John Hamilton Gordon Russell
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John Hamilton Gordon Russell
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Born at Toronto, Ontario on 5 November 1863, son of James Russell (1830-1913) and Fanny Heath Russell (c1839-1910), he was educated at the Toronto Model School. He worked as a draughtsman in Toronto starting in 1879 then came to Winnipeg in 1882. He set up an architectural practice in 1895, and over the course of nearly a half century, Russell designed some of Winnipeg’s finest buildings. A Presbyterian church at Roslyn, Washington is also attributed to him.
He served as the First Vice-President (1906) and President (1910) of the Manitoba Association of Architects. In addition to his architectural work, Russell was Vice-President of the Winnipeg Mercantile Trust Company, President of the Manitoba Association of Architects, a Director of the Canadian Securities Company, a member of Manitoba Board of Examiners of Architects, and a stockholder in Monarch Life Assurance Company, Sovereign Life, Standard Trusts Company, Great West Permanent Loan and Savings Company, and Northern Crown Bank.
On 2 March 1898, he married Agnes McAlpine Campbell (1868-1943) of Milton, Ontario. They had three children: John Gordon Russell (1899-1983), Ruth McAlpine Russell (1903-2002, wife of Fred Walker), and Norman Campbell Hall Russell. He was a member of the Canadian Club of Winnipeg and the AF & AM. In 1911, the family lived at 237 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg.
Uncle of architect Gordon Leslie Russell.
He died at Winnipeg on 7 February 1946 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.
Some of his architectural works in Manitoba included:
Building
Location
Year
Status
280 William Avenue, Winnipeg
1897
McIntyre House (expansion)
123 Middle Gate, Winnipeg
1897
Osborne Street, Winnipeg
1898
Demolished (1962)
Wellington Avenue, Winnipeg
1898
Demolished (?)
121 Euclid Avenue, Winnipeg
1898-1899
Ashdown Warehouse (expansion)
179 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg
1899
188 Princess Street, Winnipeg
1901
212 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg
1901
Lang House (Lisgar Lorne Lang)
62 Roslyn Road, Winnipeg
1901
Children’s Home of Winnipeg (expansion)
198 River Avenue, Winnipeg
1901-1902
Demolished (?)
Hammond Building
63 Albert Street, Winnipeg
1902
Jubilee Block
215-223 Alexander Avenue, Winnipeg
1902
Demolished (?)
600-602 Main Street, Winnipeg
1902-1903
J. Porter and Company Building
368 Main Street, Winnipeg
1902-1903
Demolished (?)
92-100 Princess Street, Winnipeg
1903
70 Princess Street, Winnipeg
1903
Bright and Johnston Building (renovations)
137 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg
1903
Burrows House (addition and alterations [Theodore Arthur Burrows]
187 Kennedy Street, Winnipeg
1903
Demolished (?)
294 Ellen Street, Winnipeg
1903
159 Mayfair Avenue, Winnipeg
1903
Thomson Block
499 Main Street, Winnipeg
1903
Demolished (?)
657 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg
1903
444 River Avenue, Winnipeg
1903-1904
Starbuck, RM of Macdonald
1903-1904
Destroyed (2014)
592-594 Main Street, Winnipeg
1904
476 Main Street, Winnipeg
1904
94 Middle Gate, Winnipeg
1904
400 Hargrave Street, Winnipeg
1904
Central Park Block
389 Cumberland Avenue, Winnipeg
1904
Demolished (?)
Daylite Building (addition)
296 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg
1904
873-879 Main Street, Winnipeg
1904
168 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg
1904
Green and Litster Block
235-237 Fort Street, Winnipeg
1904
Demolished (?)
204 Colony Street
1904
222 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg
1904
545 Broadway, Winnipeg
1904
34 Carlton Street, Winnipeg
1905
Aikins Block (renovation)
221 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg
1905
669 Logan Avenue, Winnipeg
1905
251 Furby Street, Winnipeg
1905
Morse House (Frank Morton Morse)
515 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg
1905
Demolished (?)
Pilot Mound
1905
Demolished (?)
Broadway Avenue, Killarney
1905-1906
Demolished (?)
Bradburn House (Hector Halbertram Bradburn)
662 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg
1906
Demolished (?)
Clark House (J. D. Clark)
511 Stradbrook Avenue, Winnipeg
1906
93 Lombard Avenue, Winnipeg
1906
112 West Gate, Winnipeg
1906
543 Ellice Avenue / 476 Langside Street, Winnipeg
1906
Destroyed by fire (12 January 1977)
165 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg
1906
149 Pioneer Avenue, Winnipeg
1906
124 Nassau Street North, Winnipeg
1906
53 Harvard Avenue, Winnipeg
1907
Treherne
1907-1908
119 Sutherland Avenue, Winnipeg
1908
McMillan House (Neil Thomas MacMillan)
412 Wardlaw Avenue, Winnipeg
1908
Archibald House (Heber Archibald)
176 Roslyn Road, Winnipeg
1909
644 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg
1909
Galt Garage (John Galt)
221 Roslyn Road, Winnipeg
1909
Demolished (?)
36 Balmoral Street, Winnipeg
1909
Medway Court / Midway Court
307 Edmonton Street, Winnipeg
1909
Destroyed by fire (1 September 1929)
460 Main Street, Winnipeg
1909
119 West Gate, Winnipeg
1909
106 Osborne Street, Winnipeg
1909
205-211 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg
1909-1910
Demolished (1988)
Campbell Brothers & Wilson Limited
102 Princess Street, Winnipeg
c1910
290 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg
1910
579 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg
1910
Demolished (2024)
745 Westminster Avenue, Winnipeg
1910-1912
525 Wardlaw Avenue, Winnipeg
1910-1911
58 Middle Gate, Winnipeg
1911
535 McMillan Avenue, Winnipeg
1911
62 Albert Street, Winnipeg
1911
648 Burrows Avenue, Winnipeg
1911
Trust and Loan Building
173 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg
1911
475 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg
1911
Demolished (?)
301 Vaughan Street, Winnipeg
1911-1913
Campbell Brothers and Wilson Warehouse (expansion)
92-100 Princess Street, Winnipeg
1912
Great West Permanent Loan Company Building
356 Main Street, Winnipeg
1912
Demolished (?)
778 McMillan Avenue, Winnipeg
1912
Wesley Hall Annex / Sparling Hall
University of Winnipeg
1912
Williams House (John Williams)
2 Ruskin Row, Winnipeg
1912
92 Gomez Street, Winnipeg
1912
529 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg
1913
Crane-Ordway Warehouse
Isabel Street, Winnipeg
1913
Demolished (?)
Donald Hall (addition)
72 Donald Street, Winnipeg
1913-1914
Demolished (?)
655 Logan Avenue, Winnipeg
1914
400 Edmonton Street, Winnipeg
1914-1917
615 Academy Road, Winnipeg
1915-1916
Demolished (?)
145 Market Avenue, Winnipeg
1916
Popham House (Edwin Samuel Popham)
555 River Avenue, Winnipeg
c1916
Baltic Apartments (completion)
347 Manitoba Avenue, Winnipeg
1917
Royal Bank Building (renovation)
968 Main Street, Winnipeg
1918
Russell Telephone Exchange Building (brick)
Westbourne Street West, Russell
1918
Demolished (?)
MacMillan House (Neil Thomas MacMillan)
137 Kingsway, Winnipeg
c1918
464 Hargrave Street, Winnipeg
1919
235A Horace Street, Winnipeg
1919
Grosse Isle, RM of Rosser
1919-1920
Home Street Presbyterian Church / Home Street United Church / Home Street Mennonite Church
318 Home Street, Winnipeg
1920
Foxwarren Telephone Exchange Building (frame or tile)
Foxwarren
1921
Morris Telephone Exchange Building (brick)
Morris
1921
Newdale Telephone Exchange Building (frame or tile)
Newdale
1921
274-276 Garry Street, Winnipeg
1921
321 Manitoba Avenue, Selkirk
1921
Sidney Telephone Exchange Building (frame or tile)
Sidney
1921
Shoal Lake Telephone Exchange Building (brick)
Shoal Lake
1921
114 Fifth Avenue North, Swan River
1921
Gladstone, Municipality of WestLake-Gladstone
1921-1922
Demolished (1973)
Marlborough Hotel (addition)
331 Smith Street, Winnipeg
1921-1923
Arborg Telephone Exchange Building (brick)
Arborg
1922
Dominion City Telephone Exchange Building (frame and stucco)
118 Waddell Avenue East, Dominion City
1922
Fort Rouge Telephone Exchange Building (alterations)
628 Corydon Avenue, Winnipeg
1922
4025 Roblin Boulevard, Winnipeg
1922
Plum Coulee Telephone Exchange Building (frame and stucco)
Plum Coulee
1923
St. John’s Presbyterian Church (superstructure)
250 Cathedral Avenue, Winnipeg
1923
Treherne Telephone Exchange Building (frame and stucco)
Treherne
1923
Third Street West, Wawanesa
1924
Riverview Presbyterian Church
360 Oakwood Avenue, Winnipeg
1925
Wilson House (Robert Richey Wilson)
680 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg
1925
Elgin Telephone Exchange Building (frame and stucco)
Elgin, Municipality of Grassland
1927
Minto Telephone Exchange Building (frame and stucco)
Minto, Municipality of Grassland
1927
Gilbert Plains, Municipality of Gilbert Plains
1927
228 Roland Avenue, Grandview, Municipality of Grandview
1927
Knox United Church (renovations and addition)
Second Street, Belmont, RM of Prairie Lakes)
1927
1031 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg
1928
213 Mountain Avenue, Neepawa
1928
Demolished (1985)
Eastman Kodak Building
287 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg
1930
Demolished (?)
524 Sargent Avenue, Winnipeg
?
Ontario marriage registration, Ancestry.
Birth registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Winnipeg Tribune, 2 June 1899, page 6.
1901 and 1911 Canada censuses, Automated Genealogy.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 347/1903 [Burrows House Addition and Alterations], City of Winnipeg Archives.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 336/1906 [Bradburn House], City of Winnipeg Archives.
“Winnipeg’s big building development during 1908,” Winnipeg Tribune, 19 December 1908, page 31.
“Permits taken out for two warehouses,” Manitoba Free Press, 15 May 1913, page 19.
“James Russell died Saturday,” Manitoba Free Press, 13 October 1913.
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.
A History of Manitoba: Its Resources and People by Prof. George Bryce, Toronto: The Canadian History Company, 1906.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
The Story of Manitoba by F. H. Schofield, Winnipeg: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1913.
The Leading Financial, Business & Professional Men of Winnipeg, published by Edwin McCormick, Photographs by T. J. Leatherdale, Compiled and printed by Stone Limited, c1913. [copy available at the Archives of Manitoba]
“Tenders,” Russell Banner, 18 July 1918, page 11.
“Tenders,” Russell Banner, 25 July 1918, page 15.
“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 4 July 1919, page 15.
“Tenders,” Winnipeg Tribune, 30 May 1921, page 2.
“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 17 August 1921, page 12.
“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 29 July 1922, page 18.
“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 29 July 1923, page 14.
“Recent building and trade notes,” Manitoba Free Press, 6 August 1927, page 13.
“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 30 August 1927, page 17.
“Awarded contracts for three exchanges in telephone centres,” Manitoba Free Press, 17 September 1927, page 38.
“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 27 February 1928, page 22.
“Eight dead, 10 injured in apartment fire disaster,” Winnipeg Tribune, 2 September 1929, page 1.
“J. H. G. Russell architecture pioneer, dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 7 February 1946. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B9]
Banner County: History of Russell and District, 1879-1967 by Russell Women's Institute, 1967.
Obituary [John Gordon Russell], Winnipeg Free Press, 13 July 1983, page 49.
Crescentwood, A History by R. R. Rostecki, Winnipeg: Crescentwood Home Owners Association, 1993.
We thank Randy Rostecki, Grant Klassen, Nathan Kramer, Robert Hill, and Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 5 October 2024
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