CUTHBERTSON, Thomas (1848-1894) was born at Lowick Moor, Northumberlandd County, England in 1848 and was brought to Canada in 1860 by his parents who settled in Blanford Township. He worked as a carpenter and as an employee of the Grand Trunk Railway at Brantford, Ont. and '..studied architecture while at his trade'. In 1883 he entered the office of T.H. Goff, an architect of Woodstock, and later bought out professional business. In 1886 he formed a partnership with Joseph A. Fowler of Toronto, but it appears that Fowler chose to remain in Toronto to pursue his own work while the commissions in the Woodstock office of Cuthbertson & Fowler were carried out under the supervision of Cuthbertson.
His designs were eclectic and often highly mannered, incorporating Romanesque Revival features which had rarely been seen outside the large city centres of Toronto, Hamilton and London before 1885. A number of his drawings which survive reveal him to be a competent (though not an elegant) draftsman. In late March of 1894 he became ill from lung inflammation and died on 3 April 1894 leaving an estate of $4300 (obituary in the Weekly Sentinel-Review [Woodstock], 6 April 1894, 1). The Dictionary Editor is indebted to Mr. George M.H. Douglas of Springbank Consulting Engineers, Woodstock, Ont. for kindly permitting the writer to examine, and to photograph, the original drawings by Cuthbertson & Fowler which are currently in his possession.
T. CUTHBERTSON (works in Woodstock)
POSTAL STATION BLOCK, Dundas Street at Perry Street, 1884-85; demol. (Sentinel Review [Woodstock], 22 May 1885, 1, descrip.)
CUTHBERTSON & FOWLER (works in Woodstock unless noted)
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, Adelaide Street at Beale Street, major addition to nave, addition of a spire, and alterations, 1886; still standing in 2023 (R.W. Sawtell, History of First Baptist Church, Woodstock, 1892, 96)
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, Light Street, 1886-87 (Sentinel-Review [Woodstock], 21 Aug. 1885, 5; and 6 Aug. 1886, 1)
THOMPSON HOUSE HOTEL, Finkle Street near Simcoe Street, 1887-88 (Sentinel- Review [Woodstock], 28 Jan. 1888, descrip.)
BRIGHT, ONT., store for George Evans, 1888 (Sentinel- Review [Woodstock], 7 Dec. 1888, 1)
WOODSTOCK COLLEGE, Manual Training Building, 1888-89 (Evening Sentinel-Review [Woodstock], 18 Dec. 1888, 1, descrip.)
DUNDAS STREET METHODIST CHURCH, Dundas Street at Oxford Street, 1889-90; still standing in 2023 (Evening Sentinel-Review [Woodstock], 21 March 1889, 1, descrip.; C.A.B., ii, April 1889, 48; dwgs. in the possession of George Douglas, Woodstock)
BROADWAY PUBLIC SCHOOL, Broadway Street, 1889 (Evening Sentinel-Review [Woodstock], 1 April 1889, 1, descrip.)
INGERSOLL, ONT., residence for J.B. Jackson, 1889 (Evening Sentinel-Review [Woodstock], 25 April 1889, 2, t.c.)
BULLER STREET, at Graham Street, major alterations to residence for William Muir, c.1890 (dwgs. in the possession of George Douglas, Woodstock)
ALL SAINT'S ANGLICAN MISSION CHURCH, Winnett Street, c. 1890 (dwgs. in the possession of George Douglas, Woodstock)
BULLER STREET, residence for A. Laidlaw, c. 1890 (dwgs. in the possession of George Douglas, Woodstock)
EMBRO, ONT., residence for D.R. Ross, c. 1890 (dwgs. in the possession of George Douglas, Woodstock)
GRAHAM STREET, residence for Biggins, Clarkson & Co., c. 1890 (dwgs. in the possession of George Douglas, Woodstock)
DELATRE STREET, residence for James C. Waters, c. 1890 (dwgs. in the possession of George Douglas, Woodstock)
CHALMER'S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Delatre Street, a manse for the church, c. 1890 (dwgs. in the possession of George Douglas, Woodstock)
THOMAS ORGAN FACTORY, Brant Street, c. 1890 (list of works in Dominion Illustrated, 1892, 128)
JAMES STEWART CO., Tecumseh Street, factory, c. 1890 (list of works in Dominion Illustrated, 1892, 128)
DREW STREET, two houses for George Harwood, 1890 (dwgs. in the possession of George Douglas, Woodstock)
TORONTO, ONT., additions to residence for John Winchester, Jamieson Avenue, 1890 (C.R., i, 26 April 1890, 3)
AYR, ONT., Public School, 1890 (C.R., i, 19 July 1890, 1; dwgs. in the possession of George Douglas, Woodstock)
DRUMBO, ONT., Public School, 1890 (C.R., i, 19 July 1890, 1)
OXFORD COUNTY COURT HOUSE, Hunter Street, completion of the work begun by Robert T. Brookes, 1890-92 (Globe [Toronto], 19 Aug. 1890, 4; Sentinel-Review [Woodstock], 6 Dec. 1892, 4)
WOODSTOCK DRIVING PARK, Winnett Street, grand stand and judge's stand, 1890 (dwgs. in the possession of George Douglas, Woodstock)
CURRIE'S CROSSING, ONT., Methodist Church, Curries Road at Highway 59, 1891; still standing in 2023 (American Contractor [Chicago], xii, 6 June 1891, 41; dwgs. in the possession of George Douglas, Woodstock; Parks Canada, Canada's Historic Sites, designation statement 15 Feb. 1984)
DUNDAS STREET, store for George Coldbeck, 1891 (American Contractor [Chicago], xii, 6 June 1891, 41)
OXFORD COUNTY HOUSE OF REFUGE, 10th Concession, East Zorra Township, 1891-92 (American Contractor [Chicago], xii, 6 June 1891, 41, descrip.; County Paupers & County Houses of Industry, c. 1897, 6-7, illus.; C.R., ii, 11 July 1891, 2; dwgs. in the possession of George Douglas, Woodstock)
CENTRAL METHODIST CHURCH, Riddell Street, reconstruction of the interior, 1891 (C.R., ii, 15 Aug. 1891, 2)
WOODSTOCK OPERA HOUSE, Dundas Street near Light Street, for Thomas Carter, 1892-93; converted to the Capitol Movie Theatre in 1927; demol. 2011 (Sentinel- Review [Woodstock], 19 Sept. 1889, 1, descrip.; and 28 Jan. 1893, 4; dwgs. in the possession of George Douglas, Woodstock)
BRIGHT, ONT., Methodist Church, John Street West near Baird Street, 1892; still standing in 2023 (Christian Guardian [Toronto], 7 Dec. 1892, 772)
CHAPEL STREET SCHOOL, 1892 (Sentinel-Review [Woodstock], 18 June 1892, 4; dwgs. in the possession of George Douglas, Woodstock)
INGERSOLL AVENUE, residence for James Brady, 1893 (C.R., iv, 22 June 1893, 1)
EMBRO, ONT., Town Hall, Huron Street at Union Street, 1893; still standing in 2023 (Evening Sentinel Review [Woodstock], 3 Oct. 1893, 4)
MITCHELL, ONT., Knox Presbyterian Church, St. Andrew Street at Adelaide Street, 1893; still standing in 2023 (C.R., iii, 4 Feb. 1893, 1; Daily Advertiser [London], 3 Oct. 1894, 3)
PRINCETON, ONT., Public School, 1894 (C.R., v, 15 March 1894, 1)