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1436 Elford Street
Built 1898
Designated 2010

Theophilus T. Elford

The steeply pitched hipped roof and asymmetrically placed cross-gabled wings of this building identify it as an example of the most common form of Queen Anne house. However, it has few other features typically found with this house style. The small inset corner porch is an unusual replacement for the more common wraparound verandah, and apart from the contrast between the shingled gables and the siding on the main house body, and the two cutaway bay windows with sunburst brackets, there is little of the flamboyant variety of surface texture characteristic of the Queen Anne. As a result the Italianate eaves and brackets often found in vernacular Queen Anne houses dominate the impression presented by the building. The small square extension on the right side is reportedly a 1914 addition, according to the date on newspapers found during renovations. The Elfords duplexed the house in 1950.

Theophilus Elford (1854-1917) was born in San Raphael, CA, and came to Victoria in 1859 with his parents Robert (1819-1896) and Hannah (Taylor, 1817-1894) Elford aboard HMS Bounty. Elford Street was part of the large family property between Fort and Pandora. Theo Elford bought the Shawnigan Mill from W.E. Losee in 1891 and founded the Shawnigan Lake Lumber Co with William Munsey. Theo was manager of the company for many years. During his last lengthy illness, his sons Frank Theophilus (1878-1958), who married Florence Lavinia Shotbolt (1875-1954), daughter of druggist Thomas Shotbolt, in 1903, and William Raymond "Ray" (1880-1971) took over management of the Shawnigan Lake Mills.

Theo married Lillie (Lilla) Louisa Robertson (b. 1858) in Victoria in 1875; she and their daughter Grace (b. 1879) died in the Point Ellice Bridge disaster on May 26, 1896. Theo married again in 1898 in New Westminster, to Ethel Edith Ann Davidson (1874-1948) from Capetown, South Africa. Theo served as chair of both the Victoria Branch of BC Lumber & Shingle Manufacturers and of BC Pioneers Society.

This house was built as a rental property, while the family lived at 24, later 1426 Stadacona Av (replaced by apartment block). Renters from 1898 were George Jay Jr (1861-1940) and his wife Emily Louisa (Bowden, c.1864-1948), who were married in Victoria in 1885. George was born in Norwich, England and came to Canada with his family about 1866. He was articled at 16 to Edwin Johnson, a leading lawyer; in 1883 he became a barrister-at-law. For many years he was a partner of John Stuart Yates, as Yates and Jay. George became a police court magistrate and later a judge in small debts court for the BC government. In 1908 he became chairman of Victoria School Board, and in 1909 the school at 1118 Princess (Fernwood) was named for him. George died at 520 Linden, where they had lived since the 1930s with their daughter and son-in-law, Gertrude and Thomas Mutch. Emily was born in New Westminster.

Although Theo Elford never lived in this house, by 1931 Ray Elford and his wife Hannah Thelma (Peterson, c.1884-1979) Elford had moved into the house. Ray was born in Victoria, the fourth child of Theo and Lilla. He ran the Shawnigan Mill for some years, then worked for the City of Victoria doing wharf maintenance. Hannah still owned the house in 1978 when it was catalogued by the Hallmark Society. She died in 1979 at 96, 75 years after her marriage to Ray in April 1904.

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