ARCHITECTURE:
This is a two-storey, front-facing gabled Homestead house with sandwich brackets in the frieze. The front gable is pedimented and has a half-round window on the pent roof of the pediment. There is a wide belt course separating the upper and lower floors at the front. The small offset porch on the lower left also has a pedimented gable with semicircular arches on chamfered square posts, cutout brackets and turned balusters. There is a hip-roofed addition on the rear. Decorative Queen Anne shingles cover the gables and the belt course; the rest of the house is clad in drop siding. When the house was moved in 1981, the original two-over-two sash windows were replaced.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1888-1931: Thomas Wilson (b.QC c.1845-1891) came to BC in 1864, and in 1879 married Margaret Annie Cleaver (b. Melrose, SCT 1853-1931) who arrived in1877. Thomas, a plumber with brothers Alexander and William, of A&W Wilson, Broad St, did plumbing, gasfitting and tinsmithing; they also sold stoves and ranges. Alexander (b. QC 1834-1918) (1701 Quadra St) came here in 1859 to work as a gold messenger for Bank of British North America. He returned to QC, brought his brothers out in 1864, and established A&W Wilson. Alexander married Margaret’s sister, Mary Cleaver (1850-1930) in 1864 [son Ruther Wilson lived at 1432 Gladstone Av]. William (1841-1924) married Elizabeth West (1841-1923) here in William 1868. Thomas died of pneumonia; Margaret lived here with daughter and family until her death.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
1932-68: Daughter Madge Mary Wilson (b. Victoria 1880-1974) married Henry Martin Sallaway, Chief Engineer, BCCSS (b. London, ENG 1882-1964) in Vancouver in 1905. He came here in 1889 with his family. He was an original crew member on Canadian Pacific SS Princess Sophia, but was on vacation when she sank 25 Oct 1918 with all 278 passengers and 65 crew members lost (1005 Cook St; 629 Niagara St).
1968-80: Owners: Doctors from Medical Arts Bldg next door.
Tenants: 1968-71/1975-76: Albert Adams (b. W Bromwich, Staffs, ENG 1917-2006) married Doris Evelyn (née Mansell, b. Skipton, Staffs, ENG 1925-2019) in England in 1950. He held a variety of jobs, she worked for many years for R. Angus Automotive Dealers.
1981-2019: Designated heritage by City of Victoria, it was moved to its present location and converted into the Heritage Cat Clinic.
2020 to date: It remains a veterinary clinic