The Oak Bay Encyclopedia ^TM
T . H . E . .. E . A . R . L . Y . .. Y . E . A . R . S

A listing of noteworthy
people, places and things from
Oak Bay's early years

|||||||||||||||||||||||||

Click on any letter, above, to visit specific section of encyclopedia

	C
	Cadboro Bay Road see Street/Place Names section
	Cake Shop, The 2244 Oak Bay Avenue (1935–1940 city directories) 2248 Oak Bay Avenue (1941–1942 phone books)
2244 address is previous location of Shank's Barber Shop 2244 address is subsequent location of Oak Bay Magnet
	2248 address is previous location of Oak Bay Furniture Store 2248 address is subsequent location of Mabel Ellis, linens and novelties
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Camas
	native wildflower of the lily family with edible, bulbous roots
	Camas
	Because of the importance of this plant in the aboriginal diet, Victoria was called "Camosun" before the arrival of whites. Camas once thrived throughout Oak Bay and is remembered by Camas Lane, a borderline between John Tod's property (Willows Farm) and the Hudson's Bay Company's fur trade reserve (Uplands Farm).
	Camas Lane see Street/Place Names section
	Cambridge Super Market 2510 Estevan Avenue (1962–1970... phone books)
Former location of Super-Valu
	Camelia Beauty Salon 1510 Monterey Avenue (1952–1954 phone books)
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Camera Studies Club 2186 Oak Bay Avenue (1950–1951 phone books)
	This was one of several photography businesses operating out of this space prior to its conversion to a night club — the Club Tango — in 1954.
	see Photo Centre (Pacific Coast) Ltd, Victoria Clinical and Color Laboratory, Roye Photography
Formerly the space of Gibson Studios and Hill-Tout Studios
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Campbell's Grocery 947 Monterey Avenue (1955–1960 phone books)
Previous location of Potter's Grocery Subsequent location of McCurrah's Grocery
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Canadian Bank of Commerce 1971 Oak Bay Avenue, Victoria ( ...1918–1930 phone books) 2002 Oak Bay Avenue (1931–1942 city directories / phone books) 2241 Oak Bay Avenue (1951–1970... phone books)
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Cardiff Place see Street/Place Names section
	Cardigan Road see Street/Place Names section
	Carley's Riding Academy
	see Victoria Riding Academy
	Carnarvon Street see Street/Place Names section
	Carrick Street see Street/Place Names section
	Casanave, Alexis 1845 — ?
	pioneer Oak Bay dairyman and resident (1875) / signatory on 1906 petition to incorporate Oak Bay as a municipality
	Oak Bay Archives Alexis Casanave and Family Click on image to view enlargement
	An itinerant gold prospector, Alexis Casanave decided to settle in Victoria in 1875 and purchased 10.06 acres of John Tod's property alongside Bowker Creek immediately south of Cadboro Bay Road. He turned to dairy farming — and raising a family of seven children, 3 of whom attended the district's first school in 1885. In his front yard he planted the seed of a Sequoia (Redwood) tree that he brought from California.
	Casanave's "Oak Farm" eventually became the schoolgrounds of our Oak Bay Senior and Junior High schools. His house remained on the property, beside the Junior High school, until about 1967 when it was demolished to enlarge the playing fields. His Sequoia tree, however, stands tall today beside the new high school. At its base is a plaque that pays tribute to this pioneer Oak Bay settler.
	Casanave's son, Victor, continued to live at the house until it was sold in 1962.1
1 Victor Casanave was shop manager at the Memorial Arena in the 1950s
	Click on BIOGRAPHY to learn about Alexis Casanave
	Casanave, Victor
	son of Alexis Casanave
	see Alexis Casanave
	Casey, Eric confectioner (...1941–1954 phone books) 713 St Patrick Street
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	see Lea Glen Dairy confectionery, Casey's Corner
	Casey, Pearl confectioner (1955–1965 phone books) 713 St Patrick Street
	Click here to read newspaper article on Pearl Casey's retirement, published in The Daily Colonist, May 22, 1966.
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	see Lea Glen Dairy confectionery, Casey's Corner
	Casey's Grocery 713 St Patrick Street (1966 phone book)
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Casey's Market 713 St Patrick Street (1967–1970... phone books)
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Caspersen's Bakery 1179 Newport Avenue (1956–1957... phone books) 2863 Foul Bay Road (1956–1957... phone books) 1163 Newport Avenue (...1959–1967 phone books)
	— ad in 1957 phone book Click on image to view enlargement
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Cass, Mrs Charlotte ladies' ready-to-wear 1191 Newport Avenue (1926–1927 city directories)
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Cattle Point see Street/Place Names section
	Cavendish Avenue see Street/Place Names section
	Cedar Hill X Road see Street/Place Names section
	Central Avenue see Street/Place Names section
	Central Films 1936–1938 2280-2284-2288 Cadboro Bay Road (1936 city directory)
	Film production company established by Kenneth Bishop in 1936 that produced twelve Columbia Pictures films out of Willows Park Studio in Oak Bay from 1936 until 1938.
	see Kenneth Bishop, Willows Park Studio
	Central Food Market 697 St Patrick Street (1965–1970... phone books)
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Central Stores 697 St Patrick Street (1947–1964 phone books)
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Central Television Specialists 1163 Newport Avenue (1954 phone book)
Previous location of Newport Tailors & Cleaners Subsequent location of Lady Elizabeth's Hats
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Chambers, R S chiropractor 1503 Wilmot Place (1954–1956 phone books)
	Chang's Produce 2296 Cadboro Bay Road (1954–1962... phone books)
	Open Evenings – Bowker Ave & Cadboro Bay Rd Fine Quality Groceries - Fruits - Vegetables Cut Flowers - Frozen Foods - School Supplies 2296 Cadboro Bay . . . . . . Phone 4-6312 — ad in 1957 phone book
	"Harry Chang ran the store, and we often stopped there on the way home from Oak Bay High in the 1950s. It was on the corner of Cadboro Bay Road and Bowker Avenue. It was where we bought all our Halloween fireworks. The store closed suddenly, although I forget the exact date. However in 1959, I went into a corner store in Edmonton and behind the counter was Harry Chang!" — Terry Murphy, OBHS class of 1958
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Charlesworth Taxi 120 Beach Drive (...1930–1934... phone books)
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Charm Beauty Salon 687 St Patrick Street (1947–1950,.1953–1961 phone books) 677 St Patrick Street (1962... phone book)
	— ad in 1947 phone book Click on image to view enlargement
	Called Terry's Charm Beauty Salon, 1951–1952
	see Terry's Charm Beaty Salon
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Chas Harrison groceries and meats 2215 Oak Bay Avenue (1924–1930 city directories)
Previous location of Harrison Cash Grocery Subsequent location of Royal Cleaners
	Chas Hudson druggist 2008 Oak Bay Avenue (1925 city directory) 2012 Oak Bay Avenue (1928–1945 city directories / phone books)
	see Hudson's Drug Store (1926–1927)
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Chatham Island see Street/Place Names section
	Chaucer Street see Street/Place Names section
	Che-ko-nein
	Oak Bay's first landowners who lived on local beaches from Gonzales Point to Cadboro Bay and beyond
	The Che-ko-nein, along with the Chilcowitch, signed the Douglas Treaties of 1850 which ceded Oak Bay to the Hudson's Bay Company for seventy-nine pounds, ten shillings sterling. The Che-ko-nein are now part of the Songhees Band.
	Chew's TV & Stereo Centre 2280 Cadboro Bay Road (1969–1970... phone books)
Previous location of Ackerman's Upholstery
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Chilcowitch
	Oak Bay's first landowners who lived on local beaches west of Gonzales Point
	The Chilcowitch, along with the Che-ko-nein, signed the Douglas Treaties of 1850 which ceded Oak Bay to the Hudson's Bay Company for thirty pounds sterling. The Chilcowitch are now part of the Songhees Band.
	Children's Corner, The 2002 Oak Bay Avenue (1945–1951 phone books) 2041 Oak Bay Avenue (1952–1954 phone books)
	Manufacturers of Custom-Built FURNITURE "Have It Your Own Way" 2002 Oak Bay . . . . . . Garden-6542 — ad in 1947 phone book OAK BAY FURNITURE & CABINET WORKS Custom-Built "If It's in Wood . . . We Make It" 2041 Oak Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6542 — ad in 1954 phone book Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Chiltern Place see Street/Place Names section
	Chinese Cemetery (at Harling Point)
	oldest cemetery in Canada built on the principles of Feng Shui
	Chinese Cemetery
	Built in 1903, the purpose of the cemetery was to collect and house the bones of deceased Chinese from across Canada for seven years before shipping them to China for permanent burial. This practise continued until the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937. The cemetery was closed in 1950. In 1996 it was designated a National Historic Site.
	Christie Way see Street/Place Names section
	Churches St. Mary's (Anglican) St. Philip's (Anglican) Hampshire Road Methodist Church (Methodist) Oak Bay United (United) Our Lady of Lourdes (Catholic)
	CJVI Tower Station
	Cedar Hill Cross Road
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Clarke, William shoe repairs 2240 Oak Bay Avenue (...1934 city directoriy)
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Clarke's Meat Market 1161 Newport Avenue (1940–1948 city directories / phone books)
	Owned and Operated by T. G. Clarke Meat - Fish - Poultry - Vegetables Free Delivery 1161 Newport . . . . . . E mpire-2933 — ad in 1941 phone book
Previous location of Penguin Library & Gift Shop Subsequent location of Newport Meat Market
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Clayton House
	The Clayton House, originally built on wood pilings at Oak Bay Beach, was demolished to allow the development of Haynes Park. Mr Clayton worked for John Virtue and was manager of the Mt Baker Hotel boathouse. He continued as manager after the hotel burned down until sometime before 1906.
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Clear, John confectioner 890 Newport Avenue (1910–1913 city directories) 1198 Newport Avenue (1914–1920 city directories)
Despite two different addresses, this is the same location (albeit a new building) as some Oak Bay street address were adjusted in 1914.
	Clear, Mrs J Newport Ave, cor. Saratoga Ave (1909 Vancouver Island Dirctory) Clear, Mrs Lena confectioner "Newport Rd,. cor. Saratoga Ave." (1909 city directory) 1198 Newport Avenue (1921–1922 city directories) 1179 Newport Avenue (1923–1930 city directories)
It would appear that Mrs Clear began the family confectionery business in 1909. In 1910 John Clear was listed as proprietor until 1920, afterwhich Mrs Clear was again listed as proprietor and relocated to 1179 Newport Avenue in 1923.
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Cliff's Cycle 2067 Cadboro Bay Road (...1964–1967 phone books)
Subsequent address of Bob's Cycle Shop
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Cliff's Cycle & Sporting Goods 2067 Cadboro Bay Road (1957–1962... phone books)
	REPAIRS TO ALL MAKES BIKES & TRIKES - ALL WORK GUARANTEED C.C.M. & RALEIGH AGENTS 2067 Cadboro Bay . . . . . . . . . . 5-4314 — ad in 1957 phone book
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Clive Beauty Salon 677 St Patrick Street (...1964–1970... phone books)
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Clive Drive see Street/Place Names section
	Club Tango cabaret 1954–1965 2184 Oak Bay Avenue (1954 phone book) 2186 Oak Bay Avenue (1955–1965 city directories / phone books)
	Private Collection Club Tango Private Collection Menu Click on image to view enlargement
	COMPLETE CATERING FACILITIES Parties - Wedding Receptions - Anniversaries Large or Small - Residence 3-2390 2186 Oak Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-0222 — ad in 1957 phone book
	Club Tango was Oak Bay's hot spot from 1954 until 1965. By 1966 owner Ian Diment relocated the club to 1037 View Street in town
	This upstairs space was originlly a lodge hall in 1936 and for many years served as studio facilities for several photography businesses. The space was vacant 1951-1953 and became the Club Tango in 1954.
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Club Tango Cafe 2188 Oak Bay Avenue (1954–1955... city directories)
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Coast Fruit Company 2001 Oak Bay Avenue (1941–1942 phone books)
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Coburn, Mrs Selina tobaccos and cigars Newport Avenue (1905–1908 city directories)
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Coffee Shops Adrien's Bakery and Coffee Shop Goblin Coffee Shop Golden Galleon Cafe Little Wheel Coffee Shop Rose Bowl Coffee Bar Willows Confectionery Wilmot Coffee Shop
	Commandos Strike at Dawn
	Academy-Award-nominated film shot in Oak Bay
	Movie Poster Click on image to view enlargement
	Filmed at Willows Park Studio on the Willows Fairgrounds in 1942, Commandos Strike at Dawn is one of the earliest American war films produced after the United States entered WWII in 1942. The film tells the story of a small Norwegian fishing village's subjegation to Nazi occupation in the spring of 1940 and its ultimate liberation after Norwegian resistance members reach England to enlist the aid of British commandos.
	Exterior locations around Victoria include Heals Rifle Range (German camp), Victoria Airport (Allied airfield) and Saanich Inlet (fishing village in Norwegian fjord). Hall's Boat House (now Goldstream Marina) is where the wharf scenes were shot.
	The movie features American film legends Paul Muni and Lillian Gish, British stalwarts Anna Lee and Sir Cedric Hardwick, and newcomers Rod Cameron, Rosemary deCamp and Lloyd Bridges.
	Commandos Strike at Dawn was nominated for an Academy Award for its music score.
	The world premiere for this international release was celebrated at Victoria's Capitol Theatre on December 17, 1942.
	The movie is available on DVD.
	"We lived on Newton Street and the derelict [exhibition] buildings were our playgrounds. I recall actors in German army uniforms wandering around the Main building which was the sound stage for the film Commandos Strike at Dawn, a story that took place in Norway. The Malahat and Saanich Inlet were used as a fiord. I believe a local by the name of Larson had a part in the film as well as his daughter who was a student at Willows school." — Dave Unwin, area resident in the 1940s "The film Commandos Strike at Dawn hits home with me as my father was in the R.A.F. stationed at Pat Bay. Many Canadian and British airforce personnel took part as extras. He said that the actors were quite friendly, interacting freely with the airforce boys. . . . As you're probably aware. the concrete stairs the commando's utilized to scale the cliff on the Malahat side still stand today, which is incredible." — Allan Scott, resident of Cavendish Avenue in the 1950s
	see Willows Park Studio
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Commonwealth Films 1933–1935
	Kenneth Bishop's film company that produced The Crimson Paradise in 1933 out of his film studio in Oak Bay. The company went bankrupt in 1935 during the filming of his second film, Secrets of Chinatown. This film was completed by Northern Films, another Kenneth Bishop company.
	see Kenneth Bishop, Northern Films, Willows Park Studio
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Community Cab Company 1938–1950 2675 Windsor Road (1938–1950 city directories)
	The Community Cab Company was formed in 1938 by partners Dick Snelgrove and Gordon Craig. They operated out of the Oak Bay Garage property at 2675 Windor Road, sharing the same address.
	When Snelgrove left the business in 1950, the company was renamed Newport Taxi by Gordon Craig and his new partner, Harold Attwell.
Gordon Craig was the son of John Craig who, with Dick Snelgrove in 1930, started the original Newport Taxi company that operated just around the corner at 1171 Newport Avenue.
	see Oak Bay Garage, Newport Taxi
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Convicted
	1938 movie produced by film studio in Oak Bay introducing starlet Rita Hayworth
	... Production Still Lobby Card Click on image to view enlargement
	see Willows Park Studio
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Cookman Street see Street/Place Names section
	Cooper, Chas grocer 469 Monterey Avenue (1924–1925 city directories)
Previously a private residence Subsequent location of Shoal Bay Grocery & Tea Rooms
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Cotswold Road see Street/Place Names section
	Cougars, Victoria ice hockey team 1923–1926
	Victoria Cougars won 1925 Stanley Cup in Oak Bay arena
	Team Jersey
	Professional ice hockey started in Victoria in 1912. The first game was played between the Victoria Senators and the New Westminster Royals in Oak Bay's Patrick Arena on January 2, 1912.
	This was the first hockey game in Canada played on artificial ice.
	The Senators would subsequently be called the Aristocrats and Canaries before being renamed the Cougars for the 1922/23 season. The 1924/25 Victoria Cougars won the Stanley Cup by defeating the Montreal Canadiens in Oak Bay's Patrick Arena.1
	The west coast league folded a year later and the Victoria Cougars' franchise was sold to a new NHL franchise in Detroit to become the Detroit Cougars which, by the 1932/33 season, would be called the Detroit Red Wings.
1 This historic event in the Oak Bay arena would be the last time that a non-NHL team would win the Stanley Cup.
	see Victoria Senators, Victoria Aristocrats
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	"Country Village"
	In its early years of development, Oak Bay remained in the "Country Village" category. In 1921 Council issued an order: "... no further permits are to be issued for the grazing of cattle on municipal streets and all cattle grazing on private land must be securely tethered." At the time, it was not uncommon for a cow to derail a streetcar.
	Cranleigh House boys' preparatory school 2184 Cadboro Bay Road
	private school for boys
	For Boys – Beginners to Matriculation CV Milton Phone 4406 — ad in 1930 phone book
	Cranleigh House1 was a private school for boys established in 1923 by Charles V. Milton in the former Willows Hotel building at Cadboro Bay and Eastdowne Roads.
	Milton was previously a teacher at the original Oak Bay High School2 until 1918 when he left to join Kyrle C Symons at St Michael's prep school for boys for one year.3
	Cranleigh House School was converted to a four-plex before being demolished in 1968 to make way for the Cranleigh Apartments.
1 Cranleigh School is a renowned English boarding school for boys founded in 1865 in the village of Cranleigh, Surrey. 2 The original Oak Bay High School, at 2165 Oak Bay Avenue (site of current municipal hall) was built in 1912. 3 Symons, Kyrle C.That Amazing School: The Story of St Michael's School, Victoria, B.C., from 1910–1948. pp 33, 36, 47.
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Cranleigh Place see Street/Place Names section
	Cranmore Road see Street/Place Names section
	Cranmore (Esso) Service 2151 Cadboro Bay Road (1949-1970... phone books)
	Called Arena Service Station prior to 1949.
	Paul Patrick — Miles Platt COMPLETE AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE Opposite Oak Bay High School 2151 Cadboro Bay at Cranmore . . . E mpire-0441 — ad in 1949 phone book
	ESSO PRODUCTS — ATLAS TIRES & BATTERIES Corner of Cadboro Bay Rd & Cranmore E.J. BENT . . . . . . . . . . .W.M.H. BURLEY 2151 Cadboro Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-0441 — ad in 1957 phone book
	CRANMORE ESSO SERVICE NEIL CLARKE and BOB KIRKER 2151 Cadboro Bay Rd. . . . EV. 5-6311 — ad in 1959 OBHS Oak Leaves yearbook
	see Arena Service Station
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Crescent Road see Street/Place Names section
	Crestview Road see Street/Place Names section
	Crimson Paradise, The (aka The Fighting Playboy)
	Canada's first "talkie" was produced by an Oak Bay film studio in 1933
	see Commonwealth Films, Willows Park Studio
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Cross, Earle contractor 2004 Oak Bay Avenue (1941–1943 phone books)
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Cross Markets meats 2215 Oak Bay Avenue (1936–1943 phone books)
	Oak Bay branch of a city company
	— ad in 1930 phone book. Click on image to view enlargement
Previous location of Hampshire Meat Market Subsequent location of Wright's Meat Market
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Crystal Craft Plastics 2186 Oak Bay Avenue (1959 phone book)
Concurrent address of Club Tango
	Photos, artifacts and recollections welcomed
	Cubban Drive see Street/Place Names section
	Cull, Robert L shoe repairs 2051 Cadboro Bay Road (1914–1927 city directories)
Robert L Cull had a shoe repair business at this location for nearly thirty years. In 1928 it was called Willows Electrical Boot Repairing Shop. Of interest, a William J Cull operated Cull's Willows Confectionery next door at 2053 Cadboro Bay Road.
	see Willows Electrical Boot Reparing Shop
	Cull's Willows Confectionery 2053 Cadboro Bay Road (1923–1952 phone books)
Subsequent location of Willows Confectionery
	Currie Road see Street/Place Names section

Please click here if you have photos, artifacts or
recollections on a topic, or can suggest a new Encyclopedia topic