Memorable Manitobans: Samuel Hooper (1851-1911)

Click to enlarge

Samuel Hooper
Click to enlarge

Stone mason, architect.

Born at Hatherleigh, Devon, England on 1 October 1851, son of John Hooper (1821-1898) and Susannah Weekes (1926-1910), brother of James Hooper, he started a career in his uncle’s office where he studied architecture. He came to Canada in 1869 and settled at London, Ontario where he was trained in stone carving and monument work. His family all went to England in 1878, but he returned to Canada in 1880.

He spent one year at Emerson and came to Winnipeg in 1881 where his first work was that of a monument designer and builder, in partnership with David Ede. In 1893, having studied architecture in England in the office of his uncle, who was Surveyor of the Duchy of Cornwall, he commenced practice at this profession and was working again at Winnipeg at least by 1901.

In 1904, he was appointed the first Provincial Architect of Manitoba, holding the position until his death, when he was succeeded by Victor Horwood. Around 1906, Hooper joined Charles Henry Walker to form the architectural firm of Hooper and Walker. The practice was dissolved by early 1909. He served as President of the Manitoba Association of Architects (1908).

In 1872, he married Jane Ferguson Simpson (1855-1942) with whom he had six children: John Simpson Hooper, Edith Hooper (1881-1882), Olive Hooper (1884-1884), Samuel Lawrence Hooper (1888-1919), Gertrude Hooper (1882-1975, wife of Lee Higbee), and Nina Simpson Hooper (1893-1962, wife of Alfred John Webb).

In the fall of 1911, he traveled to London, England to consult medical specialists and died there on 19 October 1911. His body was returned to Winnipeg for burial in the St. John’s Cathedral Cemetery.

Some of his architectural works in Manitoba included:

Building

Location

Year

Status

Volunteer Monument

Main Street, Winnipeg

1886

 

Seven Oaks Monument

Main Street, Winnipeg

1891

 

St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Cathedral (new facade)

353 St. Mary Avenue, Winnipeg

1896

 

Bawlf House / Jasmin Apartments [Nicholas Bawlf]

11 Kennedy Street, Winnipeg

1897

Demolished (November 1976)

Grain Exchange Building II

156 Princess Street, Winnipeg

1898

 

Isbister School

310 Vaughan Street, Winnipeg

1898

 

Cass Block

279 Fort Street, Winnipeg

1900

Demolished (?)

Western Building

90 Albert Street, Winnipeg

1901

 

St. Mary’s Academy

550 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg

1902-1903

 

Victoria Hotel

First Avenue SW, Carman

1903

Destroyed by fire (2002)

Knox Presbyterian Church

341 Eveline Street, Selkirk

1903-1904

 

Merchant’s Hotel

383 Eveline Street, Selkirk

1903-1904

 

Winnipeg Land Titles Building

433 Broadway, Winnipeg

1903-1904

 

Carnegie Library

380 William Avenue, Winnipeg

1903-1905

 

Francis Block

501 Notre Dame Avenue, Winnipeg

1904

Demolished (?)

Morden Court House

Wardrop Street, Morden

1904-1905

 

Avoca Apartments

329-335 Sargent Avenue, Winnipeg

1905

Demolished (1983)

Glencoe Apartments

145 Scott Street, Winnipeg

1905

Destroyed by fire (1990)

Neepawa Land Titles Building

329 Hamilton Street, Neepawa

1905

 

Marshall Wells Warehouse

136 Market Avenue, Winnipeg

1905

 

MacDonald House

26-30 Avonherst Street, Winnipeg

1905

 

Central Normal School

442 William Avenue, Winnipeg

1905-1906

 

Manitoba Agricultural College

Tuxedo Avenue, Winnipeg

1905-1906

 

Adelaide Block

103-111 Osborne Street, Winnipeg

1906

 

Bardal Block

843 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg

1906

 

St. Boniface School No. 1188

St. Joseph Street, St. Boniface

1906

 

International Order of Good Templars Hall

635 Sargent Avenue, Winnipeg

1906

 

St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Chapel and Winter Vault

506 Osborne Street, Winnipeg

1906

Demolished (February 2024)

West Treherne School No. 537

Treherne

1906

Destroyed by fire (1958)

Garry Telephone Exchange Building

474 Hargrave Street, Winnipeg

1907

 

Fort Rouge Telephone Exchange Building

628 Corydon Avenue, Winnipeg

1907-1908

 

Tache School

Kenny Street, St. Boniface

1907-1908

Demolished (1963)

Black Building (expansion)

80 Lombard Avenue, Winnipeg

1907-1908

 

Carnegie Library (addition)

380 William Avenue, Winnipeg

1908

 

Industrial Training School

Portage la Prairie

1908-1909

 

Brandon Court House

1104 Princess Avenue, Brandon

1908-1910

 

Minnedosa Court House

70 Third Avenue SW, Minnedosa

1908-1910

 

Sherbrook Telephone Exchange Building

297 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg

1909

 

Vaughan Street Gaol (renovation)

444 York Avenue

1909-1910

 

Portage la Prairie Telephone Exchange Building

16 Royal Road South, Portage la Prairie

1909-1910

 

Glenwood School

51 Blenheim Avenue, Winnipeg

1910-1911

 

Burrows Court

230 Salter Street, Winnipeg

1911

Demolished (1980)

Cycel Court

193-197 Furby Street, Winnipeg

1911

 

Parkland Building

Brandon Asylum for the Insane, First Street, Brandon

1910-1912

 

St. Vital Municipal Hall

St. Mary’s Road, Winnipeg

1911-1912

Demolished (c1955)

Agricultural College Building

66 Chancellors Circle, Winnipeg

1911-1913

 

Agricultural College Powerhouse

33 Maclean Crescent, Winnipeg

1912

 

Agricultural Engineering Building

96 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg

1912

 

Engineering I Building

75B Chancellors Circle, Winnipeg

1912

 

Horticulture and Biology Building

35 Chancellors Circle, Winnipeg

1912

 

Tache Hall

150 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg

1912

 

Principal’s Residence

177 Dysart Road, Winnipeg

1912-1913

 

See also:

Samuel Hooper, Dictionary of Canadian Biography XIV, 505-6.

Sources:

“Tenders [Bawlf House],” Manitoba Free Press, 8 June 1897, page 5.

A History of Manitoba: Its Resources and People by Prof. George Bryce, Toronto: The Canadian History Company, 1906.

“Winnipeg’s big building development during 1908,” Winnipeg Tribune, 19 December 1908, page 26.

1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

Who’s Who in Western Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of Western Canada, Volume 1, edited by C. W. Parker, Vancouver: Canadian Press Association, 1911.

The Story of Manitoba by F. H. Schofield, Winnipeg: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1913.

“Samuel Hooper died in London,” Winnipeg Tribune, 19 October 1911, page 1.

“Samuel Hooper dies in England,” Manitoba Free Press, 20 October 1911, page 17.

“Nurses 4 of 1 family who die in 3 months,” Winnipeg Tribune, 9 January 1919, page 1.

“City architect dies in Alberta,” Winnipeg Tribune, 8 August 1940, page 3.

“Mrs. J. Hooper funeral held,” Winnipeg Tribune, 26 September 1942, page 24.

Obituary [Nina Webb], Dauphin Herald, 27 June 1962, page 4.

Pioneers and Early Citizens of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Manitoba Library Association, 1971.

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.

Samuel Hooper, FindAGrave.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

We thank Robert Hill, Murray Peterson, Jordan Makichuk, Nathan Kramer, and Ed Krahn for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 26 February 2024

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

Search the collection by word or phrase, name, place, occupation or other text:

Custom Search

Browse surnames beginning with:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z

Browse deaths occurring in:
1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024


Send corrections and additions to this page
to the Memorable Manitobans Administrator at biographies@mhs.mb.ca

Criteria for Memorable Manitobans | Suggest a Memorable Manitoban | Firsts | Acknowledgements

Help us keep
history alive!