Aug
29
By Ted Ross
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| Image A-04650 courtesy of the Royal BC Museum, BC Archives |
William Joseph Pendray was born in Cornwall, England, in 1846. The Daily Colonist of September 13, 1913 said, "He came of an industrious family and had been hard-working and earnest since he was a boy. He was educated in England, and in 1868 emigrated to California, by way of the Isthmus of Panama."
William worked in the mines in the Grass Valley of Nevada during 1869. The best he could net was $3 a day. An energetic fellow, he worked as many hours as he could and saved as much as he was able. After eight months he left to travel, via Victoria, to the Cariboo and the mines on Mosquito Creek, hoping to do better there. He became one of the owners of the Willow and Minehaha mines. The Willow developed into one of the richest in the country. William was able to return to England, a young man of means.
Back in Cornwall, he met Amelia Jane Carthew, born in 1849. While there he invested in gold mines in South Africa. Fond of the metal, he hoped to improve his fortune. In the long run the investments soured and within three years William had lost his money. He had a sweetheart, but his fortune was badly depleted.
For William the solution was obvious. He returned to the goldfields of America, going to Virginia City, Nevada, that treasure trove which built San Francisco. Soon he had made good money from the Comstock Lode in the mining town. His funds were held by the Bank of California. It later crashed, but William was able to get his money out. By 1875 he was back in Victoria with his funds.
He approached his uncle, W. J. Jeffree, a prominent clothier, looking for investment ideas in the growing city. W. J. proposed helping him acquire an out-of-business soap factory on Humboldt Street, its owner being recently deceased. W. J. felt, and William agreed, that every bit of soap used in Victoria was imported at a cost. If they created a product made locally at a lower price, they could displace the imports.
And so William did. He worked many long hours to establish an extensive soap works on Humboldt Street. He was able to acquire fats and tallow in the Victoria area to produce a complete line of cleaning bars and powders. He launched an advertising campaign, and soon his products were selling well, not just in Victoria but in the ports accessible to Victoria by water, including the north coast and up the Fraser River to New Westminster, Fort Langley, Chilliwack and Yale.
By 1876 William was doing so well that late in the year he had a new, much larger plant built 200 yards west on Humboldt. Business was booming. The next year he sent for Amelia. She sailed from Liverpool to New York, then crossed by train to San Francisco. From there she sailed to Esquimalt. The day after she arrived, in May 1877, Amelia and William were wed in the house of Uncle W. J. Jeffree on Fort Street.
The newlyweds made their first home in a cottage on Douglas Street facing Kane (Courtney) Street, later the site of Crystal Garden. Needing a larger home, they moved to a house on the southwest corner of Gordon and Courtney where they dwelt for several years, raising a family of four boys, born between 1878 and 1891.
In 1890 William purchased his James Bay property on Belleville Street, overlooking the Inner Harbour to the north. His soap business was hugely successful and the Pendrays intended to build a large home on their new land. William and Amelia travelled extensively looking for ideas. J. K. Nesbitt, writing in The Islander of June 22, 1980 said, "Mr. and Mrs. Pendray made a complete tour of the cities of the coast north of San Francisco before building, for the purpose of getting ideas on the comforts of a home..."
The January 16, 1894 edition of the Victoria Daily Colonist reported, "The palatial residence of Jacob Sehl..., an ornament of Laurel Point,...last evening became a thing of the past, a two hours' fire reducing it to a smouldering heap of ashes...." Along with the house, the adjacent furniture factory was consumed by the flames. William soon acquired this property, close to their Belleville Street homesite.
There was a cottage on the Bellville property, which William had moved to a corner of the land. There they lived while the new house was built. Moving into the relatively small quarters, they became James Bay residents in 1895.
The house on Belleville was finished and occupied by the Pendrays in 1897, although some finishing work was yet to be completed. The spaciousness of the new quarters was a relief to all, especially Amelia, after two years in the old cottage. The younger boys loved the house's nooks and crannies, as well as its seaside location, for junior pirates.
It was a mansion, towering over the Inner Harbour. Designed by architect Alexander Charles Ewart, the Pendray's home was in the Queen Anne style. William commissioned German artists, Sturn and Muller, to paint frescoes on the ceilings of the parlour, the dining-room and two of the bedrooms. Panes of stained glass came from Italy in barrels of molasses, so they wouldn't break, and were used throughout.
The Victoria Heritage Foundation in a 2013 description of the dwelling stated, "What is now known as the Gatsby Mansion is a 2 1/2-storey, hip-roofed Queen Anne house with an octagonal tower on the left front corner and a curved one-storey bay window with a small porch above on the right.... The interior features period frescoes...and fine wood finishing."
In his spare time William engaged in his horticultural hobby of topiary, creating animals and other shapes by pruning the shrubbery on the grounds. He was so talented at this work that people came from everywhere to view the display.
Next month we will continue the tale of the Pendray family. We'll see the beginning of Bapco Paints and the move of the factories to Laurel Point.
Bibliography
Victoria Heritage Foundation, Heritage Register James Bay, "309 Bellville St.", 2013; Victoria Historical Society Publication, Autumn 2006; Victoria Daily Colonist, 1908-11-26; Victoria Daily Colonist, 1913-09-28; Wikipedia, "John Carl Pendray", 2014; The Islander, "The Man Who Cleaned Up", Danda Humphreys, 1999; Victoria Daily Colonist, "William J. Pendray", 1948-12-05; The News-Herald, Vancouver, "Feature Page on Pendray Family", May 18, 1950; The Islander, "The Pendray Family and the Palace", 1980; The Islander, "Topiary Gardens Replanted", James K. Nesbitt, June 22, 1980; Victoria & its Remarkable Buildings, "James Bay-Pendray House", Robin Ward, Harbour Publishing, 1996; Camas Chronicles of James Bay, "The Pendray Story", Ruth Judson, Camas Historical Group, 1978.
I am truly grateful to the Victoria Public Library downtown branch and their local history room with its books and clipping files on local topics going back for many years. I am also grateful to the Victoria City Archives and their ever-so-helpful staff, who put the best photos and clippings in my hands. TR