ARCHITECTURE:
This British Arts & Crafts house, as originally designed by J.G. Tiarks, now has Tudor Revival A&C additions by Butler and Harrison, and later “motor porch” and verandahs by Maclure. The multi-hipped roof has later gabled extensions. The main façade is at right angles to Rockland. The verandahs and porte-cochère are supported by square timber posts with long brackets and square balusters. The front and rear gables are stuccoed and halftimbered. The front gable has prominent windows with multi-paned leaded lights. Other windows are multi-paned in various combinations. The tall chimneys are stuccoed with contrasting brick caps and grey chimney pots. A flat-roofed extension on the left side forms a balcony for the second floor. The 1914 additions cost $15,000. The porte- cochère, verandahs, circular drive and rustic stone retaining wall capped by sandstone slabs were added in 1926-27.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1897-1906: Hon. Edgar Dewdney, CE (b. Bideford, Devon, ENG 1835-1916) married Jane Shaw (née Moir b. Ceylon [now Sri Lanka] 1842-1906) in 1864. Her family were Ceylon tea plantation owners who settled near Hope, BC in the 1860s. Dewdney came to BC to lead the survey of New Westminster townsite in 1859 and in 1860 oversaw construction of the “Dewdney Trail” from Hope to Wild Horse Creek. He represented Kootenay region in the Legislative Council in 1868 and Yale in the House of Commons from 1871-79. He was made Indian Affairs commissioner in 1878. He was Lt-Gov of Northwest Territories from 1881-88 [since 1905, the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan]. He returned to House of Commons as Min of Interior and Supt. Gen. of Indian Affairs. He was Lt-Gov of BC from 1892-97. After leaving Cary Castle (1401 Rockland Av) he and Jane lived here until her death. Dewdney left politics after running unsuccessfully in New Westminster in 1900, and returned to Victoria as a mining broker and financial agent. He married Blanche Elizabeth Plantagenet (née Kemeys-Tynte, b. Brighton, Sx, ENG 1854-1936) in 1909 and they moved to Cadboro Bay.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
1906-20: Frederick and Mary Jones called this Edgehill, made major additions in 1914, sold it for $60,000 in Aug 1920, and moved to 1630 Rockland Av.
1920-23: Dr. Eugene Fuller (b. Wayland, MA, USA 1859-1930) married Margaret Elizabeth (née McTavish, b. Staten Island, NY, USA 1860-1953) here in 1890. Margaret was the daughter of Duncan Archibald McTavish, manager of the BBNA. [Her brother George Archibald McTavish married Catherine Amelia Helmcken, daughter
of Dr. John and Cecilia Helmcken (638 Elliot St)], and granddaughter of Sir James and Lady Amelia Douglas (4 Belleville St). They named the house Rosedene. Fuller practised medicine in NY, retired here, then moved to Seattle.
1927-44: Hon. Walter Cameron Nichol (b. Goderich, ON, 1866-1928) married Quita Josephine March (née Moore, b. London, ON 1875-1968) in London, ON in 1897. From 1888-95 Nichol ran the Hamilton Herald and The News in London, ON. He and Hewitt Bostock (1322 Rockland Av) had founded The Weekly Province here in 1894. Nichol came here as editor, and they moved it to Vancouver in 1898 as Vancouver Daily Province. After the death of Col. E.G. Prior (729 Pemberton Rd & 620 St. Charles St), Nichol became Lt-Gov of BC until 1926. As Lt-Gov, he was the first to visit isolated West Coast First Nations villages. He retired to his Samuel Maclure designed home Miraloma in Sidney after selling his interest in The Province to Southam Newspapers of Canada. He moved back here and a month later passed away. Quita remained in the house until 1944, then moved to 914 St. Charles St. [In 1933-34 son John Moore Nichol lived at 906 Pemberton Rd].
1945-46: Royal Bank of Canada Mgr Earl George MacMinn (b. Chester, NS 1890-1949) and Ethel “Hope” (née Atwater, b. Boston, MA, USA 1894-1982) (1648 Rockland Av). He drowned when his skiff overturned on Somenos Lake, Vancouver Island. 1947-48: BMO Mgr Osmond Matson (b. Piddington, ENG 1893-1968) married Doreen Mary (née Jefferson, b. London, ENG 1903-1978) in Vancouver in 1930.
1949-50: The house was converted to seven apartments by auto repairman Victor Michael Clarke (b. Minsk, Poland 1895-1968), who lived in #3 with wife Elizabeth Alice “Lizzie” (née Weber, b. Nalchik, RUS 1898–1962).