S. George Curry Explained

Samuel George Curry
Birth Date:1854
Birth Place:Port Hope, Ontario
Death Date:1942
Death Place:Toronto, Ontario
Significant Buildings:The Toronto Club, Victoria Hospital for Sick Children, Hockey Hall of Fame

Samuel George Curry (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

width=28%Buildingwidth=8%Year Completedwidth=20%Architectwidth=10%Stylewidth=5%Sourcewidth=32%Locationwidth=7%Image
Bank of Montreal (since 1993, location of the Hockey Hall of Fame)1885Frank Darling (architect) & S. George CurryRomanesque RevivalWNorthwest corner of 30 Yonge Street and Front Street, downtown Toronto, Ontario
The Toronto Club1888Frank Darling S. George CurryPalladian, Renaissance Revival, Richardson Romanesque Style15107-109 Wellington Street West, Toronto, Ontario
Victoria Hospital for Sick Children1889-92Frank Darling & S. George CurryRomanesque RevivalW, 3College Street and Elizabeth Street Toronto, Ontario
John Kay Store - facade only1898S. George CurryRenaissance Revival1511 Adelaide Street West, Toronto, Ontario
St. George's Cathedral (Kingston, Ontario) -restoration after a fire [8] 1899-1900S. George Curry with Joseph Power Renaissance RevivalKing Street at Johnson Street, Kingston, Ontario
Highland Arts Theatre - constructed as SYDNEY, N.S., St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church [9] 1910-1911Curry and Sparling Gothic Revival40 Bentinck Street, Sydney, Nova Scotia

Notes and References

  1. Dictionary of Canadian Biography: 1921 to 1930, s.v. "Frank Darling"
  2. http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2007/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-4891.pdf 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. Web site: Hill . Robert G. . Curry, Samuel George . Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800-1950 . 4 March 2019.
  5. http://www.rca-arc.ca/en/about_members/since1880.asp RCAA members
  6. Web site: Curry, Samuel George | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada.
  7. Web site: 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)