Address: 2519 Ludgate Street
Built: c. 1910
1912 householder: Robert Hurst, lumber mill foremanThis short street has had many different names. In the 1890s it was called Tannery Avenue, because of a tannery and trunk manufacturing factory that once stood nearby on the foreshore of Rock Bay. For a while, in the early 1900s, it was called Bay Avenue. It reverted to Tannery Avenue in the early 1920s and in 1928 was renamed Harbour Avenue. In 1939, it became Ludgate Avenue. Today, it is called Ludgate Street.
In 1912, this was the Hurst family home. Robert W. Hurst was a foreman at the Lemon Gonnason lumber mill on nearby Orchard Avenue, in the 2300 block of Government Street. The mill manufactured finished lumber, as well as sash windows, doors, moulding and other building fixtures. This Edwardian Arts & Crafts-style house may have been erected in 1910, and it was probably built with top-grade construction materials from the Lemon Gonnason mill. Originally, it would have had finials at the top of the gables and wide front steps. But the exterior has been well-maintained and it is evident that this was one of the finest homes in this corner of the neighbourhood. In the 1912 Victoria city directory, the residence is identified as “The Cottage,” Tannery Avenue. At the time, it was fashionable to attach genteel names to private homes. But the practice was more common in James Bay than Rock Bay.
When the household was enumerated in June 1911, Irish-born Robert Hurst was 34 years old. He had immigrated to Canada with his family in 1881 and settled in Ontario. His wife, Florence, 33, and their daughters, Helena Rose, 9, and Margaret, 5, were born in Ontario. Their youngest child, Reginald, was born in BC in 1910, so the family had recently arrived in Victoria. The census indicates that Helena was enrolled in school; she might have attended Rock Bay School on the corner of Turner Street and John Street, or she might have attended the larger and more modern North Ward School on Douglas Street near King's Road. Both schools have been demolished.
The Hurst family may have been attached to this part of the Burnside Gorge neighbourhood, but they did not live at 2515 Ludgate Street for long. In 1913, the family moved to 2902 Rock Bay Avenue and the following year to 550 David Street. In 1920, they were living at 2535 Government Street. Robert Hurst was still foreman at the Lemon Gonnason yard. Another mill manager, William McCarter, lived across the street at 2526 Government Street. Perhaps they were friends.