Samuel George Curry
Born1854
Port Hope, Ontario
Died1942
Toronto, Ontario
OccupationArchitect
BuildingsThe Toronto Club, Victoria Hospital for Sick Children, Hockey Hall of Fame

Samuel George Curry RCA (Port Hope[1] 1854 — 1942) was a Canadian architect who practiced in Toronto as the junior partner of several of Toronto’s leading architects, among them Frank Darling and from 1892 Darling's partner John A. Pearson, Henry Sproatt, Francis S. Baker, Ernest Rolph and W. F. Sparling.[2]

In 1880, in partnership with Frank Darling (architect), he designed the first-place entry for the new Provincial Parliament Buildings in Toronto; through delay and politicking the design was not executed. Darling and Curry designed the former Bank of Montreal building at the corner of Yonge and Front streets (now housing the Hockey Hall of Fame) and the Victoria Hospital for Sick Children, on College Street, Toronto.

Curry, who was a member of the Toronto Architectural Guild[3] also worked on his own, designing the John McKay Store (1898) formerly located 36 King Street West and in the 1980s relocated at 11 Adelaide Street West, to form part of Scotia Plaza. The structure is an example of Renaissance Revival style and incorporates architectural terracotta details.

Curry is also associated with a few other firms, with Francis Spence Baker as Curry and Baker, from 1895 to 1897, with William Frederick Sparling as Curry and Sparling 1909 to 1917 and on his own 1898 to 1904 and in from the 1920s to his retirement.[4]

Curry was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.[5]

From 1902 to 1903 Curry was the Toronto City Alderman.[6]

Curry died in 1942 in Toronto.[7]

Works

Building Year Completed Architect Style Source Location Image
Bank of Montreal (since 1993, location of the Hockey Hall of Fame) 1885 Frank Darling (architect) & S. George Curry Romanesque Revival W Northwest corner of 30 Yonge Street and Front Street, downtown Toronto, Ontario
The Toronto Club 1888 Frank Darling S. George Curry Palladian, Renaissance Revival, Richardson Romanesque Style 15 107-109 Wellington Street West, Toronto, Ontario
Victoria Hospital for Sick Children 1889-92 Frank Darling & S. George Curry Romanesque Revival W, 3 College Street and Elizabeth Street Toronto, Ontario
John Kay Store - facade only 1898 S. George Curry Renaissance Revival 15 11 Adelaide Street West, Toronto, Ontario
St. George's Cathedral (Kingston, Ontario) -restoration after a fire [8] 1899-1900 S. George Curry with Joseph Power Renaissance Revival King Street at Johnson Street, Kingston, Ontario
Highland Arts Theatre - constructed as SYDNEY, N.S., St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church [9] 1910-1911 Curry and Sparling Gothic Revival 40 Bentinck Street, Sydney, Nova Scotia

References

  1. ^ Dictionary of Canadian Biography: 1921 to 1930, s.v. "Frank Darling"
  2. ^ Application for status under the Ontario Heritage Act : John McKay Store.
  3. ^ An August 1888 photograph of Curry with eleven other members is illustrated in Eric Ross Arthur and Stephen A. Otto, Toronto, No Mean City (University of Toronto Press) 1986:240.
  4. ^ Hill, Robert G. "Curry, Samuel George". Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800-1950. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  5. ^ RCAA members Archived 2011-05-26 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Curry, Samuel George | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada".
  7. ^ "Curry, Samuel George | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada".
  8. ^ http://www.dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/architects/view/1634 S. George Curry (architect)
  9. ^ http://www.dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/architects/view/1634 Curry, Samuel George (architect)
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