Description of Historic Place

The Edward Rising Residence is a wooden two-storey Queen Anne Revival residence with an off-center entrance and an upper-storey oriel window on the front façade. It is located on Queen Street within the Trinity Royal Heritage Preservation Area in Saint John.

Heritage Value

The Edward Rising Residence is designated a Local Historic Place for its architecture and for its association with its former occupants.

The Edward Rising Residence is recognized for being one of a collection of elegant wooden homes on Queen Street. After the Great Saint John Fire of 1877, the commercial buildings along King and Prince William Street, as well as in some residential areas, were restricted from rebuilding in wood. Property owners on Queen Street were permitted to build wooden structures and the street displays the finest wooden Victorian-era homes in the Trinity Royal Heritage Preservation Area. Built in 1888, the Edward Rising Residence is a good example of wooden Queen Anne Revival residential architecture from the rebuilding period following the fire.

The Edward Rising Residence is also recognized as the former home of Edward Rising, of Waterbury and Rising, Limited. The home may have been built for Allison Wishart, a ledger keeper for the Bank of New Brunswick, but by 1892 it was occupied by Rising. In 1878, Edward Lanthern Rising, in partnership with his half-brother, George H. Waterbury, began business with a retail boot and shoe store. Edward Rising managed the retail trade while Waterbury managed the wholesale end of the business. In 1881, they bought out the business of Ballentyne Brothers on King Street, and for a number of years they continued to enlarge their operations. Their wholesale business on Prince William Street dealt in boots, shoes, rubbers, etc., of all grades from the cheapest to the best, including the celebrated "Maltese Cross" rubbers. They dealt with all the leading lines of footwear in Canada, as well as footwear that was specially made for them. Their stock was one of the most complete of any shoe establishment east of Montreal. The trade of Waterbury and Rising was mainly in the Maritime Provinces and they had five traveling salesmen on the road. Dealers in the Maritime Provinces could obtain their goods here as cheaply as they could from Montreal and their orders were more promptly conducted at lower freight rates. When Waterbury retired, Rising was joined in partnership by his sons, Harold, Percy, and William.

Source: Planning and Development Department - City of Saint John

Character-Defining Elements

The character defining elements that describe the Edward Rising Residence include:
- wooden two-storey rectangular massing;
- rectangular 2/2 vertical sliding wood windows;
- bracketed upper-storey oriel window with hexagonal roof;
- floral design along the frieze band of the roof-line cornice;
- clapboard siding;
- fish-scale shingling on the oriel window;
- dentils at the roof-line cornice;
- single window over the entrance with Doric columns and a pediment;
- large tripartite window below the oriel window;
- brick foundation.

The character defining elements that describe the entrance of the Edward Rising Residence include:
- entablature over the entrance with scrolled brackets;
- two horizontal transom windows over the entrance;
- pair of wooden doors with glass panels.