line
 
   
 
 
 
 

Heritage Register
Fernwood

1360-62 Pembroke Street
(ex-South Rd, 98, 96 North Pembroke St)

Built 1892
Heritage-Registered

For: Edward & Christina Griffiths

Builder: Edward Griffiths

1360 Pembroke

ARCHITECTURE:

This is a single-storey, hip-roofed Queen Anne cottage. It has a shed-roofed dormer on the right side and a hip-roofed dormer on the front which replaced the original small Scottish dormer, a rare feature in Victoria (see 1211 Pembroke St). The wide frieze under the eaves on the front and both sides is panelled between the sandwich brackets. It has a wide, prominent angled bay on the right front corner capped by a peaked hip. The front porch to the left of the bay has been filled in and covered with bevelled siding. The rest of the house has been stuccoed. Most of the original windows have been retained. The two large dormers are later alterations.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

1892-1901:
Carpenter Edward Griffiths (b. Shropshire, ENG, 1860-1908) and Christiana (née Landers, b. Worcestershire, ENG, 1863-1947) emigrated in 1888 and married in Victoria in 1889. They had a chicken ranch in Saanich when Edward committed suicide in 1908. Two daughters, both stenographers, died at the age of 22: Emma Mary of cerebellum glioma in 1913 and Frances Helen of tuberculosis in 1918. Christina died in Klamath Falls, OR, where their son Charles lived.


OTHER OCCUPANTS:

1902-09: Herbert Charles Wiffen (b. Essex, ENG, 1864-1939) married Elizabeth “Florence” (née Drew, b. Eastbourne, ENG, 1883-1982) in 1903. Herbert came to Canada in 1883, and to Victoria in 1889. He worked for Rithet Consolidation Ltd, then E.G. Prior & Co. Herbert was a chief ranger of Court Northern Light, AOF.

1909-32: Carpenter and house builder Walter Norman Renouf (b. St. Helier, Jersey, 1867-1951) and Blanche Mary (née Goyer, b. Hobart, Tasmania, 1878-1965) came here from Australia. Before marrying, their daughters Clara and Grace were upholsterers at Spencer’s department store.

1931-34: Grace Elizabeth Renouf (b. Victoria, c.1910) married BC civil servant Sydney Arthur Benwell (b. Medicine Hat, AB, 1909-1966) in 1931. They moved in with her parents Walter and Blanche, who left the house in 1931.
1935-40: Clara Mary Renouf (b. Australia, c.1908) married George John Bickerton Burns (b. SCT, 1907-1990) in 1929; he was a warehouseman with Ryan Wilson Co, wholesale fruit & produce.

1941-50: Carpenter Percy James Edmonds (b. Lelant, Cornwall, ENG, 1890-1952) and Frances Louisa (née Wright, b. Paisley, SCT, 1890-1987) married in Victoria in 1919. Percy volunteered for service in WWI in 1915 and served as a Sapper.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:


• Fernwood History

• Fernwood Heritage Register

• This Old House, Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume One: Fernwood & Victoria West


 © VICTORIA HERITAGE FOUNDATION (VHF) 2013
House GrantsHeritage HousesResources & PublicationsNews & EventsBuilding CommunityAbout