Memorable Manitobans: Alexander D. Melville (1873-1949)

Architect.

Born at Fraserburgh, Scotland on 20 January 1873, son of William Gordon B. Melville (1843-?) and Sarah Noble (1854-?), he received training in architecture and civil engineering at Aberdeen. In 1903, he and his family moved to Winnipeg, where he set up an architectural practice in partnership with his younger brother William N. Melville, who had arrived two years earlier. They specialized in the design of municipal fire halls, being responsible for most of the ones in Winnipeg.

On 26 April 1899, he married Helen Ann Elfert (1879-1953) and they had four children: Gertrude Helen Melville (1901-1928, wife of Earl Gordon Braithwait), Williamina Gordon “Dolly” Melville (1902-1975), Barbara “Lena” Melville (1903-1946), and Alexander Burnett Melville (1905-1961). The family lived at 539 William Avenue. He was a member of the St. Andrew’s Society and St. Andrew’s Yacht Club. He had a summer home at Dunnottar Point on Lake Winnipeg, and was an avid curler.

He died at his Winnipeg home in the Winston Block, 4-914 Grosvenor Avenue, on 31 March 1949 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.

Some of his architectural works in Manitoba included:

Building	Location	Year	Status
St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church	Notre Dame Avenue at Nena (Sherbrook) Street, Winnipeg	1903	Demolished (?)
Fire Hall No. 3	56 Maple Street, Winnipeg	1904
Fire Hall No. 5	354 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg	1904	Demolished (2011)
Fire Hall No. 6	66 Pearl Street, Winnipeg	1904	Demolished (?)
Fire Hall No. 7	349 Burrows Avenue, Winnipeg	1904	Demolished (1998)
McRae Block	269 James Avenue, Winnipeg	1904	Demolished (1970s)
Scott House	200 Colony Street, Winnipeg	1904
Empire Hotel (renovations)	171 Main Street, Winnipeg	1904-1905	Demolished (1982)
Ashford Apartments	381 Balmoral Street, Winnipeg	1905	Demolished (?)
Brunswick Hotel	571 Main Street, Winnipeg	1905	Demolished (?)
Central Congregational Church (expansion)	374 Hargrave Street, Winnipeg	1905	Demolished (1936)
James Grant Residence	Balmoral Street, Winnipeg	1905
Dr. Robert Mackenzie Residence	Broadway, Winnipeg	1905
Bijou Theatre	Albert Street, Winnipeg	1905	Destroyed by fire (1979)
Boyce Carriage Building	316 Ross Avenue, Winnipeg	1905-1906
Glines House	55 Hargrave Street, Winnipeg	1906
Fire Hall No. 8	325 Talbot Avenue, Winnipeg	1906
Broadway Court	251 Broadway, Winnipeg	1906	Demolished (1982)
F. C. Patterson Residence	Stradbrook Place, Winnipeg	1906
Albert Thexton Residence	Stradbrook Place, Winnipeg	1906
Touraine Apartments	410 Ellice Avenue, Winnipeg	1907	Demolished (1986)
Arthur Stewart Residence	67 Harvard Avenue, Winnipeg	1907	Demolished (?)
Grand Opera House	818 Main Street, Winnipeg	1908
Fire Hall No. 9	1470 William Avenue West, Winnipeg	1909
Fire Hall No. 10	845 Sargent Avenue, Winnipeg	1910
Fire Hall No. 11	180 Sinclair Street, Winnipeg	1910
Fire Hall No. 12	1055 Dorchester Avenue, Winnipeg	1911
Fire Hall No. 13	410 Cathedral Avenue, Winnipeg	1911
Starland Theatre	626 Main Street, Winnipeg	1911	Demolished (1921)
Coliseum Dance Hall	225 Fort Street, Winnipeg	1912	Demolished (?)
Canadian Film Exchange Theatre	646 Main Street, Winnipeg	1912
Edisonia Movie Theatre / Colonial Theatre	608 Main Street, Winnipeg	1912
St. James Fire Hall	200 Berry Street, Winnipeg	1912
Victoria Theatre	300 Fort Street, Winnipeg	1912	Demolished (1930)
St. James School No. 7 / Linwood School	266 Linwood Street, Winnipeg	1914
Fire Hall No. 14	161 Lipton Street, Winnipeg	1914
Fire Hall No. 15	542 Osborne Street, Winnipeg	1914
St. Vital Fire Hall	600 St. Mary’s Road, Winnipeg	1914
Decker School No. 320	Decker, RM of Hamiota	1920	Demolished (?)
Oakwood School No. 439 (renovations)	Oak Lake, RM of Sifton	1921
Sperling Consolidated School No. 1488	Sperling, RM of Morris	1924	Demolished (2006)
Pollock Apartments	414 Edmonton Street, Winnipeg	1926
Baldur Telephone Exchange Building	Baldur, RM of Argyle	1928
Crystal City Telephone Exchange Building	210 Broadway Street, Crystal City, Municipality of Louise	1928
Elmwood Telephone Exchange Building	230 Martin Avenue West, Winnipeg	1928
Emerson Telephone Exchange Building	15 Main Street, Emerson, Municipality of Emerson-Franklin	1928
Roblin Telephone Exchange Building	130 Second Avenue NW, Roblin, Municipality of Roblin	1928
Roland Telephone Exchange Building	Roland, RM of Roland	1928
Souris Telephone Exchange Building	27 Crescent Avenue West, Souris, Municipality of Souris-Glenwood	1928
The Pas Telephone Exchange Building	154 Third Street West, The Pas	1928
Glenwood School (expansion)	51 Blenheim Avenue, Winnipeg	1928-1929
Dunbar Apartments	61 Furby Street, Winnipeg	1929
Elm Creek Telephone Exchange Building	Elm Creek, RM of Grey	1929
Binscarth Telephone Exchange Building	106 Russell Street, Binscarth, Municipality of Russell-Binscarth	1929
Cartwright Telephone Exchange Building	Cartwright, Municipality of Cartwright-Roblin	1929
Manitoba Government Telephones Building (addition and alterations)	19 Ninth Street, Brandon	1929
River Heights Telephone Exchange Building	413 Niagara Street, Winnipeg	1929
Apartment Block	Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg	1930
Miami Telephone Exchange Building	Miami, RM of Thompson	1930
Rivers Telephone Exchange Building	Rivers, Municipality of Riverdale	1930
Beausejour Telephone Exchange Building	Beausejour	1930
Transcona Telephone Exchange Building	101 Victoria Avenue West, Transcona	1930
Virden Telephone Exchange Building	560 Seventh Avenue South, Virden	1930
Manitoba Telephone System Building	166 Portage Avenue East, Winnipeg	1931
Telephone Exchange Building	Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1931
Elkhorn Telephone Exchange Building	210 Richhill Avenue West, Elkhorn, RM of Wallace-Woodworth	1932	Demolished (?)
CKY Radio Building	Headingley	1934
Swan Lake Telephone Exchange Building	Swan Lake	1935
Equipment Depot Storehouse (renovations)	1569 Orange Street, Winnipeg	1935
Hamiota Telephone Exchange Building	59 Fourth Avenue, Hamiota, Municipality of Hamiota	1936	Demolished (2005)
Norwood Telephone Exchange Building (additions and alterations)	235 Kenny Street, Winnipeg	1938
Teulon Telephone Exchange Building	52 Main Street, Teulon	1938
Boissevain Telephone Exchange Building	Boissevain, Municipality of Boissevain-Morton	1938
Stonewall Telephone Exchange Building	336 Main Street, Stonewall	1941
Selkirk Telephone Exchange Building (addition)	321 Manitoba Avenue, Selkirk	1941

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Melville Cottage (17 Melville Lane, Dunnottar)

Sources:

Birth and marriage registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 2 April 1928, page 18.

Obituary [Gertrude Brathwalt], Manitoba Free Press, 13 April 1928, page 5.

“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 18 July 1928, page 17.

“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 30 July 1928, page 43.

“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 16 February 1929, page 18.

“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 7 August 1929, page 15.

“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 29 August 1929, page 15.

“Plans ready for six new telephone exchanges,” Manitoba Free Press, 29 March 1930, page 31.

“New apartment block for Crescent locality,” Manitoba Free Press, 5 April 1930, page 29.

“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 21 July 1930, page 17.

“Tenders for work on new telephone block opened,” Winnipeg Free Press, 9 Jan 1931, page 2.

“Tenders - Main Telephone Exchange Building,” Winnipeg Free Press, 31 January 1931, page 13.

“Tenders,” Winnipeg Free Press, 7 May 1932, page 15.

“Tenders for radio station close Tuesday,” Winnipeg Tribune, 20 August 1934, page 3.

“Tenders,” Winnipeg Tribune, 3 June 1935, page 15.

“New dwellings on Wolseley Avenue and Arlington St.,” Winnipeg Free Press, 6 July 1935, page 11.

“Tenders for new radio station to be called soon,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 July 1936, page 3.

Obituary [Barbara Melville] Winnipeg Free Press, 20 September 1946, page 11.

“A. Melville, pioneer architect, dies at 76 years,” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 April 1949, page 18.

“Pioneer city architect dies,” Winnipeg Tribune, 1 April 1949, page 2.

“Social worker dies at age 74,” Winnipeg Free Press, 22 April 1953, page 19.

Obituary [Alexander B. Melville], Winnipeg Free Press, 7 April 1961, page 29.

Obituary [Williamina Gordon “Dolly” Melville], Winnipeg Free Press, 11 September 1975, page 39.

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

Glines House / Tremblay Apartments (55 Hargrave Street), City of Winnipeg Historical Buildings Committee, July 1989.

Winnipeg Building Index

Charlesworth4 family tree, Ancestry.

We thank Patricia Tennent and Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 25 June 2023

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