Heritage Register
Rockland
729 Pemberton Road
The Priory, Trelawna (1915)
Built
1884; 1913
Heritage-Registered
For: Edward & Suzette Prior;
Herbert & Elizabeth Heming
Architects: John Teague; Samuel Maclure
Landscape Design: Alistair Irvine Robertson
Contractor: John Hill (1884)
ARCHITECTURE:
When the Priors commissioned Teague to design their
new mansion on four acres of woodlands, it was to be
set well back from, but facing, Rockland Av, then known
as Belcher St. The Priory is a Victorian Italianate Villa
which was later modified by Maclure. An engraving in
West Shore magazine shows a two-storey house. A shallow
hipped roof surrounds a flat roof with a large widow’s
walk, giving commanding views all around. A narrow
hip-roofed extension on the right façade has an octagonal
bay on the lower floor. To its left is an elegant recessed
porch with slim columns, scrollwork, and a pedimented
hood under
a balconet.
In 1913
for $3,500,
Maclure
redesigned the
right façade
by extending
the bay to two
storeys, and
enclosing and
widening the
porch area as
a two-storey
addition with
a sunroom on
the main floor. The main entrance,
now centrally located, was moved
around the corner to the left of the
new addition. He added a Georgian
Revival porch with Classical
pedimented portico, double columns,
pilasters, and a balconet above. An
elaborate stained glass window is
located above the balconet. Maclure
also extended the eaves and replaced
Teague’s brackets with more ornate
ones. After the modernization, the
house faced Pemberton Av. The house
has been stuccoed.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1884-1913: Edward Gawler
Prior (1853-1920) paid taxes on
this property until at least 1916, but
only lived here until 1913, and then
moved to a new mansion at the top
of St. Charles St hill known as Prior House (620 St. Charles St, Rockland). Born in Dallaghgill
near Ripon, Yorkshire, ENG, Edward was educated at
Leeds Grammar School and articled to J. Tolson White
Engineering of Wakefield, Yorkshire. He arrived in Victoria
in 1873 as assistant manager, engineer and surveyor for
Vancouver Coal Mining & Land Co in Nanaimo. Five
years later he came to Victoria as inspector of mines, and in
1878 he married Suzette Work (c.1855-1897), the youngest
daughter of Victoria pioneer John Work of Hillside Farm,
a chief factor of the HBC. Suzette died of cancer. In 1899
Edward married Victoria-born Genevieve Boucher Kennedy
Wright (1863-1955) in Vancouver.
In 1880 Edward entered the hardware business, first
on Yates St with Alfred Fellows, who had opened the
business with his brother Arthur in 1859, and took as a
partner Francis Roscoe (1490 Fairfield Rd, Fairfield)
in 1862. When the Fellows returned to England, Edward
established E.G. Prior Co, now 606-614 Johnson
St/
1401 Government St, Downtown. After Edward’s
death, the firm continued to grow, and in 1928, became
McLennan, McFeeley & Prior, for decades the largest
hardware company in BC. The building now houses Mountain Equipment Co-op at 1400-1480 Government
St, Downtown.
Col. Prior’s military career began in 1874 when he
joined the Rifle Co in Nanaimo. He commanded Victoria’s
Fifth Regiment, Canadian Artillery in 1888-96. In 1886
Edward Prior was elected MLA for Victoria. Two years
later he resigned and entered federal politics. He was a
Conservative MP for Victoria during the 1890s, and was
appointed Minister of Inland Revenue. He was Minister
of Mines in 1902-3, and was appointed Premier of BC for
six months during this period. He was BC’s Lieutenant
Governor from 1919 until his death in 1920.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
1913-24: Herbert Payne Heming (b. Ontario 1864-
1932) and Elizabeth Aileen (b. Belfast, IRL 1869-1933)
came to Victoria c.1907. Elizabeth came to Canada in
1883, likely to Ontario. Herbert was a timber broker.
1927-30: Widow Evelyn Every-Clayton (née Yeates,
b. Dorset, England 1883-1961) ran a boarding house here.
She married George Every-Clayton (c.1874-1927) in
Vancouver in 1913. They lived near Courtenay, BC, for
many years. George was found dead on Skirt Mountain
in Langford, BC, in 1927. Evelyn later returned to the
Courtenay area as a private nurse.
1931-74: William Lloyd Morgan (1894-1974) and
Mary Ellen (née O’Brien, b. Spokane, WA 1896-1969).
Mary came to Victoria at a young age, and attended St.
Ann’s Academy (835 Humboldt St, Fairfield), Victoria
High School (1260 Grant St, Fernwood), and the old
Provincial Normal School in Saanich. She taught for a
year at Willows School, then in 1917 married William,
from a prominent Spokane family. During the 1930s she
organized and wrote plays for the Priory Players and
helped organize the Victoria Operatic Society. She was a
founding member of the Craigdarroch Castle Preservation
Society in 1959. Supporters of the Multiple Sclerosis
Society, she and her husband opened their gardens to the
physically challenged. During WWII Mary ran The Priory as a guesthouse. William sat on Victoria City Council for
10 years, chairing the finance committee. He and his wife
were proprietors of a fuel company for many years. He
lived at The Priory until his death..
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
