BODLEY, Alfred (1870- 1946) is best known for his work in the Seattle, Wash. area where he was briefly in partnership with John Graham Sr. in the firm of Graham & Bodley (active 1904-05). Born in Mount Forest, Ont. on 30 January 1870 he began his career in London, Ont. in 1888. By 1897 he had '..already large experience both in Canada and the United States' (C.A.B., x, May 1897, 90). In 1898 he moved to Victoria, B.C. to work as a draftsman and collaborated there with Samuel Maclure on the design of the Mount Baker Hotel in 1903. He is likely the same '˜Mr. Bodley' who entered the competition for the Carnegie Library in Victoria and was awarded Second Premium (C.R., xiv, 1 July 1903, 2). In 1903 he moved to Seattle where some of his important commissions include the mansion for John Leary (1904-07), First United Presbyterian Church (1906-07), and the Leary Block (1906-07). By 1912 he had returned to Toronto, working as a talented delineator from an office on the same floor as the architectural firm of Chapman & McGiffen at 59 Yonge Street. A watercolour perspective signed 'A. Bodley' showing a Methodist Church on Baby Point Road in Toronto and designed by Chapman & McGiffen can be found in the Ontario Archives (OA, Chapman Coll.).
Bodley later worked in Toronto for Sanford Smith (in 1914-16), for S.G. Curry (in 1916-22), for Wickson & Gregg (in 1922-29), and in New York City for Lord & Hewlett, Architects (1929). By late 1930 he had returned to his home town of Mount Forest. His name was removed from membership lists of the O.A.A. in April 1945. Bodley died in Mount Forest, Ont. in 1946 and was later buried at Mount Forest Cemetery (biog. in J.K. Ochsner, Shaping Seattle Architecture, 2014, 423; inf. Ontario Association of Architects)
VICTORIA, B.C., residence for Alfred Bodley, architect, McGregor Avenue, 1892 ( Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 3, 2021, 179-80, illus. & descript.)
VICTORIA, B.C., residence for Dr. Robert Verrinder, McGregor Avenue, 1896 (Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 3, 2014, 139-40, illus. & descript.)
LONDON, ONT., mansion for William J. Reid, Queen's Avenue at Wellington Street, 1897 (Daily Advertiser [London], 9 July 1897, 6, descrip.)
LONDON, ONT., major alterations to 'Norwood', for Charles J. Mills, on the grounds of Hellmuth College, 1897 (C.R., viiii, 15 July 1897, 2)
(with Samuel Maclure) VICTORIA, B.C., Oak Bay Hotel, Mount Baker Road, 1903 (Victoria Daily Times, 28 Feb. 1903, 1, illus. & detailed architectural descrip.; C.R., xiv, 1 April 1903, 3)
COMPETITIONS
VICTORIA, B.C., Carnegie Library, Yates Street at Blanchard Street,1903. Bodley was one of 6 architects who submitted a design, but all the entries were rejected by the Committee because they did not comply with the conditions (Victoria Daily Times, 13 June 1903, 1, and 16 June 1903, 3). He is likely the same "Mr. Bodley" who was given the 2nd Prize of $150.00 for his effort in this competition (Victoria Daily Times, 4 Aug. 1903, 3; C.R., xiv, 1 July 1903, 2). The commission was later given to Hooper & Watkins.
WINNIPEG, MAN., City Hall, 1913. Bodley teamed up with Wickson & Gregg of Toronto to participate in the competition. They were one of 39 architectural firms from across Canada who submitted plans in this national competition, but they were not among the five finalists (City of Winnipeg Archives, Council Communications, 1913, Box A169, Item 9741, list of entrants). The winners were Clemesha & Portnall of Regina, but their scheme was never built.