Wilson Joseph Armstrong, a fourth generation Canadian, was born in West Farnham, Quebec in the 1830's. He was trained as a wheelwright. In the 1850's, Wilson headed for the gold fields by sailing down the Atlantic Coast, crossing the Isthmus of Panama and boarding another ship up to San Francisco. His wife, Letitia Breaky and three children, Mary Adella, Martha Jane and William Robert, would follow later.

While living in San Francisco during the gold rush, Wilson became a successful maker of much needed wagons, carriages and sleighs. He never intended to settle in San Francisco, because he wanted his family to be brought up under the British flag.

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Thus, as soon as the Union Pacific Railway pushed across the United States to the Pacific Coast, he returned to Quebec and brought his family to San Francisco by rail. From there he continued by ship to Victoria arriving in 1873. Soon after his arrival, Wilson began working as a carriage maker while living in Victoria.

Wilson later purchased 160 acres of land in North Saanich. This area of North Saanich was a mixture of old growth forest and meadows. A group of Chinese settlers, living near what is now Weiler Avenue, operated a charcoal business, and cut cord wood to be sold in Victoria. Wilson contracted with these Chinese to cut the trees down and begin the arduous task of clearing the land for farming.

Since the closest sawmill was across the inlet at Mill Bay, the lumber for the house was rafted to Union Bay (Patricia Bay) and then brought to the house site by horse and wagon. The farm was known as "The Maples" because of the sugar maples grown by Mr. Armstrong from seed brought from his native Quebec.

Wilson employed many of the local Salish people on the farm, and he became fluent in their language. Many wagons were made in the large building on the farm. The building contained all the tools of a wheelwright trade and its large doors remained open at all times. It was Wilson's boast that, "I've never closed the doors and I've never lost a tool!"