Thomas Trounce – 1813 – 1900

Thomas Trounce was one of the pioneer Cornishmen who contributed much to the early life of early British Columbia. Born at Tregero Farm, Veryan, Cornwall, United Kingdom, Trounce later spent five years in London. Then, with his wife, Jane, he departed for New Zealand in 1841 nad arrived, via the SS Clifford, on May 11, 1842. Trounce worked in New Zealand as a carpenter and joiner. He caought “gold fever” during the 1849 California gold rush, and arrived in San Francisco on June 1, 1850. Trounce worked there as a builder until 1858, when another gold rush in British Columbia’s Fraser River valley worked its magic. Trounce, who “wanted to live under the British flag,” stayed in Victoria where he first lived in a tent on Government Street , and worked as a builder.  When the HBC sold off the land that provided access to his property, he established Trounce Alley in 1859, a convenient thoughfare between Government and Broad Streets.  Trounce had some means, and owned other property in both Victoria and Esquimalt. By 1859, Trounce had built a frame house on Kane Street, and by 1861 had built Tregew in James Bay, one of the first stone houses in British Columbia. Italianate in style, Tregew was built of random rubble stonework with walls two feet thick. The ceilings on the main floor or 11 feet high and embellished simple plaster mouldings, and the fireplaces had horseshoe -shaped cast iron grates decorated with flowers. Most of Trounce’s known buildings were of masonry construction, and influence from his Cornish background. Although he certainly design buildings from his first arrival in Victoria, Trounce also continue to act as a contractor, notably for the construction of the St. Nicholas Hotel for architects Wright and Sanders in 1862.

Trounce was a favourite of Adm. Hastings, Commander In Chief of the Royal Naval Dockyard, and also developed a comfortable relationship with Paymaster Sidney Spark. From 1866 he was brought into the estimates for all work, which were then sent to London for approval. Spark was then supposed to tender the work but usually it was just given to Trounce. This changed when a new Paymaster put an end to “irregularities” and instituted tendering procedures. Trounce’s activities at the Dockyard resulted in his best-known building, St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Esquimalt. Built in 1866, the Gothic-style wooden church is 26 x 50′ in size, with a modest transept, and 64 feet to the top of its steeple. Associated from the beginning with the Royal Navy, the church was built with a Admiralty grant, and located on the rocky shoreline just outside the gates of the Dockyard; by 1904, the church was moved to a new site away from potential damage of gunnery practice and storms. Trounce designed other churches including an extension to First Methodist Church in Victoria in 1872, and in 1874 a “Church and Day School for the use of the Indians” on Herald Street, Victoria. In 1867 he was awarded the contract to build Holy Trinity Church in New Westminster, designed by H. O. Tiedemann, and open for services the following year.

Trounce’s most productive years, architecturally, were the 1870s. He built his largest and most impressive buildings during that period, including Armadale, the substantial residence of Sen. William John Macdonald, named after the seat of Lord Macdonald in Skye and build on about 26 acres in James Bay in 1876 – 77 for $12,000, an enormous sum in those days. Trounce designed at least a dozen other substantial dwellings in this decade, in addition to what was probably his largest commission, the Hirst warehouse and docks in the in Nanaimo. This two-story warehouse had a restrained classical frontage, and although much altered still serves as part of the Harbor Commission Building in Nanaimo. Trounce’s 1879 Weiler Warehouse still stands at the corner of Broughton and Brought Streets. Trounce continued his architectural practice through the 1880s, designing such buildings as Morely’s Soda Works on Waddington Alley, and a number of dwellings. Trounce continued to design smaller buildings well into old age, with his last known commission being a two-story store and addition to its stables in 1891 – 92.

Trounce was well known for his horticultural interest, and in 1874 dropped off a basket of fruit to the offices of the Daily Colonist, which noted: “To Thomas Trounce Esq. We are indebted for a basket of the largest, prettiest and best flavoured peaches we have had the pleasure of trying in this or any other country. They were grown in the find garden attached to that gentleman’s residence in James Bay.” In 1885, he sent off a basket of apples to the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London and was awarded a prize for his exhibit.

Trounce served as an alderman on Victoria City Council from 1874 – 77, and in 1885 became a Grand Master of Masons. His wife, Jane, who had travelled the world with him, died in 1888. Shortly after, Trounce, at the age of 76, married Emma Richards, a widow 27 years younger, and they honeymooned in Australia. Emma was a Methodist like her husband, and they attended the nearby James Bay Methodist Church. Trounce died on June 30, 1900, after an illness of two weeks. Emma lived until the age of 64, and died in 1902. Tregew survived demolition attempts by developers until 1967, when it was replaced with a 44 suite apartment building.

Trounce’s success was partly based on being in the right place at the right time, and also on his ability to move between contracting and architecture. His buildings were generally competent, workman-like structures, and those that survive are rare examples of British Columbia’s earliest architecture.

Building The West – Donald Luxton, Editor, Second Edition, 2007. Article by Stuart Stark ..pp 42-43