BLACKER, Henry (1850-1890) was born in England and arrived in Lambton County, Ontario in 1874. He styled himself as a builder and contractor, working in partnership with the Scott Brothers (Sarnia Observer, 25 Feb. 1876, 2, advert.). After 1880 there is evidence that he prepared plans for many of the structures which he also undertook to build. He operated the Sarnia Marble & Stone Works where he carved, and probably designed, monuments for cemeteries in the Lambton County region (Sarnia Observer, 13 Oct. 1882, 3). In 1884 he developed a skillful and audacious Gothic design for St. George's Anglican Church, Sarnia, and he may be rightfully credited with many of the designs for commercial buildings erected on Front Street in Sarnia between 1880 and 1890. At the time of his death in Sarnia on 1 March 1890 it was said that '...the Catholic and Episcopal Churches, and many of our best and most attractive looking stores and residences in town and country remain as samples of his architectural skill and mechanical ability' (obituary in the Sarnia Observer, 7 March 1890, 5; inf. Sarnia Public Library).
SARNIA
VAN STADEN HUB & SPOKE WORKS, 1882 (Sarnia Observer, 30 Dec. 1881, 5)
ST. GEORGE'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, Vidal Street at Charlotte Street, 1883-84; Sunday School 1888; all still standing in 2023 (Sarnia Observer, 20 June 1884, 1, descrip.; 25 May 1888, 5; 18 Jan. 1889, 1; Canadian Churchman, 9 Dec. 1897, 761; Register of Sarnia Heritage Property, 2010, illus. & descrip.)
LONDON ROAD, Sarnia Township, Concession 6, Part Lot 8, residence for Benjamin Beatty, 1884; still standing in 2023 (Sarnia Observer, 11 April 1884, 7, t.c.; Register of Sarnia Heritage Property, 2010, illus. & descrip.)
FRONT STREET NORTH, at Cromwell Street, a 2 storey commercial block of three stores, for Joseph Cherney, 1885; still standing in 2023 (Sarnia Observer, 10 April 1885, 5; Register of Sarnia Heritage Property, 2010, illus. & descrip.)
CAMERON BLOCK, new facade and extensive alterations for the Lambton Loan & Investment Co., 1885 (Sarnia Observer, 28 Aug. 1885, 5)
FRONT STREET, store for Charles Mackenzie, 1886 (Sarnia Observer, 27 April 1886, 5)
FRONT STREET, commercial block for W.B. Clark, 1886 (Sarnia Observer, 23 July 1886, 1, descrip.)
FRONT STREET, commercial block of six stores for James King, 1886 (Sarnia Observer, 15 Oct. 1886, 5)
GEORGE STREET, residence for Henry Blacker, architect, 1887; still standing in 2023 (Sarnia Observer, 22 July 1887, 5; Register of Sarnia Heritage Property, 2010, illus. & descrip.)
LONDON ROAD, near Fleming Street, residence for Frederick W. Kittermaster, 1888; altered c. 1950, but still standing as of 2020, and often called "the house with the sundial" mounted on the facade (Sarnia Observer, 25 May 1888, 5, descrip.; inf. Ian Mason, John Rochon, Sarnia)
ELSEWHERE
CORUNNA, ONT., Methodist Church, 1881; demol. June 1927 (Sarnia Observer, 15 April 1881, 5, t.c.)
WANSTEAD, ONT., Anglican Church, 1886-87; demol. c. 1958 (Watford Guide-Advocate, 14 Jan. 1887, 1)
FOREST, ONT., Christ Church (Anglican), 1888 (The First Fifty Years of the Church of England in Forest, 1861-1911, 8)