South Oak Bay

South Oak Bay is a neighbourhood located in the Municipality of Oak Bay, British Columbia, to the south of Oak Bay Avenue and lying east of the boundary between Oak Bay and Victoria, British Columbia.

History

The neighbourhood was originally the territory of the Songhees aboriginal people who lived generally in the southeastern part of what is today Greater Victoria. In the mid-19th century the land that today comprises South Oak Bay was divided between Isabella Ross, Joseph Despard Pemberton and William Henry McNeill. The McNeill property was located between present day McNeill Avenue and McNeill or Shoal Bay

One of the early buildings in the neighbourhood was the Mount Baker Hotel, built in 1893 on Beach Drive and looking toward Mount Baker, Washington. South Oak Bay remains primarily residential, with a large area of the neighbourhood forming part of the Victoria Golf Club. Residential development followed the arrival of the streetcar, including the B.C. Electric line in 1890. Windsor Park was established in 1890 as the Oak Bay Recreation Park. The Victoria Golf Club, was founded in 1893. In 1895 the Victoria Railway and Electric Lighting Company established a bicycle racing track at what is now Windsor Park to encourage use of the streetcar system. Although residential development began in the early 20th century, much of the housing dates from the period between 1920 and 1970.

Oak Bay, British Columbia

Oak Bay is a municipality located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Canada, and is a seaside community. A member municipality of the Capital Regional District, it is a community east of and adjacent to the city of Victoria. It is one of the 13 municipalities of Greater Victoria.

Notable features

Oak Bay has several notable features which include:

Oak Bay (electoral district)

Oak Bay was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It first appeared in the general election of 1941 and last appeared in the 1975 election. Its successor is the Oak Bay-Gordon Head riding. For other ridings in the area of Victoria, B.C. please see Victoria (electoral districts).

Demographics

Notable MLAs

Several British Columbia Conservative Party leaders have represented the riding including Herbert Anscomb who was Minister of Finance and Deputy Premier in the Liberal-Conservative coalition government. George Scott Wallace represented the district in the 1970s and his successor as Tory leader Victor Albert Stephens was its last MLA from 1978 until 1979.

Electoral history

Note: Winners in each election are shown in bold.

The Oak Bay riding was redistributed and the new riding of Oak Bay-Gordon Head created. It first appeared in the general election of 1979.

Sources

Elections BC Historical Returns