ARCHITECTURE:
British investor Hedley Chapman had this house built as part of a group of eight houses in 1892 (see 725-43 Vancouver St, Fairfield). This house’s front bay is on the right, and it has a full side gable. It has sunburst brackets with seven rounded-end sunbeams, and strapwork on its bargeboards. There are roundels on the bargeboards and on the entry-porch face. It has fretwork on the peak of the porch roof, and ironwork decorations above the corners of the first-floor pent roof. There is a ceramic bearded face in the gable peak, likely a modern addition.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
The earliest known occupant of this house was William Spencer Hampson, who lived here in 1894. Hampson was a drygoods merchant. He left Victoria with his family the following year. In 1895 Gertrude Cunningham bought all eight houses, and lived in this house briefly with her husband, Robert A. Cunningham and son Jeffrey. William G. Pinder lived here in 1897 (1139 Burdett St, Fairfield).
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
From 1898-c.1908, this was home to Mrs Katherine Eliza Wallace (Raymur, c.1818-1909), widow of Capt Marshall Wallace. Kate was born in Halifax, NS, and came to BC possibly in the 1870s, likely as a widow. She lived here with her two grandchildren, Frances (1564 Rockland Av, Rockland) and Cecil Tyrwhitt-Drake. Kate’s daughter Cecilia Isabella (c.1853-1889) married coal merchant William H. Tyrwhitt-Drake, brother of Justice Montague Tyrwhitt-Drake (c.1836-1898) in 1882. Kate became guardian of the children following the death of her daughter and son-in-law in 1889 and 1898. Kate was sister of Capt James Arnold Raymur (1823-1882), who commanded vessels in the West Indies before entering the lumber industry in BC. He came to Victoria in 1864, and in 1869 became manager of Hastings Mills on Burrard Inlet.
Between 1909 and 1925, various people occupied the house, but it was vacant for some time in the early 1920s.
The Bigelow family bought the house by 1926 and lived here until moving to Florence Lake in the early 1940s. William (1863-1945) and Rose Ann (Gray, 1863-1957) Bigelow were born in Quebec and Chatham, ON, respectively. William was a farmer and labourer. Daughter Blanche G. Bigelow lived here until 1930 when she married John G. Thomson.
George W. and Margaret Steele lived here in 1946, followed by Gordon and Laura Slater in 1949. Gordon was a salesman at Les Palmer. Boilermaker J. Louis Bowman and his wife Edna bought this house in 1951 and lived here for two years.
In 1979 owner Bill Murphy won a Hallmark Society Award for his meticulous restoration of this house.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:
• Statement of Significance (Canadian Register of Historic Places)
• GIS Map of Victoria’s Heritage Register Properties
• This Old House, Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume Four: Fairfield, Gonzales & Jubilee
Recent Comments