwidth,
inset front verandah has massive battered, stuccoed
piers, with a partial-width, inset second-storey balcony
on the left. There are two square first-floor bays with
bracketed gable roofs. On the right side is a hip-roofed
second-floor sleeping porch, now enclosed, supported
on stuccoed piers creating a drive-through to the original
garage beyond. It is clad in unequal-coursed shingles.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1915-20: Harry Frederick Bullen (b. Delaware, ON
1867-1924) and Margaret Ellen (née Newell, b. S.Africa
c.1881-1934). Margaret Warter, a widow, came to Canada
in 1906 with two daughters, and married Harry c.1911-15.
Harry trained in banking in London, ON. He moved
from Seattle to Victoria in 1894 and became a partner in
Bullen & Jamieson, Financial & Insurance agents. [His
brother, William Fitzherbert Bullen (1858-1921), had
established the BC Marine Railway Co in Esquimalt in
1893. William married Annie Amelia Bushby (1864-
1956), a granddaughter of Sir James and Lady Amelia
Douglas, in 1884; their home was Oakdene, 924 Esquimalt
Rd, from c.1898-1956.] Harry soon joined the BCMRC;
the other partners in the firm were Annie Bushby Bullen,
her brother George Gordon Bushby (1005 St. Charles
St, Rockland), and R.D. Dusgate. In 1898 they expanded
to Vancouver and established a shipbuilding business,
constructing several Princess ships for the CPR and others
for the Dominion Government. The company also did
repair work, including work for the British Admiralty.
They sold the Victoria company in 1914 to Alfred
and Norman Yarrow, shipbuilders from Glasgow, SCT,
but the Bullens and Bushby retained ownership of the BC
Salvage Co (established earlier) and the Vancouver branch
of the BCMRC. Harry retired in 1918, and
the family moved to 908 St. Charles St,
Rockland, while their new home at 906 St.
Charles St was being built. After Harry’s
death, Margaret left for London with her
five daughters c.1926. She died while
travelling in Germany.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
1920-21: William Hamer Hargrave
(b. Quebec c.1867) and Lily Blanche (née
Sicotte, b. St. Hyacinthe, QC 1857-1928)
lived in Vancouver where he was manager
of the Eastern Township (Quebec) Bank
until it amalgamated with the Canadian
Bank of Commerce; he then managed
the Robson St branch. They came to
Victoria in 1917 and lived at 908 St.
Charles St before moving to this house.
1923: Clementina Jane Bate (née Holland, b. Ontario
1855-1935), the widow of Newell Bate, and her daughter
Eleanor Thornton Bate (b. Ottawa, ON 1885-1961).
1924-26: James McGown (1862-1926) and Jessie (née
Hoey, 1863-1956), and daughters Jessie Hoey and Margaret
Isabella, born in Vancouver in 1897 and 1898. James and
Jessie were born in Glasgow, SCT. James apprenticed as an
engineer in Liverpool. He joined the Cunard Line in 1884
and served on various vessels in the Atlantic. He arrived
here in 1891 on the Empress of Japan, and by 1902 was
superintending engineer of the BCCSS in Vancouver. In
1923, James became executive engineer of the Princess line, headquartered in Victoria, but he died three years later.
His family returned to Vancouver.
1927-44: Dr. Douglas William Graham (1882-1960)
and Ruby Mary (née Moody, 1888-1943) were born in
Quebec and came to Victoria in 1922. Douglas left this
house after Ruby died, and moved to Swift Current, SK,
where he married Alda Beth McEwan (1890-1973), who
was born in North Dakota. Douglas returned to Victoria in
1957, and died three years later.
1945-61: William Hallinan Dunbar (b. Hong Kong
1906-1961) and Mary Margaret “Joan” (née Leckie).
William came to Victoria in 1928 and was president of
Sussex Holdings from 1938 until his death. He was on
active service in WWII. His wife and daughter inherited the
bulk of his $1.8 million estate.
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
