ARCHITECTURE:
This is a symmetrical, two-storey, front-gabled Neo-Classical-Revival bank building. The pedimented gables are shingled; there is an oculus window in the front gable. There is a window on either side of the entry door and its transom. Each of the three elements is framed by a pair of panelled pilasters. The main storey is clad in double-bevelled siding with stickwork; a wide belt course separates the lower floor from the shingled upper floor. There is a concrete vault extension to the rear.
This is one of many small frame bank buildings erected in new and burgeoning townsites in the early 1900s by The Canadian Bank of Commerce. An almost identical bank built in 1910 in Ladysmith was demolished in 1971. To promote their perceived role in the community, the bank required “those classical traditions which never fail to command respect.” Prefabricated in Vancouver by BC Mills Timber & Trading Co, they were shipped in two boxcars in sections complete with window frames, doors and decorative detailing, ready for assembly. The second storey provided living quarters for the manager or a male clerk and family, and there was a “shotgun” hole, still there, in the floor to watch the safe on the banking floor below. [The live-in staff member was provided with a revolver but there is no record of it being used. However, there was an attempted holdup in 1938, and at least two successful ones, in 1943 and 1949; the lone gunman in 1949 made off with $6,300, after firing a shot through the manager’s window.] Other similar buildings can be seen in Mission, BC, Vegreville, AB, and Blaine Lake, SK, all designed to look like more substantial banks of larger communities. Victoria’s is one of three designs commissioned by the Commerce from architects Darling & Pearson. It was the second last prefab erected by the bank, as BC Mills sold the rights to their system the same year.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1910-26: First mgr Hugo Robert Beaven (b. Victoria 1867-1937) married Ada Georgina (née Pemberton, b. Victoria 1867-1958). He was son of Victoria Mayor and BC Premier Robert Beaven and wife Susan. She was daughter of Surveyor-Gen Joseph Despard Pemberton and wife Therese. He lived with his parents in Burdette House (999 Burdett Av, Fairfield, she with hers in Gonzales.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
1926-46: John Charles Newmarch. (b. Whitewood, NWT/SK 1887-1982) managed the Whitehorse, YT, branch, then this one until he retired.
1947-58: Charles “James” Rankin (b. Canterbury, ENG 1902-1984) in 1936 married Ruth Bell-Irving (b. Vancouver 1914 2015), sister of Hon. Henry Pybus Bell-Irving, BC Lt-Gov. 1978-1983.
1958-73: Hugh Downe Brimacombe (1912-2004) served with No. 6 Bomber Group, RCAF, WWII.
1961: Commerce amalgamated with Imperial as Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
May 1979: the bank relocated to Quadra and Hillside.
1979-2021: Bill Hartley Insurance Services bought the building. On his office wall he mounted the 1975 Louis Award from Hallmark Society awarded to him as the Hon William Leonard Hartley (b. Estevan, SK 1916-2003), Minister of Public Works, 1972-75 when he oversaw the restoration work for the BC Parliament Buildings (501 Belleville St, James Bay) begun under the NDP Government of Premier Dave Barrett.
The building was leased out from 2015, then sold in 2021 to Sabrina Hanousek/Notaries on Douglas.