Bethune, Robert Armour | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada

BETHUNE, Robert Armour (1855-1915) and Louise Blanchard BETHUNE (1856-1913) of Buffalo, N.Y. received the commission to design the Odd Fellow's Hall in VITTORIA, ONT. in 1886 (Building [New York], v, 3 July 1886, 3). Robert A. Bethune was born in Bowmanville, Ont. and worked as a draftsman in Detroit for Gordon A. Lloyd before moving to Buffalo in 1877 where he was indentured for five years to Richard A. Waite. It was there that he met his future wife Louise Blanchard, who holds the distinction of being the first professional woman architect to practice in the United States. She opened her own office in Buffalo in 1885. In 1891 the firm was renamed Bethune, Bethune and Fuchs. They are later credited with the design of a new hotel for Frank Babcock in LONDON, ONT., 1906 (London Free Press, 30 Oct. 1906, 1). Robert B. died in Buffalo on 17 July 1915 (obituary Buffalo Enquirer, 20 July 1915, 10), and he was predeceased by his wife who died there on 18 December 1913 (H. Withey, Biographical Dictionary of American Architects, 1956, 55)