1422 Fernwood Rd

ARCHITECTURE:

This is an asymmetrically cross-gabled, 1½-storey Queen Anne cottage. Pent roofs across the bases of the front and side gables create pediments; the rear gable ends in returns. A prominent feature is the scrollsawn sandwich brackets on the wide frieze under the eaves. The cutaway bays on the front and the right side have decorative brackets which complement those in the eaves. The bays have decorative shingles in their gables and diagonal V-joint T&G in the panels below the windows. It may never have had a front porch, but just a walkway from the left leading to the door, as it is now. There is drop siding in the left gable and on the body. The two corbelled chimneys and the foundation are of brick. Asbestos siding which at one time covered the house was removed by owners Garde Collins and Malcolm Harman when they restored the house. In 2005 they won awards from both Victoria’s Hallmark Society and the Heritage Society of BC for their rehabilitation of the two houses at 1422 and 1418 Fernwood Rd.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

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1901-22: Alfred Smith Huxtable (1876-1944) was born in Victoria to William Henry Huxtable (1838-1919) and Ann Jane (1837-1910). [Note: They came to Canada from England in the 1860s, and to Victoria by 1865. William was a grocer on Fort St, then a school janitor and the family lived on the school reserve.] Alfred married Rosena Georgina “Rose” Matthew (b. Belleville, ON, 1875-1970) in 1901 in the home of her parents Thomas and Emma Matthew (1460 Gladstone Av, Fernwood), who came to Victoria in 1891. Their wedding announcement stated “they will make their future home on Fernwood Road.” VDT 20.06.1901, p.3

Alfred was a music salesman for M.W. Waitt & Co (228 Douglas St, James Bay), then a partner in Standard Stationery Co with his brother James Elias Huxtable, and his brother-in-law Herbert T. Knott (1466 Gladstone Av, Fernwood, 616 Trutch St, Fairfield), who married Rose’s sister Charity. By 1914 Alfred was a federal customs officer. His brother Robert Turner Huxtable (1870-1950), a painter and decorator, and sister Agnes (b. Victoria, 1865-1945), a bookkeeper for BC Telephone Co, lived with them. In the early 1920s Alfred & Rose moved to 1425 Grant, next to Rose’s sister Laura Parfitt (1421 Grant St, Fernwood). In 1934 Alfred became the customs supervisor, retiring in 1944. He was a member of AF&AM. 1923-29: Agnes Huxtable bought 1422 Fernwood and Robert lived with her; they both remained single.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

1930-33: Florence Eleanora Abbott (née Beavan, b. Strathan, ENG, 1881-1974) and her daughters Winifred Florence, a nurse who married motor mechanic Frederick George Mould, and Kathleen, a photographer. Florence was the wife of building contractor Alfred John Abbott, who built 1516 Pembroke St, Fernwood, in 1914.
1935-36: Margaret Isabelle “Bella” Davie (née Downey, b. North Saanich, 1876-1958), widow of Dr. J.C. Davie.
1938-40: BC government accountant Henry Egbert Morris (b. Bristol, ENG, 1878-1948) and Alma (née Bray, b. Burscough, Lancs, ENG, 1898-1978) married in Victoria in 1929. Henry immigrated to Victoria in 1911.

1941: Baker Sid and Effie Fry also lived at 1834 Stanley Av, Fernwood. 1942-48: Yarrows shipwright John and Florence Flaten.
1949-66: Archibald Robertshaw (b. Yorkshire, ENG, 1888-1955) and Florence Elizabeth (née Keen, b. Vancouver c.1896-1974) married in Vancouver in 1911 and came to Victoria in 1947. Archibald, a watchmaker and repairer at Rose’s Jewellers, retired in 1954.