Heritage homes are often easy to recognize from the street. It might be a distinctive architectural style such as Craftsman or Italianate that grabs you. Or it could be a particular architectural detail such as a stone foundation, true divided windows or colourful shingle siding that draws you to a house.
However, the one thing you can’t “see” is the history these homes embody. And that is why Mary Holdcroft is a “heritage hero”!
In May 1991, Mary Holdcroft provided the North Vancouver Archives with a four-page typewritten document called “Memories of North Vancouver in the ‘20s and ‘30s” which provides a detailed history of her family, their home, their neighbourhood and as the title implies, life in North Vancouver in the early 20th century. The Holdcroft family lived at 832 Cumberland Crescent for 57 years from 1924 - 1981. In addition, Mary also provided the archives with a collection of their family photos which really helps to bring her stories to life.
Holdcroft home, 832 Cumberland Crescent. 1920’s. Photographer - John B. Holdcroft. Courtesy of MONOVA. Inventory # 4896
However, Mary’s 1991 donation to the archives was not her first one! In September of 1980, Mary provided the archives with the entire negative and photographic collection of her father, John Barber Holdcroft. John Holdcroft was an amateur photographer who lived in North Vancouver during WWI and from 1924 until his death in 1975. He documented many city and landscape scenes on the North Shore and in Vancouver between 1923-1955.
View of backyard of 832 Cumberland looking north with new houses on W 19th - Aug 1953. Photographer - John B. Holdcroft. Courtesy of MONOVA - Archives of North Vancouver.
Looking south down Fell from end of Cumberland Cres Aug 1953. Photographer: John Holdcroft. Courtesy of MONOVA.: Archives of North Vancouver.
View of Burrard Inlet from Drill Hall at Forbes and W. 15th St. Lyall's Shipyard on Fell Fill, with wooden hulls under construction for French Gov't. Houses possibly in 500 Block W. 14th St. in April 1918. Photographer - John B. Holdcroft. Courtesy of MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver. Inventory #5621.
I had the privilege to view all of these collections recently at the Archives building on Institute Road in North Vancouver. Words cannot describe my excitement as I read through Mary’s memoir and as I flipped through the massive Holdcroft photographic collection.
In the section below, I have included some quotes from Mary’s account, interspersed with photos, mostly taken by John Holdcroft. I thought about summarizing Mary’s memories but she is such a fabulous writer and said it so well herself!
I have also included some biographical information about Mary’s parents, John and Joan Holdcroft, taken from biographies provided by Mary Holdcroft. Finally, I close with descriptions of the house at 832 Cumberland as well as the one at 745 Grand Boulevard, which was inextricably linked to the Holdcroft family. Read on to find out how!
Direct Quotes from Mary Holdcroft’s Memoir
Her Growing-Up Years - As I look back on my growing-up years in North Vancouver during the ‘20s and ‘30s, there is a sense of peace and tranquility that remains with me
The Neighbourhood - We moved to North Vancouver in 1924. I was almost five and my recollections of those first years are both vivid and joyous. Our home was at 832 Cumberland Crescent, one of six large houses overlooking what is now Capilano Mall, with only four or five other houses scattered over the plateau behind. This small, geographically isolated neighbourhood was bounded by Mosquito Creek and Fell Avenue on the east, Mackay Creek and Hamilton Avenue on the west, with Cumberland Crescent on the south and 20th Street to the north (Back of that was nothing but a swampy jungle)
Trees, Games, the Milkman and Greengrocer - The sparse settlement left large areas of bush and second-growth trees – marvelous for all kinds of make-believe games, for tree-climbing and hide-and-seek, and for exploring and just being in. Traffic was almost non-existent on the narrow, dirt roads, though the milkman came daily and Mr. Cranston, the greengrocer trundled up the lane in his truck every Tuesday and Friday morning. There was no grocery store near so we had to depend on deliveries with the occasional personal visit to the grocer’s on Lonsdale Avenue
The Streetcar - From the kitchen window of our house we could look straight down the narrow, one block long wooden sidewalk, which was all that Nelson Avenue consisted of in those days, to the streetcar stop. The daily trip every school day down this path, the leisurely ride on the street-car to the foot of Lonsdale, then the transfer to the Lynn Valley line where Crosby School was located; the friendly (and sometimes teasing) conductors for whom we had our private nick-names; and then, on the return journey, the welcoming light of home at the end of the path again --- this was an unforgettable part of our daily routine.
Marine Drive - Speaking of cars --- anyone who watched today’s rushing 4-lane traffic on Marine Drive would hardly believe that until the sudden expansion of North Vancouver into a major ship-building town in the 1940’s, the city was little but a scattered, thinly populated, slightly untidy suburban area. The building of the original 2nd Narrows Bridge in the mid-20s sparked a small wave of car buying. Marine Drive was only 2 lanes, bordered on both sides by a wilderness of brush and swamp. No traffic lights – not even stop signs – and the only public transportation between north and West Vancouver was a very unreliable jitney service (in the early 20s) followed later by an almost equally erratic bus line.
A Sense of Home - I must go back to that house, designated by City Hall as 832 Cumberland Crescent. How can that number ever be erased from my mind! For 57 years I wrote letters both from and to this address and though I have lived and worked in other parts and travelled to many different places, no other spot on earth has quite the same sense of “home” to me
The Holdcroft family (John and Jane Holdcroft and their daughters, Mary, Ruth and Joy) in front of their home at 832 Cumberland Crescent in 1940. Photographer Unknown. Courtesy of MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver. Inventory #4905.
From Renters to Owners - Built in 1911 and rented out to a succession of tenants, these six houses on Cumberland Crescent were in a sad state of disrepair by the time we moved into ours (still on a rental basis) in the ‘20s. But the large, airy rooms, the hallway running through from front to back, the big, welcoming front verandah and the large front and back yards were enough to captivate my mother’s heart at first sight. Our few mis-matched pieces of hand-me-down furniture were not enough to fill the rooms, but this only added to the joy of gradually replacing and re-furnishing. Only 2 to 3 years after we moved in, all 6 of the houses were put up for sale, with present tenants being given first refusal. And so the house became our home in a new and more permanent way.
Staying Warm - With no insulation and a furnace that could do little more than take the chill off the rooms, we depended greatly on local heating. The old black range in the kitchen, and the open-faced wood and coal stove in the dining room and den provided the focus of our lives in the winter, while the bedrooms were left largely unheated. Work, play, homework and reading (we were all book lovers) went on cozily in these rooms
Jane on pedal reed organ and Mary on piano in living room at 832 Cumberland in 1950. Photographer: John B. Holdcroft. Courtesy of MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver.
Wartime Housing - In the early ‘40s, with the sudden expansion of the shipping industry, the area just south of Cumberland Crescent all the way down across Marine Drive, over what is now Capilano Mall and beyond, was appropriated for 450 “wartime” houses, each of which was rented to a ship-yard worker who had at least one child. This influx of young life created a need for schooling and Westview Elementary came into being.
Changes Marches On - Eventually the wartime houses North of Marine Drive were sold and greatly improved, while those South of the Drive were moved off to other areas. And so change marches on … the swamps and skunk cabbages on the flats have given way to the large Capilano Mall development. Up on the hill, the yellow violets and other wildflowers found in profusion so long ago are replaced by nicely trimmed yards and comfortable homes. The chorus of birds has largely disappeared in favour of the hum of traffic from two major highways, the drone of airplanes overhead and the whine and clatter of power gardening and motor bikes.
A Positive Attitude - Change must take place. We may not always like it, but if we adjust to it graciously and with a positive attitude, it can teach us many lessons. Not least of these is the profound realization that we must all eventually come to, of the impermanence of life here below and the eternal values of the life still to come.
About John Barber Holdcroft (Mary’s father and the photographer)
(excerpted from a biography written by Mary Holdcroft)
John Barber Holdcroft was born in London in 1884. His father passed away when he was 6 years old and he moved with his family to Brussels to his maternal grandfather’s house. It was in Brussels where culture, the cathedral and organ music left an indelible impression on John. He and his family immigrated to Victoria in 1894 where he worked odd jobs while earning a civil engineering degree by correspondence! He also took on photography as a hobby.
John Holdcroft at organ 1958. Photographer Unknown. Courtesy of MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver
He lived in North Vancouver from 1924 until his death in 1975, exclusively at 832 Cumberland Crescent. Here his talent as an amateur photographer was fully developed as he documented the growth of his three daughters and the growth of their neighbourhood. But his chief love was black and white scenic photography. For over 30 years, he delighted a wide circle of friends with a personal, hand-made Christmas card featuring one of his own scenic photographs.
Horseshoe Bay, 1957. Photographer: John B. Holdcroft. Courtesy of MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver.
No record of his life would be complete without mention of his devotion to Christian service. He was a lay minister in the 1940’s and hosted a Sunday school in a small building on the corner of Bewicke Ave and Keith Road, serving the families of the war-time shipyard workers. He died in 1975 just a day before his 91st birthday
About Jane Ellaby Holdcroft (mother of Mary Holdcroft)
(excerpted from a biography written by Mary and Ruth Holdcroft)
Jane Ellaby Holdcroft (nee Gulland) was born in 1881 in Manchester England and grew up near Liverpool. She trained to be a kindergarten teacher and also studied piano. In 1906, at the age of 25, she emigrated with her family to Manitoba but they moved west to Victoria seeking a milder climate in 1910.
Jane Ellaby Holdcroft 1910's. Photographer Unknown. Courtesy of MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver
She founded a kindergarten there and through one of her teacher-helpers, met her future husband, John Holdcroft. They married in 1913 and in 1924, they moved, along with their 3 daughters, Ruth, Mary and Joy, to 832 Cumberland Crescent in North Vancouver.
Joy, Jane, Ruth, John, Mary Holdcroft, 1921-1922 in Victoria. Photographer Unknown. Courtesy of MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver.
Holdcroft sisters Ruth and Joy sitting, Mary standing. Date Unknown. Photographer: John B. Holdcroft. Courtesy of MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver.
Jane Holdcroft was a devout Christian, who was actively involved in a number of missions and ministries. She and John celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary and a few weeks later, she became a widow at the age of 94. She lived at 832 Cumberland until a few months past her 100th birthday and lived her last 2.5 years at Evergreen House.
John and Jane Holdcroft at 832 Cumberland, 1953. Photographer Unknown. Courtesy of MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver.
Golden Anniversary of John and Jane Holdcroft, July 17, 1963. Photographer Unknown. Courtesy of MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver
The following section contains descriptions of the two homes on the North Shore that are inextricably linked to the Holdcroft and Gulland families.
832 Cumberland Crescent
This is an A-ranked house that is listed on the CNV Heritage Register. It was built in 1911 as one of six equally spaced speculative-built houses that were built by McAlpine Robertson Construction Company, a Vancouver-based company that worked across the province on various projects that included the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Saanich (1915- 1918). The residence to the east, located at 822 Cumberland Crescent, was part of this original grouping, but has unfortunately been demolished; the remaining five homes are substantially intact.
This grouping of houses was designed by architect Herbert Mayer Barker (1877 – 1942) who was Scottish-born and trained. He commenced his practice in Vancouver in 1910 and was briefly in partnership with Archibald Campbell Hope; Hope & Barker designed the now-demolished Lonsdale School in 1910. During his time here, Barker was a resident of the North Shore and lived briefly in one of these houses after they were completed. He returned to Scotland during WWI.
This residence is a testament to the popularity of the Craftsman style, typified by rational space planning, the use of natural materials and a mix of traditional design elements inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, such as picturesque rooflines and decorative brackets. The design of this house reflects a balanced asymmetry, with a projecting front gable and an inset verandah at the front. The consistent use of multi-paned casement windows and shingle cladding reinforce the romantic character.
832 Cumberland Crescent, January 2022. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Clay.
745 Grand Boulevard
This house, built in 1909, is another A-ranked house on the CNV Heritage Register. It is described as the Doney Residence as it was originally built for police magistrate Luther Watts Doney (1869- 1924) and his wife, Doris. Its corner location at the southern entry to Grand Boulevard makes it a local area landmark. The house exhibits an unusual blend of Tudor Revival, Craftsman and Chalet stylistic elements.
745 Grand Boulevard, Former Crosby School for Girls. February 2022. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Clay.
In 1931, the Crosby School for Girls moved into the Doney Residence. The school was founded and run by teacher Emily Plant Gulland (1884-1974), who was the younger sister of Jane Holdcroft. The school had day students and a few boarders. Mary Holdcroft and her sisters went to school here.
Group of girls at Crosby School for Girls, Date Unknown. Photographer: John B. Holdcroft. Courtesy of MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver.
Miss Emily Gulland, founder of Crosby School for Girls, with students outside school, 745 Grand Blvd in 1932 Photographer - John B. Holdcroft. Courtesy of MONOVA - Archives of North Vancouver. Inventory #4917
Mary left the Archives hand drawn maps of the floor plan for both the 1st and 2nd floors of the school.
Handrawn map (drawn by Mary Holdcroft) of main floor of 745 Grand Boulevard Crosby School for Girls. Courtesy of MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver.
It was a relatively small facility, reflecting the austere economic time of the Depression years. In the early 1940s, the school closed due to difficulties from wartime rationing. The house returned to residential use and has had a number of different owners since that time. Its current owners, David and Christy Christopher, fell in love with this home and brought it back to its former glory while simultaneously modernizing it. The result is a gorgeous home that is liveable for their family including 5 children, 3 of whom are pictured below in the same pose as Emily Gulland and her students in the photograph above.
In summary, we thank Mary Holdcroft for so carefully documenting her family’s life, centred around their home at 832 Cumberland and their school at 745 Grand Boulevard. We also thank her for donating her father’s photos to the Archives.
A big thank you also to Daien Ide, Reference Historian at MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver, who alerted me to this treasure trove! She’s also a heritage hero!
If you have a similar collection of photos or memories of your own childhood, they might seem mundane but in a generation or two, the new owner of your family home or someone interested in history might really appreciate this information! Please consider donating such information to the Archives.