CURTIS, George Dillon (1868-1940), partner in the Vancouver firm of Honeyman & Curtis, was born at Moville, Ireland, the son of Capt. James D. Curtis, R.N., and was educated at the Blue Coat School. He attended Finsbury Technical College in London in 1884-85 then moved to King's Lynn, Norfolk where he articled with a local firm in 1885-88. He returned to London to work as an improver in a local architectural office in 1888-89, but no information can be found on his subsequent activity until late 1897 when he emigrated to Canada and opened an office in Nelson, B.C. Curtis was a capable designer, thoroughly familiar with the classical tradition, a style he employed with skill in his sophisticated plan for the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Nelson (1898-99). He was also an admirer of the evolving Arts & Crafts movement in England, and brought his own interpretation to the style with his design for the Provincial Courthouse at Greenwood, B.C. (1902).
In 1903 he moved to Vancouver and formed a partnership in 1904 with John J. Honeyman (see list of works under Honeyman & Curtis). Their collaboration was a successful and prolific one, and they obtained several important commissions for provincial courthouses as well as for many private residences in the Shaughnessy Heights neighbourhood of Vancouver. After WWI, Curtis, a resident of North Vancouver, was appointed by that City to oversee the Soldiers Better Housing scheme, and he prepared plans for new detached houses in several locations, built for returning soldiers (North Shore Press [North Vancouver], 19 Sept. 1919, 1; and 26 Sept. 1919, 1). After the death of Honeyman in 1934 their office was closed, and Curtis retired from active practice. He died in Comox, B.C. on 8 September 1940 (obit. Province [Vancouver], 17 Sept. 1940, 12; D. Luxton, Building The West: The Early Architects of British Columbia, 2003, 206-11; inf. Architectural Inst. of British Columbia)
G.D. CURTIS (works in Nelson, B.C.)
BAKER STREET, at Hall Street, a brick commercial block of three stores with offices above, for an unnamed client, 1897 (Nelson Economist, 11 Aug. 1897, 6, descrip.)
JOSEPHINE STREET, at Observatory Street, residence for C. Rowley, 1897 (Nelson Economist, 11 Aug. 1897, 6)
OBSERVATORY STREET, a villa for Edward H. Applewhaite, 1897 (Nelson Economist, 11 Aug. 1897, 6)
THORPE & CO., Vernon Street, soda water factory, 1897 (Nelson Economist, 11 Aug. 1897, 6)
LATIMER STREET, residence for John R.E. Rowley, 1897 (Nelson Economist, 6 Oct. 1897, 6)
ST. SAVIOUR'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, Silica Street at Ward Street, 1897-98; addition to the chancel, and new transepts, 1907 (Nelson Economist, 6 Oct. 1897, 6; Miner [Nelson], 6 July 1898, 3, descrip.; Canadian Churchman [Toronto], 5 Jan. 1899, 7-8, descrip.; Daily Canadian [Nelson], 30 July 1907, 4)
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF MARY IMMACULATE, Ward Street at Mill Street, 1898-99 (Nelson Economist, 12 Oct. 1898, 6, descrip.; Vancouver Daily World, 26 Oct. 1899, 6, descrip.; B.C., Nelson: A Proposal for Urban Heritage Conservation, 1980, 164, illus.)
REISTERER BREWERY, Latimer Street near Ward Street, 1899 (Tribune [Nelson], 16 March 1899, 4)
FRONT STREET, near Cedar Street, residence for J.F. Weir, 1899 (Tribune [Nelson], 21 April 1899, 1)
BODEGA SALOON, Vernon Street, alterations, 1899; demol. (Tribune [Nelson], 10 Aug. 1899, 4)
HUME SCHOOL, Nelson Avenue near Anderson Street, 1899; demol. (Tribune [Nelson], 29 Sept. 1899, 1)
BOGUSTOWN [now called Fairview Neighbourhood], residence for Wilfrid Francis Brougham, 1899-1900 (Nelson Weekly Miner, 10 Nov. 1899, 3)
MILL STREET, near Hall Street, residence for G.L. Lennox, 1900 (Tribune [Nelson], 24 May 1900, 4)
ST. JOSEPH'S ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL, Mill Street, 1900; demol. (Tribune [Nelson], 30 June 1900, 1)
HALL STREET, at Robson Street, residence for H.A. Stewart, 1900 (Tribune [Nelson], 28 July 1900, 4)
HOUSTON STREET, at Ward Street, residence for Edward Clark, 1900 (Tribune [Nelson], 28 July 1900, 4)
HOOVER STREET, near Stanley Street, residence for Melville Parry, 1900 (Tribune [Nelson], 28 July 1900, 4)
G.D. CURTIS (works elsewhere in B.C.)
NEW DENVER, B.C., St. Stephen's Anglican Church, Union Street, 1899; still standing as of 2020 (The Ledge [New Denver], 9 March 1899, 1)
FAIRVIEW, B.C., Provincial Lock-Up, 1899 (B.C., Sessional Papers, 1900, Public Accounts, 114)
PHOENIX, B.C., a two storey block of stores and offices for A.F. McMillan, Knob Hill Avenue at First Street, 1901 (Phoenix Pioneer, 1 June 1901, 4, descrip.)
PHOENIX, B.C., St. John's Anglican Mission Church, for the Diocese of Kootenay, 1901; church closed after 1920 (Greenwood Miner [Greenwood], 28 June 1901, 1)
ROSSLAND, B.C., St. George's Anglican Church, Columbia Avenue at Monte Cristo Street 1902; demol. 1955 (Victoria Daily Times, 10 March 1902, 7)
GREENWOOD, B.C., residence for Mr. McMynn, Long Lake Street, 1902 (Boundary Creek Times [Greenwood], 26 Sept. 1902, 1)
GREENWOOD, B.C., Provincial Court House, Government Street at Deadwood Street, 1902-03 (Boundary Creek Times [Greenwood], 7 Nov. 1902, 1, descrip.; 3 April 1903, 1, descrip.; B.C., Sessional Papers, 1905, Public Accounts, 124; dwgs. at BCPA, Public Works Files, GR 54, Box 22, File 390; M. Carter, Early Canadian Court Houses, 1983, 185, 230, illus.)
PHOENIX, B.C., Roman Catholic Church, for Father Bedard, 1903 (Victoria Daily Times, 6 July 1903, 7, descrip.; C.R., xiv, 15 July 1903, 2)
VERNON, B.C., Beairsto Public School, 27th Street, 1909 (D. Franklin, Early School Architecture in British Columbia, 1980, 32, illus.)
PENTICTON, B.C., Ellis Secondary School, Eckhardt Avenue East, 1913 (D. Franklin, Early School Architecture in British Columbia, 1980, 30, illus.)