Alfred Cornelius Flumerfelt (1856-1930) appears briefly in our book, From Devastation To Beauty: The Creation Of The Butchart Gardens.
Alfred Cornelius Flumerfelt was a leading figure in Victoria business and financial circles in the late 18th and early 20th centuries. He served as President of the Board of Trade between 1893 and 1903.
He was a friend and business associate of Robert Butchart. Alfred Flumerfelt and Robert Butchart were both members of the prestigious Union Club in downtown Victoria.
Jennie Butchart’s friend Kay Agnew recalled a memorable telephone conversation between Alfred Flumerfelt and Jennie Butchart circa 1926. Alfred Flumerfelt, a widower, was engaged to be married to one of his neighbours, a widow named Lola Grierson, who was also a friend of Jennie Butchart. According to Kay Agnew, Alfred Flumerfelt told Jennie Butchart of his plans to move into Lola Grierson’s house at 906 Pemberton Avenue and “run things.” “The only thing you’ll run in that house,” snapped Jennie Butchart, “is the water in your bath.”
Here are some more pages with information about Alfred Cornelius Flumerfelt:
- City of Victoria Archives
- Temple Lodge No. 33, Duncan, BC
Alfred Cornelius Flumberfelt served as President of the Victoria Board of Trade between 1893 and 1903. In 1892 he played a leading role in the construction of the Board of Trade Building, which is still standing at 31 Bastion Square in downtown Victoria. The Vancouver Portland Cement Company had its head office in the Board of Trade Building from 1904-1906. After the corporate headquarters was moved to 26 King Street East in Toronto in 1907, the Vancouver Portland Cement Company kept its Victoria head office in the Board of Trade Building until 1919.
Here is Alfred Cornelius Flumerfelt’s obituary in the Daily Colonist:
“CAPITOL CITY BUSINESS MAN PASSES AT 74
Alfred C. Flumerfelt, Financier, Here 44 Years, Passes In Hospital
HAD PROMINENT PART IN INDUSTRIAL LIFE
Alfred C. Flumerfelt, one of Victoria’s best known financial and industrial leaders, a resident of the city for the past 44 years, died 4:55 o’clock yesterday afternoon at St. Joseph’s Hospital, following an illness of three weeks, at the age of seventy-four years and two months.
CAME FROM EAST
Mr. Flumerfelt’s commercial life and industrial life began in 1875 in the little town of Cobourg, in Eastern Ontario, where he entered the wholesale boot and shoe business, in which he continued until 1879, when he moved to Winnipeg. Disposing of his business to Ames-Holden & Company, he became branch manager of that company for the Victoria district, coming to British Columbia in 1886. In 1900 he became interested in mining developments and industrial promotions.
BUSINESS CAREER
Mr. Flumerfelt was President of the Hastings Shingle Manufacturing Company; president, International Coal & Coke Company; vice-president, B.C. Fishing & Packing Company, Limited; president, Consolidated Securities, Limited; president, Pacific Coast Terminals, Limited, New Westminster; director, Founders Investment Trust, Canadian Bank of Commerce, Miner Rubber Company, Colwood Land Company, Trusts and Guaranty Company, Limited; Cassidy’s Limited, Montreal; Anglo-Canadian Corporation.
Mr. Flumerfelt was also organized for the Granby Smelting Company and founder of the British American Trust Company. In December 1915 he was appointed Minister of Finance and Agriculture when W.J. Bowser succeeded Sir Richard McBride as Provincial Premier.
IN CIVIC AFFAIRS
Mr. Flumerfelt took an active interest in community affairs and was president of the Victoria Board of Trade from 1893 to 1903.
He was a life governor of the Vancouver and Winnipeg General Hospitals and a former vice-president and director of the Jubilee Hospital here. He gave liberally to the endowment of a chair in civil engineering connected with the forestry commission. he also took an interest in the military life of Victoria and served as quartermaster, with the rank of captain, in the Garrison Artillery.
He was a member of the Union Club, Victoria; Vancouver Club, Jericho Club, Vancouver; Mount Royal Club, Montreal; York Club, Toronto; Colwood Golf and Country Club and Victoria Golf Club. In politics he was a Conservative and in religion an Anglican.
Mr. Flumerfelt was born in Markham, Ontario, September 26, 1856, the son of George and Cynthia Flumerfelt, and was educated at the grammar school in Markham. He is survived by his wife, living at 906 Pemberton Road, and two daughters, Mrs. Albany Ritchie, Santa Monica, California and Mrs. Geoffrey Jefferson, M.D., Manchester, England.
The funeral is to be held at 2:30 o’clock Tuesday afternoon from the family home, 906 Pemberton Road.”
(Source: Daily Colonist, 30 November 1930, pages 1,2)
Alfred Cornelius Flumerfelt is buried in Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria, BC:
