Pemberton Holmes Ltd.

Corporate body

Pemberton Holmes Ltd.

1887 -

Pemberton Holmes Ltd. originated with its predecessor company, Pemberton & Son, a partnership formed in 1887 in Victoria, B.C., between Joseph Despard Pemberton and his eldest son, Frederick B. Pemberton. J.D. Pemberton died in 1893, and the company became jointly owned by Frederick, in the leading role, together with his brother, Joseph, who did surveying work. The Pembertons first described themselves as "civil engineers, architects and surveyors," but the company soon branched out and became one of the largest private mortgage brokerage businesses in British Columbia. In this era, mortgage lending by banks was not permitted, and mortgage money was scarce. The Pembertons successfully sought private investors in England, where capital was more readily available, and where investing in mortgages was deemed more acceptable. Company activities included real estate sales, insurance, investments and building loans, and property management. Other activities, added later, included stocks, bonds and securities, safety deposit boxes, real estate appraisals, and brokers for lumber and timber.

Pemberton & Son were active in real estate and investment in land and industries throughout the province, particularly on Vancouver Island, Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Kamloops, Merritt, Enderby, the Cariboo region and the Kootenay mining districts. Pemberton's major clients included Anderson, Anderson & Company of London; in 1886 that company began to develop a townsite at Alberni Inlet on Vancouver Island, selling lots from the original large land grant by Sir James Douglas.

The sale and servicing of fire insurance was naturally related to their mortgage business. In 1893 Pemberton & Son became agents for Sun Insurance Office of England. By 1900 they were agents for North British & Mercantile Insurance Company, and in the next decade they added the Scottish Union & National Insurance Company and the Home Insurance Company of New York. After his appointment as a notary public in 1888, F.B. Pemberton did notarial work, preparing documents for vendors and purchasers, drawing conveyances, and registering transfers of property to ensure they complied with Land Registry requirements.

The Pembertons were active in mortgages and real estate in Vancouver and North Vancouver in the growth period of the 1890s, and F.B. Pemberton opened a branch office of Pemberton & Son in Vancouver in 1910. This branch was acquired by its manager and employees in 1926; they incorporated as Pemberton & Son (Vancouver) Ltd. and became legally separate. Pemberton & Son (Vancouver) Ltd. was dissolved in 1953 after its business had been taken over by the newly-formed Pemberton Securities Ltd. This company used the Pemberton name but had no connection to the Pemberton or Holmes families.

In 1920, F.B. Pemberton was joined in the company by his son-in-law, Henry Cuthbert Holmes. In 1923 Francis John Dupont "Jake" Pemberton, youngest son of Frederick, joined the firm. In 1933, F.B. Pemberton, Holmes and Jake Pemberton decided to end the firm's partnership status and incorporate under the name Pemberton & Son Ltd. Holmes took over the presidency, and in 1944, the directors changed the name to Pemberton, Holmes Ltd. In 1946, they incorporated a new company under the old "Pemberton & Son Ltd." name in order to safeguard that name for future use. This new company remained a non-active subsidiary until 1986. In 1948 the company expanded its staff and services, sold the Pemberton Building on Fort Street (now known as the Yarrow Building), and moved to 1002 Government Street.

By the mid-1970s, the company received its income from real estate commissions and appraisal fees, insurance commissions, mortgage brokerage and collection charges, and rental collection charges. Their real estate department included an Industrial, Commercial and Investment (IC&I) group, a country and island group, and a residential group. The company had offices in Sidney and Ganges, on Salt Spring Island. According to its 1974 annual president's report, the company was also moving into areas such as foreign investment, feasibility studies, property and investment analysis, property development and subdivision, and commercial and warehouse leasing.

From 1965 to 1988, the company was guided by the son of Henry Cuthbert Holmes, Philip ("Pip") Despard Pemberton Holmes. In 1982, Pip Holmes proposed separating the business operations of Pemberton, Holmes Ltd. from its real estate holdings, in order to allow the business to pass to a new generation at an affordable price while keeping the real estate holdings in the hands of the existing shareholders. To accomplish this, in 1986, Pemberton, Holmes Ltd. sold to Pemberton & Son Ltd. all of the business operations of the company, comprising its insurance, real estate, property management, and mortgage broker business. The switching of names took place in 1987 (Pemberton & Son Ltd. changed its name to Pemberton, Holmes Ltd., and Pemberton, Holmes Ltd. changed its name to Pemberton & Son Ltd.). The officers and directors of the two companies were the same, and Pemberton Holmes Ltd. was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the holding company, Pemberton & Son Ltd.

The Pemberton and Holmes families and their companies supported charitable causes, contributing to hospitals, schools, and the creation of parks and greenbelt lands. In each generation, family members maintained an active interest in community affairs, politics, and city planning in Victoria.

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