Address: 2535 Government Street
Built: 1911
1912 householder: Charles Leach, commerical travellerThis Edwardian-era residence, with a shed dormer and high gable, has lost most of its original character. Decorative finials have been removed, sash windows have been replaced and the entire structure is now covered in beige stucco. But this was once an attractive building and a good companion to its relatively intact next-door neighbour at 2531 Government Street.
This was the Leach family home in 1912. Charles and Alverta Leach were from Ontario; they spent a few years in Manitoba before settling in Victoria in 1910. They were enumerated in the household of Charles' brother, George Leach, at 621 Hillside Avenue in June 1911. Charles and Alverta were 34 years old; their sons, Goldwin, 9, and Robert, 8, were born in Ontario, while their daughters, Jean, 2, and Lorraine, 1, were born in Manitoba. Charles J. Leach is identified as a “grain buyer” on the census. In 1912, when the family were living at this address, he was employed as a commercial traveller – that is, a travelling sales representative – by C. R. King Co. Ltd., a firm of commission agents with offices on Wharf Street.
After a few years, Charles Leach and his family moved to another home on Cornwall Street in Fairfield. In 1920, Robert Hurst, a foreman at the Lemon Gonnason lumber mill, lived here. Hurst and his family had previously lived at 2519 Ludgate Street.