Memories of 875 Richmond Avenue, Victoria

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John Youson kindly sent me this photo on the left which is now in our scrap book.  For me it is interesting since 875 Richmond Ave. was first owned by my grandparents on my mother's side.  Harry and Belle Puckle and their three young daughters were a pioneer Saanich family who farmed at the end of what is now Puckle Rd. on the way to Island View Beach.   In 1912 they sold the farm and moved to Victoria to live in retirement and purchased a beautiful home at 875 Richmond Avenue on the edge of the Pemberton Woods.  The photo on the right is a birthday party photo taken on the same steps as the one on the left, but 40 years earlier.  My mother Carol is sitting in the centre.   Following the sudden death of Harry in 1917 at the age of 47, Belle and the girls remained for a  number of years before selling the property and moving to the south of France.  Doris Puckle was the youngest of the three girls and is now  living in England at the age of 97.

Richard

John provided the following notes on the house. His parents purchased it from the second owner in 1947 where they remained for about 25 years. John and his sisters Barbara and Joan, enjoyed many happy years growing up in the spacious home situated on three lots next to the Pemberton Woods but when they all eventually left home, Mr. and Mrs. Youson found it becoming too large to manage and eventually sold. John’s mother says that she lost her gardener when John went on to McGill. Today the house has undergone a lot of renovations. Two other residences have now been built on the original property, and John had the opportunity to drop in when the last remake of the house was being undertaken. "The original home underwent major renovations about 3-4 years ago and I managed to sneak in during the process. My wife took lots of photographs that are now with my older sister ( our archivist). I was shocked to see that they had painted white all the dark panel work (wainscoting) throughout the house and they took out the beautiful stone fireplace and wooden mantel."

John

One final note.  Years after the Yousons sold the home, the family who acquired the house were sitting in the living room on Christmas Eve. Without warning, the apparition of a young girl holding a candle walked across the room and disappeared into the wall.  Many years ago I had a lengthy chat with John's mother and I asked her if they had ever encountered unusual happenings.  She said they had not but was most interested in the story.

Richard