VEREYDHEN, Charles (1820-1872), a native of Belgium, advertised himself as 'carpenter, contractor and builder' in Victoria, B.C. He claimed to have ' long experience in Europe and the United States, and a perfect knowledge of his profession' when he arrived in British Columbia in late 1858 (Gazette [Victoria], 6 Jan. 1859, 2, advert.). Within a few months of settling in Victoria he was being described as the architect of a major Public Theatre there, with a '....beautifully ornamented' facade and dress circle and gallery seating 1,200 patrons'. In 1869 he prepared a new map of Victoria, '....nearly ten feet long and nine feet high, and coloured with great taste' (Colonist [Victoria], 21 Aug. 1869, 3). His best known work in Victoria is the central portion of St. Ann's Roman Catholic Convent, 1871, executed in an Italianate style, to which James Teague and Thomas Hooper later added flanking wings. Vereydhen died in Victoria on 20 July 1872 (obituary in the Victoria Daily Standard, 22 July 1872, 3; D. Luxton, Building the West: The Early Architects of British Columbia, 2003, 485, 522)
BROAD STREET, at View Street, new Public Theatre, 1859 (Gazette [Victoria], 6 Sept. 1859, 3, descrip.; Daily British Colonist [Victoria], 27 Dec. 1859, 2, descrip.)
HOTEL DE FRANCE, Government Street, for Pierre Manciot, "....on the site of the old French Hotel", 1869-70 (Daily British Colonist [Victoria], 26 April 1869, 3, descrip.; 25 March 1870, 3, descrip.)
CORMORANT STREET, residence for Giraud Promis, 1871 (Victoria Daily Standard, 18 April 1871, 3)
ST. ANN'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CONVENT, Humboldt Street, 1871, central portion (Victoria Daily Standard, 10 June 1871, 3, descrip.; Colonist [Victoria] 13 Sept. 1871, 3; M. Down, Sisters of St. Ann 1858-1958, 1966, 68; M. Segger & D. Franklin, Victoria - A Primer for Regional History in Architecture, 1979, 210-13, illus.; Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 4, 2009, 74-6, illus. & descrip.)
J.P. FITERRE, 'a country wood cottage, on the Belastie farm, about five miles from town', 1871 (Colonist [Victoria], 3 Sept. 1871, 3 and 4)
DRIARD HOUSE HOTEL, View Street, addition of two stories, 1871 (Victoria Daily Standard, 12 Oct. 1871, 2, t.c.)
FORT STREET, at Moss Street, residence for an unidentified client, 1872 (Victoria Daily Standard, 10 May 1872, 4, t.c.)
METROPOLITAN HOTEL, for Warner & Ragazonni, 1876, which was built '....according to plans prepared by the late Charles Vereydhen shortly before his death' (Colonist [Victoria], 27 Jan. 1876, 3, descrip.)
COMPETITIONS
VICTORIA, B.C., Christ Church Anglican Cathedral, 1871. Charles Vereydhen was one of five architects invited to submit a design for this project, including 4 architects from Victoria, and a design from the leading British architect Benjamin Ferrey (1810-1880), of London, England. John Teague was awarded First Premium for his proposal (Victoria Daily Standard, 22 April 1871, 3). However, his scheme was later shelved, and the following year a new design by H.O. Tiedemann was accepted in January 1872 and completed by October of that year.