William Thomas (architect)
| William Thomas | |
|---|---|
 St. Michael's Cathedral (Toronto), begun in 1845 |
|
| Born | 1799 Suffolk, England |
| Died | 26 December 1860 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Nationality | English, Canadian |
| Work | |
| Design | Brock's Monument |
William Thomas (c. 1799, Suffolk, England – 26 December 1860 Toronto, Ontario, Canada) was an Anglo-Canadian architect.
Thomas was apprenticed under Charles Barry and A.W. Pugin as a carpenter-joiner.[1] His younger brother was the sculptor John Thomas (born 1813).
Thomas began his own practice at Leamington Spa in 1831 but in 1837 went bankrupt. In 1843, during a depression in the British building industry, he emigrated to Canada with his wife and 10 children to what is now Toronto, where his career flourished. He designed some of the finest Decorated Gothic Revival architecture in Ontario.[1]
He was also a city engineer[citation needed] in Toronto and across Canada. Two of his sons, William Tutin Thomas and Cyrus Pole Thomas, also became architects.
Thomas is sometimes inaccurately credited with the architectural design and the elaborate stone carvings on the Victoria Hall in Cobourg, Ontario. In fact, Kivas Tully designed the building and the fine sandstone carvings were the work of master stonecarver Charles Thomas Thomas (1820–1867), subcontracted by Worthington Brothers, a prominent Toronto stonemasons'. The work was completed between 1857 and 1859.
Contents |
[edit] Work
| Building | Year Completed | Builder | Style | Source | Location | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Paul's Cathedral, London, Ontario, | 1844–6 | William Thomas (Design) | Gothic revival style | [2] | London, Ontario |  |
| St. Michael's Cathedral Episcopal Palace | 1845–1848 | William Thomas (Design) | [2] | Town of Old York |  |
|
| Toronto House of Industry (Workhouse), - (Now used as the Laughlen Lodge for the Aged) | 1848 | William Thomas | Tudor-Gothic style | 11 | 110 Edward Street, Toronto, Ontario |  |
| St. Michael's Cathedral | 1845-8 | William Thomas (Design) | English Gothic revival | 200 Church Street | Town of Old York | |
| Guelph Civic Museum | 1847 | William Thomas (Design) | English Gothic Tudor-Gothic (originally built as a hotel and commercial building) | 6 Dublin Street | Guelph, Ontario, |  |
| Oakham House | 1848 | William Thomas | Tudor-Gothic architecture | 8 | 322 Church Street - Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario |  |
| St. Lawrence Hall | 1850 | William Thomas | Neo-classical Neo-Renaissance Revival | 2 | 157 King Street East, Toronto, Ontario |  |
| Brock's Monument | 1852-6 | William Thomas | Neo-Renaissance Revival | Queenston, Ontario |  |
|
| Old City Hall (Guelph) | 1856-7 | William Thomas | Neo-Renaissance Revival | Guelph, Ontario |  |
|
| Halifax Old County Court House, | 1858-62 | William Thomas | Italian Neo-Renaissance Revival | Halifax, Nova Scotia, |  |
|
| Don Jail | 1865 | William Thomas | Italianate architecture | W | Gerrard Street East near Broadview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario |  |
| St. George's Anglican Church (Montreal) | 1870 | William Thomas | Gothic architecture | Montreal, Quebec |  |
|
| Shaughnessy House now Canadian Centre for Architecture | 1876 | William Thomas | Gothic architecture | W | Montreal, Quebec |  |
| Church of St. John the Evangelist (Montreal) | 1870s | William Thomas | Gothic architecture | W | Montreal, Quebec |  |
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George Stephen's house
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His home in Leamington Spa
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Landsdown Circus, Leamington Spa, c. 1830s
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Grafton Villa, Leamington Spa
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Liberal Club, Leamington Spa
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Brandon Parade, Leamington Spa
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Victoria Colonnade, Leamington Spa, c. 1839
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Victoria Terrace, Leamington Spa
- Lansdowne Crescent, Leamington Spa, England, 1835–1838
- Wellington County Court House, Guelph, Wellington County, Ontario, 1841–1843. Castellated style of architecture, reminiscent of a medieval limestone fort.[3]
- Niagara District Court House, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario,, 1847. Classical revival style. (Now used as a theatre.)
- Norfolk County Gaol, Simcoe, Ontario, 1847–1848
- Church Street Row Housing, Toronto, 1848
- St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Hamilton, Ontario, 1854–1857. Gothic style
- Halton County Court House, Milton, Ontario, 1855–1857. Baronial-Gothic style. Crenellated towers, cut-stone construction
- Halton County Gaol and Court House Complex, Milton, Ontario, 1855–1857. Restored 1990
- Quebec City Customs Building, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, 1856. Classical style
- St. Matthew's Anglican Church, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1858. Gothic revival
- Granville Street Mall--Central Block, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1859–1860. Facades of shops and new pedestrian area, with Romanesque and Italianate detail
- Granville Street Mall--North End, Halifax, Nova Scotia, c. 1860. Romanesque and Italianate detail.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b "William Thomas 1799-1860". Ontario Heritage Trust. http://www.heritagefdn.on.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_1_6866_1.html. Retrieved 14 July 2011.[dead link]
- ^ a b Archdioese of Toronto
- ^ "Trust Wellington County Court House". Ontario Heritage>. http://www.heritagefdn.on.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_1_7544_1.html. Retrieved 12 July 2011.[dead link]
- H.M. Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840 (1997) ISBN 0-300-07207-4
- Jim Leonard, Charles Thomas: A Stonemason's Legacy Restored, SSAC Bulletin, Vol. 14, No 3, December 1989, Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada (SSAC).
[edit] External links
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