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Charles Arnold Barber
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Born in Upper Canada (Ontario) in 1848, he apprenticed as an architect and opened his own practice in 1870. He moved to Winnipeg in 1876 and, with his brother Earle William Barber, headed the architectural firm of Barber & Barber which designed many buildings before, during, and after the city’s first boom, which ended in the early 1880s. Many of their buildings were ornate, often with Italianate flourishes. They designed the Winnipeg City Hall (1883-86) in Victorian eclectic style.
There were constant rumours of corruption and dishonesty against Barber, a rival architect describing him as “an artist truly whose canvas is that of cunning and whose tools are those of deception.” At one point, it is believed that he practiced with architect James R. Bowes.
Barber left Winnipeg in 1887 following a charge of election bribery, and returned in 1892. In Montreal in 1903 he and his wife were arrested for extortion with violence, and the court heard that they had behaved similarly before in many other cities. He was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. He died at New Westminster, British Columbia on 22 September 1915.
Some of his architectural works in Winnipeg included:
Building
Location
Year
Status
Central School No. 1
Ellen Street
1877
Demolished (?)
North Ward School
McTavish Street
1877
Demolished (?)
Graham Avenue
1880-1881
Demolished (?)
Ellice Avenue
1881-1882
Demolished (?)
146 Princess Street
1882
Facade part of Red River College
148 Princess Street
1882
Facade part of Red River College
150 Princess Street
1882
Facade part of Red River College
242 Princess Street
1882-1883
765 Pacific Avenue
1883
Demolished (?)
223 James Avenue
1883
Demolished (?)
Main Street
1883-1886
Demolished (?)
Main Street
1883-1884
Demolished (?)
218 William Avenue
1884
Demolished (?)
Maryland Street
1884
Demolished (?)
494 Main Street, Winnipeg
1884
Destroyed by fire (1979)
162-166 Princess Street
1892
Facade part of Red River College
See also:
Charles Arnold Barber, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
Death registration, British Columbia Vital Statistics.
Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.
Quiet Dignity: Aspects of Building Schools in the Winnipeg School Division No. 1, 1871-1928 by Giles Bugailiskis, MA thesis, Department of History, University of Manitoba, 1990.
Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.
Utility Building / Bawlf Grain Exchange II (164 Princess Street), City of Winnipeg Historical Buildings Committee, June 1979.
J. Bowes & Son, Architects in Ottawa by Elizabeth V. Krug, Bytown Pamphlet Series No. 73, The Historical Society of Ottawa, 2008.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 20 March 2024
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