Address: 541 Alpha Street
Built: 1908
1912 householder: Henry A. Macdonald, boiler maker and labourerThis modest, 1 storey frame dwelling, with four rooms, was built in June 1908 at a cost of $490. The building permit for the house was issued to Joshua Smethurst, a wood dealer who lived nearby in “Cloverdale Cottage,” on the northwest corner of Dupplin Road and Tennyson Avenue in the municipality of Saanich. Tennyson Avenue was named for a local building carpenter, William F. Tennyson, and he was the first resident of this house on Alpha Street. Perhaps he built this house. Or it may have been erected by Joshua's brother, James Smethurst, who was also a house carpenter and building contractor: he lived a few blocks away at 3117 Delta Street. Apparently, it was a small world for lumber dealers, carpenters and contractors in this part of Victoria!
When the census was taken in June 1911, this was the Henry Macdonald family home. Henry A. Macdonald was born in Scotland and immigrated to Canada in 1897. He was thirty years old when he was enumerated. He was working as a labourer, “pulling stumps,” and earned $730 the previous year. In the 1911 directory, he was listed as a boiler maker. His wife, Jeanne G. Macdonald, was also thirty years old. She was born in Ontario of Scottish descent. Their three children, Aileen (age 5), Alexander (3) and Elsa (2) were born in British Columbia. The family were Presbyterians (not Methodists, as incorrectly recorded on the viHistory website). A lodger shared this small abode in June 1911. Manitoba-born Francis Lawrence was 26 years old. He was a labourer, worked on a farm somewhere in the vicinity and earned $600 a year.
In 1913, John Murray, an employee of the British Columbia Telephone Company, lived here. By that time, nearly thirty family homes stood on this short street in the Burnside Gorge neighbourhood. Some of the houses had been erected by Victoria's leading building contractors, such as William Dunford and Charles Deacon.
Alpha Street was once a vibrant place, with families and children. There are almost no traces of the residential community today. This building at 541 Alpha Street is the last house standing. It is now an office for an electrical contractor.