Born in England, he emigrated to Canada and was working as a civil engineer by 1871, but soon switched to architectural work. He moved to the United States in 1875 and worked at Minneapolis, Minnesota. In early 1878, he came to Winnipeg and designed many buildings before and during the land boom of 1881-1882, either alone or in partnership with Robert McNicol. From 1882 to 1888, he worked as an architect, contractor, and lumber dealer. His office was severely damaged in a fire in 1886.
His wife Nellie Louise Kenway died in May 1885 at the age of 35 years and was buried in the Stony Mountain Cemetery. He left Winnipeg to take a position as supervising architect with the federal Department of Public Works at Lethbridge, NWT (now Alberta). By 1889, he was in Vancouver as a supervising architect for the provincial government. He moved to Tacoma, Washington in 1892 then to Seattle in 1899. He worked in various businesses there then returned to Tacoma, where he died on 6 November 1909.
Some of his architectural works in Manitoba included:
Building
Location
Year
Status
Radiger Block
Main Street near Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg
1878
Morris Block
Main Street near Portage Avenue, Winnipeg
1880
Demolished (1975)
J. S. Dennis Residence
Hargrave Street, Winnipeg
1880
353 St. Mary Avenue, Winnipeg
1880
rue de la Cathedrale, St. Boniface
1880-1881
Destroyed by fire (1922)
Hudson’s Bay Company Store
Main Street at York Avenue, Winnipeg
1880-1881
Demolished (1930)
Bank of Montreal Building
346 Main Street, Winnipeg
1880-1881
Demolished (1973)
Manitoba Club Building
Garry Street, Winnipeg
1881
Demolished (?)
H. M. Howell Residence
Carlton Street, Winnipeg
1881
J. S. Lynch Residence
Garry Street, Winnipeg
1881
McMicken Block
Main Street, Winnipeg
1881
Knox Presbyterian Church
Portage Avenue at Fort Street
1884
Demolished (?)
Death registration [Nellie Louise Kenway], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.
We thank Lise Markus for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 24 January 2020
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