Phase I - Halifax Regional Municipality

Archaeological Resource Impact Assessment
Pre-development Assessment
Spring Garden Road/Queen Street Public Lands Plan
According to a 1931-1932 report by the Provincial Museum of Nova Scotia, by the time
the Hopkin’s Atlas was published, the Commandant’s Quarters were already at least three
quarters of a century old. Those researchers believed the house, now referred to as
‘Bellevue’ or the ‘Bellevue House’, was erected around 1800-1801 to serve as a
residence for the commander of the army. The property was purchased in 1800 by the
Duke of Kent from Captain Robert Duport for £900, likely the resident of the site as
depicted on the 1784 Blaskowitz map. That property, however, appears to contain a
larger house than Bellevue, suggesting the original residence was either destroyed or
modified to meet the needs of the military. 1885 newspaper journalists believed the house
was 120 years old 2 , suggesting the existing Bellevue House was indeed a modified
version of the property seen on the Blaskowitz map. Every commander-in-chief of the
army resided in Bellevue from 1801 to 1906 when the last Imperial forces were
withdrawn from Halifax 3 .
In 1878, the state of Bellevue was poor, prompting General McDougall to request a
different accommodation, noting its deserted appearance and its history as “probably the
only whole building now standing which was built by the Duke of Kent”, and “what was
thought an almost palatial residence having been little altered or improvised is now [an]
old fashioned inconvenient box” 4 . A photo taken by Royal Engineers sometime between
1870 and 1885 depicts Bellevue as the General would have seen it (Plate 2).
Less than a decade after General McDougall’s comments, the house was converted into
officer’s quarters, and subsequently, Bellevue was gutted by fire on the night of March
10 th 1885 (Plate 3). The two-alarm fire did more damage than it should have due to the
slow-acting local fire boxes, and though the fire started at 11:30pm, it took several hours
into the following morning to control it. The fire was believed to have started from a
faulty flue, originating on the second floor in the room of Lieutenant Fox Strangways 5 .
Bellevue was rebuilt during 1886-1887 6 , along with a new addition shortly after 7 , and by
1894 the house was receiving guests, including Lord Aberdeen, then Governor-General
of Canada 8 . Photographs of Dundonald Street in 1872 and 1896, taken from the roof of
the old and then-new Bellevue house, show the atmosphere of the city (Plates 5 and 6).
Beginning in the late 19 th century, this city block saw significant changes which ceased
abruptly. After 1892 and the destruction of the Drill Shed next to the study area (Figure
3.2.1-13), remarkably few new buildings were erected or removed until the construction
of the Infirmary. Figures 3.2.1-14 to 3.2.1-17 illustrate the stable environment of the
block through a series of fire insurance plans dating from 1895, 1911, 1914, and 1918,
while Plate 6 shows an aerial view of the block in 1921.
2 Morning Chronicle 11 March 1885 p.3
3 Report of the Provincial Museum of N.S., 1931-32, p. 43
4 Citizen and Evening Chronicle 3 June 1878 p.3 col.1
5 Morning Chronicle 11 March 1885 p.3
6 Halifax Mail Star 23August 1955 p.6
7 Report of the Provincial Museum of N.S., 1931-32, pg.44
8 Halifax Herald 21 August 1894 p.8
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