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Donald Aynsley Ross
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Civil engineer, architect.
Born at Winnipeg on 26 September 1877, son of lawyer Arthur Wellington Ross and Jessie Florence Cattanach (?-?), he attended Upper Canada College and the University of Toronto from which he graduated with a BA in 1898. He received his engineering degree from the School of Practical Science in Toronto and then became a mining engineer in British Columbia.
He worked as rodman with the Canadian Pacific Railway in an 1897 survey of the Crow’s Nest Pass. From 1900 to 1906, he was a locating engineer for the Canadian Northern Railway. It was at this position that Ross oversaw the construction of the Pinawa Channel Dam on the Winnipeg River.
In 1906, he formed a partnership with Ralph Benjamin Pratt. Together they were responsible for the design of numerous buildings around Winnipeg. He served as President of the Manitoba Association of Architects (1924-1925). During the Second World War, he supervised several stations for the Royal Canadian Air Force.
In 1906, he married Maude Elizabeth Dwight (?-?) of Toronto. They had one son. He was a member of the AF & AM and Presbyterian church. In 1912, he built a large, brick home on Wellington Crescent.
He died at Winnipeg on 1 April 1956 and was buried in Old Kildonan Cemetery. He was commemorated by Aynsley Street in Winnipeg.
Some of his sole architectural works in Manitoba included:
Building
Location
Year
Status
Pembina Crest School (expansion)
1551 Pembina Highway, Winnipeg
1954
See also:
Manitoba Business: Pratt and Ross
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Ross House (186 Spence Street, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Ross House (484 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg)
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.
“Winnipeg architect dies at 78,” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 April 1956, page 5.
We thank Nathan Kramer and Manitoba Association of Architects for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 16 August 2025
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