Description of Historic Place

The Judge Forbes Residence is a three-storey brick Classic Revival building located on Duke Street in Saint John. It is one of three buildings that are conjoined, and have a symmetrical appearance. This residence is the easternmost building of the three-unit complex.

Heritage Value

Judge Forbes Residence is designated a Local Historic Place for its architecture and for its association with its former occupants.

The Judge Forbes Residence is recognized for being one of a collection of residential Classic Revival buildings that were built between 1877 and 1881 after two thirds of the City of Saint John were destroyed by fire in 1877. Built in 1880, this residence is an example of a three-storey brick Classic Revival residential building from the rebuilding period following the fire. It is the easternmost building of a conjoined three-unit complex, each unit having a similar symmetrical appearance. The use of brick and the design of this building demonstrate that the city was going to be rebuilt as well or better than the city that was lost.

The Judge Forbes Residence is also recognized through its association with the past occupants. The first year of this building's existence it was Mrs. Younghusband's Boarding House but by the following year the building was vacant. James Gordon Forbes, lawyer, moved to Saint John 1882 from Nova Scotia. He practised in Saint John with partner, H. S. Sinnott, until Sinnott's death in 1878. In 1881, he was appointed Queen's Council (Q.C.) and for 5 years through the 1880's practised with Daniel Mullin in the firm of Forbes and Mullin. Beginning in 1895, he served on the County Circuit Court for Saint John County.

Leonard Percy Dewolfe Tilley lived in the Judge Forbes Residence for six years from 1903 to 1909. Son of Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley, Father of Confederation, he was called to the Bar of New Brunswick in 1894. Heavily involved in politics, Tilley was elected to the New Brunswick Legislature for the City of Saint John in 1912, and re-elected in 1917. In 1931, he was appointed Minister of Lands and Mines for New Brunswick, and in 1933 he was elected Premier of New Brunswick. Many events are worthy of noting during his political career, one of which is that he was the first member of the Legislative Assembly to move the motion that the French language may be used in debate in the Legislature. Letter Carrier Robert O. Causton lived here through the 1920's and 1930's.

Source: Planning and Development Department - City of Saint John

Character-Defining Elements

The character defining elements that describe the Judge Forbes Residence include:
- easternmost building of three conjoined residences with staggered roof-lines as they descend Duke Street;
- similar symmetrical appearance as the other two conjoined buildings;
- three-storey rectangular massing;
- brick exterior walls;
- rectangular vertical sliding wood windows;
- roof-line cornice with dentils;
- paired wooden doors with glass panels and transom window;
- rectangular sandstone lintels and sills in windows and entranceway;
- sandstone steps.