Welcome to my April 2017 Great and Powerful 2017 Blogging from A to Z Challenge!

Today, F is for Beckley Street!

Here is a Google map showing where Beckley Street is located in James Bay.

Like other streets I’ve discussed so far, Beckley Street is also one block, from Rendall to Oswego.

What I could find out about Beckley Street:

It was named for Beckley FARM…see…F is for Farm! Beckley Farm was the original name of this area.

From http://www.victoriaheritagefoundation.ca/Neighbourhoods/jamesbayhistory.html:

“James Bay derives its name from the body of water, named in honour of Sir James Douglas, which was a shallow tidal inlet extending from what is now called the Inner Harbour eastward almost to Blanshard Street, encompassing the present site of the Empress Hotel, Victoria Conference Centre and Crystal Garden. After Fort Victoria was built in 1843, the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) established Beckley Farm on the James Bay Peninsula, and people went around the head of the bay to get there, but in 1859 a wooden piling bridge was built to span the water. After that people said they were going “across James Bay.” Today the term “James Bay” is used almost exclusively for the neighbourhood, not the body of water.”

And from http://www.jamesbaybeacon.ca/?q=node/1526

“Under the ownership of the HBC, the land on the James Bay Peninsula was surveyed and subdivided. The northern area within the boundaries of our present Simcoe, Toronto and Montreal Streets was subdivided, mostly into town lots. The lands that lay south and west of those streets were retained as farmland by the HBC, for grazing cattle and grain and root crops. These rich fertile flat lands of James Bay became farms for the early settlers. Originally, all of the area was called “Ogden Fields Farm.” By the early 1850s it was known as “Dutnall’s Farm,” named after John Dutnall, the HBC farm bailiff. Then by 1855 its name became “Beckley Farm” – after the village of Beckley in East Sussex, England. The total expanse of the Farm was 1,212 acres.”

And from http://www.beaconhillparkhistory.org/contents/appendix_C2.htm, here is a map showing the Beckley Farm area of Victoria.

I found out that Emily Carr once lived on Beckley Street, back in the 1930s.  It’s also home of one of the last video rental places in Victoria:  James Bay (Videos and ) Pet Supplies (http://www.jamesbaybeacon.ca/?q=node/1002)

• Map of Beckley Farm: http://contentdm.library.uvic.ca/cdm/ref/collection/collection5/id/271
• From the BC Archives,Nan Cheney (left) and artist Emily Carr on porch of 316 Beckley St., Victoria: http://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/nan-cheney-left-and-artist-emily-carr-on-porch-of-316-beckley-st-victoria
• The Famous Artist Next Door (from The Islander): http://victoriahistory.ca/blog/2010/08/the-famous-artist-next-door/

Here are some more pictures I took of Beckley Street just this week.

The Oswego end…

…with James Bay Video and Pet Supplies!

A Monkey Puzzle tree in one of the yards.

A few of the houses actually back onto Beckley, while they face Niagara on the other side.

Flowers on Rendall near Beckley.

What else do you want to know about Beckley Street?  Ask away, and I will see what I can find out for you!

Thanks for visiting letter F of my A to Z Challenge post of 2017.  You can find more F posts at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/2017/04/atozchallenge-4-7-2017-letter-f.html.  Stay tuned for G is for... tomorrow!!