Address: 632 Dunedin Street
Built: 1896
1912 householder: Mother Mary Agnes, nun and matron of the Order of Poor ClaresThis house is one of the oldest in the Burnside Gorge neighbourhood and has a colourful history. It was built in 1896 by William Howes, a carpenter, at a cost of $500. A water permit for the dwelling was issued on 4 August 1896, so it was probably completed then. The house has some delightful architectural features, including its flat roof, dormer and corbelled brick chimney. The decorative spindles over the small porch add to its charm.
William Howes and his wife Alice were enumerated here in the 1901 census. He was 40 and she was 37 years old at the time. They had immigrated to Canada from England in 1887. Howes later formed a business partnership with James Dickson: their firm manufactured display cabinets, show cases and store fittings. William and Alice Howes moved to a new place at 736 Princess Avenue in 1907. This dwelling on Dunedin then became the home of William H. Mathias, a millwright, who lived here until 1910.
In 1911, when the 5th decennial census of Canada was taken, this was the home of Sarah Cousins and some of her adult children. Mrs. Cousins was 59 years old and recently widowed. She and her late husband, Leonard Cousins, had immigrated to Canada from England in 1883. He had been a prosperous carpenter, house builder and lumber mill operator prior to his death in Victoria in 1910.
Their eldest sons – Leonard, Junior and Charles – owned another successful lumber manufacturing firm, known as Cousins Brothers. When the Dominion enumerator called in June 1911, Charles Cousins, age 27, Henry Cousins, 21, Lucy Cousins, 23, and Josie Cousins, 17, were living in this house with their mother. The following year – when Mrs. Cousins moved to her son Leonard's home on Graham Street – Charles Charles, Henry and Lucy moved into a house at 609 Speed Avenue. A few years later, Charles Cousins, built a splendid new home for his bride on Balfour Avenue. (The house at 609 Speed Avenue may soon be demolished, but the Cousins' home at 3140 Balfour Avenue has recently been added to the City of Victoria Heritage Register.)
Next, this dwelling at 632 Dunedin Street became a chapter house of the Poor Clares, a Franciscan order of Roman Catholic nuns. In August 1912, this was the home of Mother Mary Agnes, who had come to Victoria from the Poor Clares' monastery in New Orleans to establish a ministry here. She and her colleagues founded the Poor Clares' monastery which is now located in Duncan, British Columbia.
From 1914 to 1919, this was the home of Thomas and Mary Ellen (née Tufts) Argyle. Mr. Argyle was 76 and Mrs. Argyle was 78 years old when they moved here. He was an old soldier and colonial pioneer. He was a member of the Columbia Detachment of the Royal Engineers, a British military contingent that came to the mainland colony of British Columbia in 1859, to underscore the authority of the British Empire during the Fraser River gold rush, and to build a waggon road to the Cariboo goldfields. When the detachment was disbanded in 1863, members were given a choice of remaining in the colony or returning to England. Argyle chose to stay in British Columbia.
Having relocated to Vancouver Island, Argyle received a land grant at Rocky Point outside Victoria. From 1867 to 1888 he was the keeper of the Race Rocks lighthouse. He died on 14 March 1919 and is buried in Ross Bay Cemetery. His neighbour, Noah Shakespeare, who lived a few doors away at 636 Dunedin Street, was one of the pallbearers at his funeral service. They had known each other a long time. His widow, Ellen Argyle, subsequently moved to Burnaby where she resided with family members until her death, at the age of 87, in 1923.