Heritage Register
Rockland

1377 Rockland Avenue
(ex-1365 Rockland Av)

Built 1912
Heritage-Registered

For: Alice & Mary Williams

Architect: William D'Oyly Rochfort & E.W. Sankey

ARCHITECTURE:

This two-storey, hip-roofed, shingled Edwardian Four-Square house has exposed rafter tails and a dormer on the right of the roof. On the right side is one remaining multi-paned piano window to the left of the large, side-wall, through-the-roof, corbelled and ribbed brick chimney. A small, hip-roofed, angled bay beyond the chimney has been replaced by a large full-height, shedroofed extension with an attached octagonal gazebo. On the front façade there is a full-width flat roof over a deep angled bay on the left and a shallow angled bay in the open porch on the right. The porch has square posts on granite piers. The stepped stair balustrades are of granite. There is now a balcony on the porch roof.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

William Thwaites Williams (1867-1931) (528 St. Charles St, Rockland, 225 Quebec St, James Bay) built this house for his sisters, Mary (1860-1949) and Alice (1866-1947) who lived here until their deaths. Their mother Elizabeth was a sister of David Spencer (1040 Moss St, Rockland). Mary was born in Glamorganshire, Wales, Alice in Leeds, England. They came to Canada in 1872, to Victoria in 1880. Mary was a schoolteacher for over 50 years, and principal of Victoria Girls’ School before retiring in 1934. Alice, a nurse, retired in 1941.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

Alexander Kent (1913-2005) and Barbara Sedgley (Payson) Sutherland lived here 1950-60. Alex was born in Brookfield, NS, and served overseas during WWII. He graduated from the UBC School of Law and became a civil servant with the BC Government until he retired.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:

• Map of Victoria's Heritage Register Properties

• Rockland History

• Rockland Heritage Register


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