Samuel Buttrey Birds (1871-1960) was born in Morley, Yorkshire, U.K. and articled as an architect with the firm of T.A. Buttrey in Leeds and Morley. Between 1902 and 1907 he was a partner in the firm of T.A. Buttrey, his former employer.
Samuel Buttrey Birds emigrated to Canada in November 1907 and worked in Toronto for one year before moving to Vancouver in 1908. He maintained an architectural practice in Vancouver until 1923, when he moved permanently to Los Angeles, California.
Here is a partial listing of Samuel Buttrey Birds’ projects.
Samuel Buttrey Birds designed one building in Victoria. In 1912 he was retained by Quan Yeun Yen and Joe Gar Chow to design a “lodging house” on land between the Hart’s Block, 529-539 Herald Street and Hart’s Fisgard Building, 532-536 Fisgard Street.
Hart’s Fisgard Building, 532-536 Fisgard Street, with a portion of the Quan Yuen Yen building and the Hart Block visible behind it.
The Quan Yuen Yen building is still standing at 532 1/2 Fisgard Street. It is now condominiums and is accessible by a passageway called Blood Alley which runs between the Hart’s Block on Herald Street and the Hart’s Fisguard Building on Fisgard Street.
Portion of the Quan Yuen Yen building, built in 1912 as tenements between the Hart’s Block and Hart’s Fisgard Building.
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