Rockland, Greater Victoria
Encyclopedia
Rockland is an historic neighbourhood of Victoria, British Columbia
, Canada
, located just southeast of downtown
and northeast of Beacon Hill Park
, and comprising the northern portion of the official city neighbourhood of Fairfield. Its boundaries are imprecise but the area roughly flanks Rockland Avenue.
The neighbourhood was founded as, and remains, one of the tonier neighbourhoods in the city, and contains a notable concentration of opulent houses and heritage architecture and lush gardenscapes. The two largest, and most famous, of Rockland's residences are Craigdarroch Castle
, built by the Dunsmuir
fortune, and Government House
.
, second governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island
and Joseph Despard Pemberton
. As early as 1860 Cary Castle
was built on a high point in Rockland with extensive views south to the Strait of Juan de Fuca
. Cary Castle was used as residence by Arthur Kennedy
, governor of Vancouver Island and served as the vice-regal residence for the Lieutenant-Governors of British Columbia
when the Province entered Confederation in 1871. The original Cary Castle was destroyed by fire in 1903, but was replaced by another grand mansion designed by architects Samuel Maclure
, designer of many of Victoria's grandest homes, and Francis Rattenbury
, architect of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings
. This building was in turn destroyed by fire in 1957, and was replaced by the present building that serves as Government House.
In the late Victorian period additional grand homes were constructed along Belcher Avenue, as Rockland Avenue was then known, including Duvals, constructed in 1862 and occupied by Joseph Needham, Chief Justice at the time of the Colony of Vancouver Island, and later of Trinidad
, before being sold to Francis Jones Barnard
who operated a freighting company and stage coach line to the Cariboo
and was later a member of the Canadian House of Commons
(his son Francis Stillman Barnard
was later Lieutenant-Governor). Gonzales, the home of Joseph Pemberton, was built in 1885 near the corner of Rockland and St. Charles Street. Fairholme
, the home of John Chapman Davie and his wife Sara Holmes Todd, was built in 1886 on Rockland Hill. Gyppeswyk, built in 1889 for the Greens who, like many of Rockland's early residents, relocated from the once fashionable James Bay neighbourhood to take up residence in Rockland, served briefly as the residence of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia after a fire destroyed Cary Castle. Located on Moss Street, Gyppeswyk forms today the nucleus of the Greater Victoria Art Gallery. Another home built in 1889 was The Laurels, which was later used as a boys' school, the gymnasium of which continues in use as the Langham Court Theatre. Further along Rockland Avenue stands the Rattenbury-designed residence built in 1900 for Lyman Duff, who became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
and his wife Elizabeth.
The most costly residence built in Rockland during the Victorian era was Craigdarroch Castle
. Craigdarroch Castle was constructed in the 1890s as a family residence for the wealthy coal baron Robert Dunsmuir
and his wife Joan. Robert died in April 1889, more than a year before construction on the castle was completed, and was set on 27 acres (109,265.2 m²) of grounds with an entrance on Fort Street. His sons Alexander and James took over the role of finishing the castle after his death. The initial architect of the castle, Warren Williams, also died before completion of the castle. His work was taken over by his associate, Arthur L. Smith, in 1890. After the death of Joan Dunsmuir the castle was raffled off, served as a convalescent home for soldiers during the First World War, then as Victoria College, the forerunner to the University of Victoria
from 1920 to 1946.
Apart from Government House itself, there are relatively few public buildings of any type in Rockland. At the beginning of Rockland Avenue on the edge of Downtown Victoria
stands Christ Church Cathedral, begun in the 1890s with construction extending to 1990. Built in a Gothic
style reminiscent of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and Durham Cathedral
, Christ Church is the cathedral church of the diocese of British Columbia. The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
on Moss Street is the only other significant public institution in the area.
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, located just southeast of downtown
Downtown Victoria
Downtown Victoria is a neighbourhood of Victoria, British Columbia that acts as the commercial and entertainment hub of the city and surrounding region....
and northeast of Beacon Hill Park
Beacon Hill Park
Beacon Hill Park is a 75 ha park located along the shore of Juan de Fuca Strait in Victoria, British Columbia. The park is popular both with tourists and locals, and contains a number of amenities including woodland and shoreline trails, two playgrounds, a waterpark, playing fields, a petting...
, and comprising the northern portion of the official city neighbourhood of Fairfield. Its boundaries are imprecise but the area roughly flanks Rockland Avenue.
The neighbourhood was founded as, and remains, one of the tonier neighbourhoods in the city, and contains a notable concentration of opulent houses and heritage architecture and lush gardenscapes. The two largest, and most famous, of Rockland's residences are Craigdarroch Castle
Craigdarroch Castle
Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria, British Columbia, is a historic, Victorian-era Scottish Baronial mansion. The mansion was designated a National Historic Site of Canada due to its landmark status in Victoria.-Description:...
, built by the Dunsmuir
Robert Dunsmuir
Robert Dunsmuir was a Scottish-Canadian coal miner, railway developer, industrialist and politician. -Origins in Scotland:...
fortune, and Government House
Government House (British Columbia)
Government House of British Columbia is the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, as well as that in Victoria of the Canadian monarch, and has casually been described as "the Ceremonial Home of all British Columbians." It stands in the provincial capital on a 8.9 ha ...
.
History
The area known today as Rockland was originally divided between the land grants taken up by James DouglasJames Douglas (Governor)
Sir James Douglas KCB was a company fur-trader and a British colonial governor on Vancouver Island in northwestern North America, particularly in what is now British Columbia. Douglas worked for the North West Company, and later for the Hudson's Bay Company becoming a high-ranking company officer...
, second governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island
Colony of Vancouver Island
The Colony of Vancouver Island , was a crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866, after which it was united with British Columbia. The united colony joined the Dominion of Canada through Confederation in 1871...
and Joseph Despard Pemberton
Joseph Despard Pemberton
Joseph Despard Pemberton was a surveyor for the Hudson's Bay Company, Surveyor General for the Colony of Vancouver Island, a pre-Confederation politician, a businessman and a farmer. He was born in 1821 in Dublin, Ireland and died in 1893 in Oak Bay, British Columbia...
. As early as 1860 Cary Castle
Government House (British Columbia)
Government House of British Columbia is the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, as well as that in Victoria of the Canadian monarch, and has casually been described as "the Ceremonial Home of all British Columbians." It stands in the provincial capital on a 8.9 ha ...
was built on a high point in Rockland with extensive views south to the Strait of Juan de Fuca
Strait of Juan de Fuca
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a large body of water about long that is the Salish Sea outlet to the Pacific Ocean...
. Cary Castle was used as residence by Arthur Kennedy
Arthur Kennedy
Arthur Kennedy may refer to:* Arthur Kennedy , American film actor* Arthur Kennedy , British colonial administrator* Arthur Kennedy , Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop-elect in Boston, Massachusetts....
, governor of Vancouver Island and served as the vice-regal residence for the Lieutenant-Governors of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
when the Province entered Confederation in 1871. The original Cary Castle was destroyed by fire in 1903, but was replaced by another grand mansion designed by architects Samuel Maclure
Samuel Maclure
Samuel Maclure was a Canadian architect in British Columbia, Canada from 1890 to 1920. He was born in Sapperton, New Westminster, British Columbia on 11 April 1860. He studied painting at the Spring Garden Institute, Philadelphia, PA from 1884-5. He was a self-taught architect...
, designer of many of Victoria's grandest homes, and Francis Rattenbury
Francis Rattenbury
Francis Mawson Rattenbury was an architect born in England, although most of his career was spent in British Columbia, Canada where he designed many notable buildings. Divorced amid scandal, he was murdered in England at the age of 68 by his second wife's lover.- Architectural career :Rattenbury...
, architect of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings
British Columbia Parliament Buildings
The British Columbia Parliament Buildings are located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and are home to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia....
. This building was in turn destroyed by fire in 1957, and was replaced by the present building that serves as Government House.
In the late Victorian period additional grand homes were constructed along Belcher Avenue, as Rockland Avenue was then known, including Duvals, constructed in 1862 and occupied by Joseph Needham, Chief Justice at the time of the Colony of Vancouver Island, and later of Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
, before being sold to Francis Jones Barnard
Francis Jones Barnard
Francis Jones Barnard , often known as Frank Barnard Sr., was a prominent British Columbia businessman and Member of Parliament in Canada from 1879 to 1887....
who operated a freighting company and stage coach line to the Cariboo
Cariboo
The Cariboo is an intermontane region of British Columbia along a plateau stretching from the Fraser Canyon to the Cariboo Mountains. The name is a reference to the woodland caribou that were once abundant in the region...
and was later a member of the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
(his son Francis Stillman Barnard
Francis Stillman Barnard
Sir Francis Stillman Barnard, KCMG was a Canadian parliamentarian and the tenth Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia...
was later Lieutenant-Governor). Gonzales, the home of Joseph Pemberton, was built in 1885 near the corner of Rockland and St. Charles Street. Fairholme
Fairholme Manor Bed and Breakfast
Fairholme Manor is a Designated Heritage building located in the Rockland neighbourhood of Victoria, British Columbia. It was built in 1886 on Rockland Hill , in a prestigious area known for its wealthy inhabitants, large lots and lush gardenscapes....
, the home of John Chapman Davie and his wife Sara Holmes Todd, was built in 1886 on Rockland Hill. Gyppeswyk, built in 1889 for the Greens who, like many of Rockland's early residents, relocated from the once fashionable James Bay neighbourhood to take up residence in Rockland, served briefly as the residence of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia after a fire destroyed Cary Castle. Located on Moss Street, Gyppeswyk forms today the nucleus of the Greater Victoria Art Gallery. Another home built in 1889 was The Laurels, which was later used as a boys' school, the gymnasium of which continues in use as the Langham Court Theatre. Further along Rockland Avenue stands the Rattenbury-designed residence built in 1900 for Lyman Duff, who became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
and his wife Elizabeth.
The most costly residence built in Rockland during the Victorian era was Craigdarroch Castle
Craigdarroch Castle
Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria, British Columbia, is a historic, Victorian-era Scottish Baronial mansion. The mansion was designated a National Historic Site of Canada due to its landmark status in Victoria.-Description:...
. Craigdarroch Castle was constructed in the 1890s as a family residence for the wealthy coal baron Robert Dunsmuir
Robert Dunsmuir
Robert Dunsmuir was a Scottish-Canadian coal miner, railway developer, industrialist and politician. -Origins in Scotland:...
and his wife Joan. Robert died in April 1889, more than a year before construction on the castle was completed, and was set on 27 acres (109,265.2 m²) of grounds with an entrance on Fort Street. His sons Alexander and James took over the role of finishing the castle after his death. The initial architect of the castle, Warren Williams, also died before completion of the castle. His work was taken over by his associate, Arthur L. Smith, in 1890. After the death of Joan Dunsmuir the castle was raffled off, served as a convalescent home for soldiers during the First World War, then as Victoria College, the forerunner to the University of Victoria
University of Victoria
The University of Victoria, often referred to as UVic, is the second oldest public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It is a research intensive university located in Saanich and Oak Bay, about northeast of downtown Victoria. The University's annual enrollment is about 20,000 students...
from 1920 to 1946.
Apart from Government House itself, there are relatively few public buildings of any type in Rockland. At the beginning of Rockland Avenue on the edge of Downtown Victoria
Downtown Victoria
Downtown Victoria is a neighbourhood of Victoria, British Columbia that acts as the commercial and entertainment hub of the city and surrounding region....
stands Christ Church Cathedral, begun in the 1890s with construction extending to 1990. Built in a Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
style reminiscent of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and Durham Cathedral
Durham Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham is a cathedral in the city of Durham, England, the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Durham. The Bishopric dates from 995, with the present cathedral being founded in AD 1093...
, Christ Church is the cathedral church of the diocese of British Columbia. The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is a Canadian art gallery located in Victoria, British Columbia. Opened in 1951, the gallery possesses notable works by artists such as Emily Carr, and has one of Canada's most significant collections of Asian art...
on Moss Street is the only other significant public institution in the area.