BERRILL, Ralph (1880-1955) was born in Birmingham, England on 4 November 1880 and articled in that city with Alfred Reading from 1896 to 1900 while at the same time attending courses at the Birmingham School of Art. He worked as draftsman for Henman & Cooper (1901) then moved to London to join Rolfe & Matthews (1901-02) as assistant before spending one year in office of Sir Frank M. Elgood (1903). Upon his return to Birmingham in 1904 he commenced practice there, designing several residences and hotel structures. While there, he later became a partner in the office of Daniel & Berrill, Architects. He emigrated to Canada in 1909 and worked in Montreal until October 1912. It was there that his talent as a delineator and designer was discovered when he submitted two 'Designs for Summer Cottages' in late 1912 (Canadian Builder & Carpenter [Toronto], iii, March 1913, 30-2, illus. & descrip.). He then relocated to Victoria, B.C. in January 1913 and formed a partnership there with Percy Fox (see list of works under Fox & Berrill). WWI intervened and their office closed in September 1914 when Berrill joined the British Army and became a commissioned officer, attaining the rank of captain after serving in France. Upon his return to Victoria in 1919 he continued to practice there until 1936. One of the students in his office was Harold M. McGiverin, a local artist who trained under Berrill from 1929 to 1932, and who became the client for the McGiverin Residence in 1929-30.
Berrill then moved to Ottawa after accepting an appointment with the National Housing Administration, a forerunner of the Central Mortgage & Housing Corporation for whom he was to later serve as chief appraiser in the loans division until July 1951. He died in Ottawa on 21 March 1955 (death notice Ottawa Citizen, 23 March 1955, 34; obituary in Victoria Daily Times, 28 March 1955, 5; biog. Directory of British Architects 1834-1914, 2001, i, 169; inf. A.I.B.C., Vancouver; D. Luxton, Building the West: The Early Architects of British Columbia, 2003, 420, 492)
Ralph BERRILL (Residential works in Victoria unless noted)
SAANICH, B.C., residence for Harold O. Simpson, Regina Avenue near Wascana Street, 1921 (Victoria Daily Times, 6 Aug 1921, 20)
ST. ANDREW'S STREET, near Simcoe Street, residence for John Corcoran, 1921 (Victoria Daily Times, 6 Aug 1921, 20)
WELLINGTON AVENUE, near Dallas Road, residence for Charles Conyers, 1921 (Victoria Daily Times, 6 Aug 1921, 20)
QUEEN'S AVENUE, at Cook Street, residence for Dr. George L.D. Frizell, 1921 (Victoria Daily Times, 6 Aug 1921, 20)
SAANICH, B.C., residence for Wilfrid Greene, Maplewood Road, 1921 (Donald Luxton & Jennifer Barr, Saanich Heritage Structures, 2008, 105, illus. & descrip.)
SAANICH, B.C., residence for George S. Eden, Wascana Street at Maddock Street, 1921 (Victoria Daily Times, 20 Aug. 1921, 18; Donald Luxton & Jennifer Barr, Saanich Heritage Structures, 2008, 201, illus. & descrip.)
SAANICH, B.C., residence for Freeman Hopkins, Oak Street near Vine Street, 1921 (Victoria Daily Times, 20 Aug. 1921, 18)
OAK BAY, residence for William H. Hart, Island Road at Hazel Street, 1921 (Victoria Daily Times, 20 Aug. 1921, 18)
OAK BAY, residence for James Shaw, Zela Street at St. Patrick Avenue, 1921 (Victoria Daily Times, 20 Aug. 1921, 18)
ST. PATRICK STREET, near Brighton Avenue, residence for Adne R. Graham, 1922 (Victoria Daily Times, 22 April 1922, 1)
CARIBOO DISTRICT, B.C., large summer residence for C.G. Cowan of Kamloops, 1922 (Victoria Daily Times, 22 April 1922, 1)
SHASTA PLACE, at St, Charles Street, large residence for William McIntosh, 1924 (Victoria Daily Times, 13 March 1924, 5)
NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C., Carlton Court Apartments, Third Avenue, 1925 (J.D. Scott, Once in the Royal City: The Heritage of New Westminster, 1985, 121, illus.)
OAK BAY, large residence for Harold M. McGiverin, Cadboro Bay Road near Beach Drive, in Uplands, overlooking Cadboro Bay, 1926 (Victoria Daily Times, 15 March 1926, 2; and 14 June 1930, 10, illus. & detailed descrip.)
OAK BAY, large residence for Charles Brown, Midland Road, 1926 (Victoria Daily Times, 27 March 1926, 1)
(with Jamieson Parker, of Portland, Oregon) ROCKLAND AVENUE, residence for Edward F. Pooley, 1928 (M. Segger & D. Franklin, Exploring Victoria's Architecture, 1996, 195, illus.; Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 3, 2021, 202-03, illus. & descript.)
DESPARD AVENUE [later Montgomery Street], residence for Gilbert Fraser, 1928 (Victoria Daily Times, 11 Feb 1928, 3; and 2 March 1928, 3; and 23 May 1930, 10, illus. & descrip.; Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 3, 2021, 183-84, illus. & descript.)
COOK STREET, row of duplex residences for H. Leach, 1929 (C.R., xliii, 13 Feb. 1929, 58)
OAK BAY, residence for the architect Ralph Berrill, Mountjoy Avenue at Central Avenue, 1929 (Victoria Daily Times, 12 July 1930, 10 and 14, illus. & descrip.)
OAK BAY, residence for Lieut. Commander Longstreth, of Coronado Beach, Calif., Crescent Road, 1929-30 (Victoria Daily Times, 9 Nov. 1929, 2)
OAK BAY, extensive alterations to residence of Frederick M. Beaumont, east side of Uplands Road at Dufferin Road, 1929-30 (Victoria Daily Times, 9 Nov. 1929, 2)
OAK BAY, residence for Seldon Humphries, Prospect Place at Beach Drive, 1929 (Victoria Daily Times, 5 April 1929, 15; and 21 May 1929, 1; M. Segger & D. Franklin, Exploring Victoria's Architecture, 1996, 167, illus.)
OAK BAY, residence for Col. Herbert T. Goodland, east side of Cadboro Bay Road, south of Lansdowne Road, 1929 (Victoria Daily Times, 16 Aug. 1930, 10)
OAK BAY, residence for Major F. Brooke J. Stephenson, Denison Road near Sylvan Lane, 1930 (Victoria Daily Times, 16 Aug. 1930, 15; inf. Jennifer Barr, Victoria)
RICHMOND AVENUE, near Gonzales Avenue, residence for Dr. Robert Hamilton, 1930; demol. (Victoria Daily Times, 16 Aug. 1930, 15; inf. Jennifer Barr, Victoria)
REGENTS PLACE, east of St. Charles Street, residence for Harold B. Olson, 1929-30 (Victoria Daily Times, 26 July 1930, 10, illus. & descrip.; Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 3, 2021, 197-98, illus. & descript.)
REGENTS PLACE, east of St. Charles Street, residence for William B. Wilson, 1930 (Victoria Daily Times, 3 May 1930, 15)
OAK BAY, residence for Major Joshua Rowland Kingham, Upper Terrace Road near Cadboro Bay Road, designed in "...the semi-Spanish style", 1931 (Victoria Daily Times, 10 Feb. 1931, 13, descrip.)
LINDEN AVENUE, residence for Ronald Whittington, 1931 (Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 4, 2009, 82, illus. & descrip.)
Ralph BERRILL (Other works in Victoria unless noted)
OAK BAY, hotel on Beach Drive for an unnamed client (possibly The Beach Hotel, Beach Drive near Margate Avenue), 1927 (C.R., xli, 20 July 1927, 54, t.c.)
BEGG MOTOR CO., Quadra Street, between Yates Street and View Street, auto showrooms and garage, 1926 (Victoria Daily Times, 10 March 1926, 1, descrip.; Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 3, 2007, 34, illus.)
CENTRAL MOTOR COACH TERMINAL, Yates Street, for Oak Bay Bus Lines and Hultain Bus Lines, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 15 Feb. 1928, 49; Victoria Daily Times, 7 March 1928, 4)
SAANICH, B.C., Wine Growers Co. Ltd., major addition of a large 2 storey warehouse at Lake Hill, 1928 (Victoria Daily Times, 18 Feb. 1928, 1, descrip.)
ESQUIMALT MUNICIPAL HALL, Esquimalt Road, a project won in a competition, 1929 (Victoria Daily Times, 19 March 1929, 2; M. Segger & D. Franklin, Exploring Victoria's Architecture, 1996, 196, illus.)
SHAWNIGAN LAKE, B.C., rebuilding of the old Koenig Hotel into a 'modern resort hotel', 1930 (Canadian Hotel Review, viii, June 1930, 29)
HAYWARD'S FUNERAL HOME, Broughton Street near Blanshard Street, extensive alterations for the B.C. Funeral Co., 1931; demol. (Victoria Daily Times, 10 Feb. 1931, 13; and 22 May 1931, 15)