840 Cormorant Street

ARCHITECTURE:

This front-gabled, two-storey house is a Queen Anne box with three Classical pediments on the front façade. The upper and lower floors of the two-storey box bay are separated by a pent roof which is echoed in the bases of the pediments. The upper bay is panelled below the windows; there are oversized dentils below the lower floor bay windows. The pedimented front porch to the right of the bay has two square chamfered posts, two pilasters, and square balusters. The house is clad in drop siding and has a concrete foundation. This is one of the few houses in the Amelia/Cormorant cluster to survive with a front-facing gable.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

Owners: 1903-12: Annie E. (née McIvor-Campbell, 1838-1918) and James Howden McGregor (1839-1915), a carpenter and cabinet-maker, lived across the street at 137, renumbered 825 Cormorant, from 1902 until their deaths. They came to Canada from Scotland in 1866, and to Victoria c.1885. They built this house as rental property.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

1913-16 or later: John Harvey (1851-1936) paid taxes and used this as a rental property. He immigrated from England in 1886, and farmed in Maple Creek, SK, for 23 years before coming to Victoria in 1909. John’s first wife, Clara Annie (Float, 1869-1924) was born in London, England, and came to Canada in 1899. John married widow Maude Ethel Hart (1877-1961) in Saanich in 1926. He served as a Victoria City Alderman in 1918, 1919, and 1921-24. John was president of the SPCA, and a member of the Victoria Conservative Association.

Tenants: 1904-06: Frederick Galloway, a school teacher.

1908-09: Arthur Lineham (b. Newark-on-Trent, ENG 1870-1923) came to Canada in 1891 and in 1898 married Eleanor (née Madigan, b. Victoria 1873-1952) (1 Cook St, Fairfield). Arthur was manager of BC Light & Power Co, then a real estate executive with Grant & Lineham. He was credited as one of the first who saw Victoria’s potential as a tourism destination. Eleanor was the daughter of Victoria pioneer Benjamin Madigan, a chief engineer who came to Victoria in 1860 and served on many early vessels including the Beaver, Thames, and Sir James Douglas. Eleanor attended St. Ann’s Academy (835 Humboldt St, Fairfield), and her daughter Edith became Sister Eleanor Marie of the Order of St. Ann.

1910-23: John James and Lottie Gillis; John, a ship’s carpenter, was foreman at Turpin’s Shipyard.

1924: Douglas Clunie Moodie (1869-1958) and Margaret Angus (née Sutherland, 1888-1954) were both born in Scotland, and married in Victoria in 1913. Douglas was a City employee for 17 years until 1933, and was a street sweeper during the time he lived here. A veteran of the Boer War and WWI, he was a Sergeant in the Victoria Citadel Corps of the Salvation Army for many years.

1926-28: Widower William Dean (1839-1926), a stationary engineer who emigrated here from Scotland in 1915, lived here briefly until his death. His daughter Elspeth married Alexander Chisholm (1867-1956) and they lived here until her death in 1928 at 49. Alexander came to Victoria from Scotland in 1907 and was a stonemason for over 50 years until 1930. He served overseas with the 67th Battalion, Western Scots, CEF, during WWI.

1929-74: Although city directories until 1941 listed them only as “Chinese” and “Orientals,” Jack Nam Yipp (1899-1976) and Eva (née Lowe, 1901-1944) were the owners and residents. However, the 1929 phone book lists Wing Yipp at 840 Cormorant, and the 1936 phone book lists Jack Yipp. Jack and Eva were both born in Victoria. Jack was the proprietor of Central Produce during the late 1940s, and later became a court interpreter. He lived at this house until 1975, when he moved into an apartment at 1147 Quadra St.