Memorable Manitobans: William Richard Marshall (1854-1909)

Architect.

Born in Scotland on 15 August 1854, he emigrated to Canada in 1879. Coming to Winnipeg, he apprenticed as an architect with James Chisholm then worked as a draftsman for Willmot and Stewart. In late 1882, he formed a partnership with H. F. Slater then moved to Brandon in late 1887 or early 1888. He and Walter Shillinglaw were the dominant architects in Brandon during the next ten years, during the construction boom of the 1890s. By 1898, he had moved to Victoria Island, British Columbia. He returned to Brandon in 1903 and worked there until at least 1906, later moving back to Victoria where he died on 27 December 1909.

Some of his architectural works in Manitoba included:

Building	Location	Year	Status
Hughes House (Joseph Henry Hughes)	Princess Avenue, Brandon	1888	?
Kelly House (Andrew Kelly)	Sixth Street, Brandon	1888	?
Nation House (Frederick Nation)	Lorne Avenue, Brandon	1888	?
Fraser Block / Chrest Block	1031 Rosser Avenue, Brandon	1890
Bank of British North America Building	1000 Rosser Avenue, Brandon	1890	Destroyed by fire (1953)
Brandon Electric Light Company	243 Tenth Street, Brandon	1890	Demolished (?)
Brandon General Hospital	McTavish Avenue and Russell Street, Brandon	1891-1892	Demolished (1962)
Brandon City Hall	818 Princess Avenue, Brandon	1891-1892	Demolished (1971)
Sandison House	RM of Elton	1892-1893
Beaubier Hotel	Eighth Street (southeast corner Princess Avenue), Brandon	1893	Demolished (2008)
Brandon Club Building	158 Eleventh Street, Brandon	1904
Arlington Hotel	541 Rosser Avenue, Brandon	1904	Demolished (?)

Sources:

1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

Death registration, British Columbia Vital Statistics.

Obituary, Vancouver Daily World, 29 December 1909, page 18.

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

We thank Robert Hill for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 1 June 2023

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