Notable Architects And Builders In Victoria History
Henry Sandham Griffith (1865-1943) was an architect who left a definite legacy in Victoria’s architectural history. His resume also includes numerous commissions in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Vancouver, B.C. Here is a partial list of his projects. Here is a partial list of his projects in Manitoba.
Henry Sandham Griffith was born in Oxfordshire, England. He trained as an architect from 1882 to 1885 with a firm at Reading and as a draughtsman in 1886 at London. He came to Winnipeg in the spring of 1887 and took employment in the engineer’s office of the Northern Pacific Railway, and later in the Land Titles Office. In 1893 he began to practice as an architect in Winnipeg, designing a number of commercial and residential buildings.
His surviving Victoria projects date between 1909 and 1915.
Here are some of his surviving extant buildings in Victoria, listed in chronological order of construction:
- 1413-1421 Government Street, currently the Plaza Hotel, built in 1910-11 for the Westholme Lumber Company.
- 919 Douglas Street, now the Strathcona Hotel, built in 1911
- 1601-1609 Douglas Street, the Fairfield Block, built in 1912.
The Plaza Hotel, 1413-1421 Government Street. originally built by Henry Sandham Griffiths in 1910 for the Westholme Lumber Co.
Strathcona Hotel, 919 Douglas Street. Designed by Henry S. Griffith in 1911.
Fairfield Block, 1601-1609 Douglas Street. Built in 1912 by architect Henry S. Griffith for Grant and Lineham
For more information on Henry Sandham Griffith, see:
- Biographical Dictionary of Architects In Canada
- Manitoba Historical Society
- The Griffith – Abstract Developments
For more information on Henry Sandham Griffith and other 19th and early 20th century B.C. architects, we recommend Building The West: The Early Architects Of British Columbia, edited by Don Luxton.
Book cover, Building The West: Early Architects of British Columbia, edited by Donald Luxton
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