Heritage Register
Burnside

602 Gorge Road East (ex-45, 610 Gorge Rd)

Built: 1885
Heritage-Designated 1977

For: Maurice & Matilda Humber

Builder: Maurice Humber

ARCHITECTURE:

This rare and important 1-storey brick house was built by Maurice Humber, owner of Humber’s Brick Works, located where Mayfair Shopping Centre is today. The last remaining of at least four brick houses that stood in this area, the house is built in Italianate style, much of the original detailing intact. The main portion has a projecting central entrance balanced by pairs of double arched sash windows in segmental-arched openings surmounted, like the entrance, with prominent keystones. The main hipped roof has a dormer above the entrance, a bracketed and panelled cornice, and matched brick chimneys, the right with its original corbelling. All front corners are emphasized with moulded brick quoining. There is an extension to the left with detailing matching the main portion as well as a slightly simpler extension to the right rear corner. The window woodwork is notable for its blind fretwork detail. The house survived a roof fire in 1997.

Although this house was attributed to architect John Teague, he did not place any tender calls in the newspapers because the house was built by owner/contractor Maurice Humber. Therefore, the architect is unknown.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

Maurice Humber (b. Ventnor, Isle of Wight, ENG 1834-1902) built this house, but never lived in it. Instead, he lived on Topaz Av for many years. Maurice came to Canada c.1840. He grew up in Bowmanville, ON, where he married Montreal native Maria Matilda (b. Montreal 1839-1907). Maurice came to Victoria with his family in 1863 by way of Panama, and established a contracting and brick manufacturing business, which became one of the City’s largest. He was a member of the IOOF. Matilda was associated with the Methodist Church, both on Pandora (1411 Quadra St, Harris Green) and on Gorge Rd (now Centennial United, 612 David St, Burnside) which was built with bricks from the Humber brickworks. Humber Green commemorates the family’s contribution to the area.

The Humbers had five children. Sons Maurice “Luke” and Frederick Stewart Spearman were born in Ontario. Arthur Albert, William Henry Russell “Russ” and daughter Sarah Amelia “Amy” were born in Victoria. Amy (1871-1945) married Rev Smith Stanley Ousterhout (1868-1953) in Victoria in 1894, and later moved to Vancouver. Arthur (1873-1928) became a dentist, married Gertrude Hackett of Cape Breton, NS, in 1899, and lived at 1781 Rockland Av for many years. Three of Arthur’s sons established Humber Furniture in 1938, which from 1945-69 operated in Bastion Sq buildings built by their grandfather Maurice.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

Luke (1858-1933) married Annie Lauretta O’Brien (1860-1944), of Napa, CA, in 1879. He ran the contracting business with Russ; they built the Simon Leiser Building (522-24 Yates St, Downtown), Old Drill Hall (421-31 Menzies St, James Bay, Esquimalt Drydock, and the lighthouse at Estevan Point. Luke lived on Topaz Av near his parents.

1885-92: Fred (1862-1892) lived in 610 Gorge until his death. He married Marion Maud Blackett in 1885 and worked in the family brickmaking business, but died at 30. Marion married Francis Ferdinand Hedges in 1905.

1892-1910: Russ (1866-1941) was a bricklayer and the long time manager of Humber Brickworks. Russ married a member of another brickmaking family, Emily Baker (1869-1949), daughter of George Henry and Clara (Wagner) Baker (968 Balmoral Rd, North Park, 714 Discovery St, Burnside) in 1889. They lived with his parents on Topaz until 1892, at 610 Gorge until 1910, then moved to 616 Gorge. It was sold to Helen Humber (Pottinger), widow of Russ and Emily’s son, Percy, and demolished in 1961.

1912-15: Helen Humber’s parents William Bissett Pottinger (1857-1931) and Euphemia (née Tyson/Hugg, 1858-1916) married in 1891; in 1921 Helen’s brother Henry David (1894-1982) married Russand Emily Humber’s daughter, Claire (1899-1975).

1918: Butcher James Waters (b. ENG 1894-1950) and May (née Dunderdale, b. ENG 1896-1989) were married in St. Paul’s Church, Esquimalt, in 1915; James was a Canada Packers salesman when he died.

1919-20: Henrietta Emma Hebden (née Batchelor, b.Victoria 1882-1938) married plumber Alfred Poppleton Hebden (b. London, ENG 1874-1919) in Nelson, BC, in 1900. Alfred died in this house of Spanish Influenza in November 1919. Three of their six offspring worked: George as a salesman at A.P. Slade & Co, wholesale fruits, and Alfred “Roy” and Alice as clerks at Mitchell & Duncan, Jewellers.

1923: Sarah Jane Bell (née Gibson, b. Durham, ENG 1863-1941), widow of miner John Bell, and three offspring; only daughter Margaret was old enough to work; in 1921 she earned $832 a year as a chocolate dipper at Ormonds Biscuits.

1929-c.1975: Lillian Clara Louise (née Bragg, b. Victoria 1889-1983) and Ira Gibson Pringle (b. Napanee, ON 1879-1936) married in Victoria in 1911. Ira was a sheet metal worker. After Ira’s death, Lillian lived here with son Darrell Gibson Pringle and his wife Ann (née Heaton, b. Lancs, ENG 1907-1991).

For some time the Single Parent Resource Centre has owned this building.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:

• Map of Victoria Heritage Register Properties

• Burnside History

• Burnside Heritage Register


• This Old House, Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume Three: Rockland, Burnside, Harris Green,
Hillside-Quadra, North Park & Oaklands