Carpenter, architect.
Born at Helen Mills, Pennsylvania on 6 February 1871, son of Edmund Crayston (1842-1920) and Amelia Crayston (1842-1910), he was educated at Ridgeway, Pennsylvania. He came with his family to Manitoba in 1888 and farmed near Glenora.
In 1892, he moved to Winnipeg where he worked as a foreman carpenter until 1901 then as a draughtsman in the architectural office of James Henry Cadham before taking correspondence courses to train as an architect. He opened his own architectural practice in 1911, retiring in 1928. On 14 January 1903, he married Elizabeth Adair (c1874-1962, daughter of Alexander Adair) at Winnipeg. They had no children. He was a member of St. Paul’s United Church and IOF.
He died at his Winnipeg home, 867 Bannatyne Avenue, on 14 June 1940 and was buried in the Brookside Cemetery.
Some of his architectural works in Manitoba included:
Building
Location
Year
Status
Parker House (John F. Parker)
194 Young Street, Winnipeg
1910
79 West Gate, Winnipeg
1911
424 River Avenue, Winnipeg
1911
623 William Avenue, Winnipeg
1912
277 Arbuthnot Street, Winnipeg
1912
531 Furby Street, Winnipeg
1912
590 Victor Street, Winnipeg
1913
677 Maryland Street, Winnipeg
1913
Linden Court
730 Maryland Street, Winnipeg
1913
Demolished (?)
Manitoba Medical College (expansion)
750-770 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg
1913
694 Sherbrook, Winnipeg
1914
Destroyed by fire (2022)
Woodbine Hotel (expansion)
466 Main Street, Winnipeg
1923
“Crowning testimony from prominent people,” Winnipeg Tribune, 25 January 1904, page 5.
Marriage and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 1972/1910 [Parker House], City of Winnipeg Archives.
Who's Who and Why, Volumes 6 and 7, 1915-1916, page 613.
“Father and son burned to death; fire destroys home,” Winnipeg Tribune, 21 December 1920, page 13.
Obituary, Winnipeg Tribune, 15 June 1940, page 3.
Obituary [Elizabeth A. Crayston], Winnipeg Free Press, 9 January 1962, page 23.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 18 July 2024
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