WEBSTER, David (1880-1952), a leading architect in Saskatoon, Sask. and designer of some of the most distinctive early educational buildings in western Canada. Born in Scotland on 24 May 1880, he studied at the Glasgow Technical College in 1899-1901, then emigrated to Canada in 1902 where he found work as an apprentice in Winnipeg at the office of Sproatt, Rolph & Chrysler, which was the western branch office of the leading Toronto firm of Sproatt & Rolph. He spent one year with that firm, then worked for four years in the office of Herbert Rugh of Winnipeg in 1903-07. He moved to Saskatoon and opened his own office there in December 1907. In June 1908 he formed a partnership with Joseph H. Noel, but their collaboration ended in late 1909, and Webster continued practise under his own name for the next twenty years. One of the pupils in his office during the period of 1912 to 1914 was Charles Henry Phillips, a young architect from Devonport, England, who died in June 1915 in France (biog. & port. Saskatoon Daily Star, 11 June 1915, 3; inf. Robert Hamilton, of Hamilton, Ont.)
Webster was a master of the English Tudor style, which he used to great effect in his designs for ten substantial public school commissions in Saskatoon, all built within a period of four years from 1909 to 1913. He deployed an elegant repertoire of stone and brick detailing which drew heavily on English precedent, and frequently duplicated his best school designs in different locations in the city. His plans for King Edward School (1911-12) were a virtual copy of his plan for Albert Public School (1911-12). His most imposing school design is that for King George Public School (1912-13) which closely resembled his design for Westmount Public School executed in the same year (1912-13). These landmarks have a strong formal symmetry, and a monumental dignity and presence rarely attained in early 20th C. architecture in the prairie provinces. Webster was one of the few western Canadian architects to outline his personal philosophy of architecture as an art, not merely a business. He presented his views in a lengthy speech in Saskatoon in May 1920 (Saskatoon Daily Star, 25 May 1920, 3).
At the outbreak of WWI, Webster closed his Saskatoon office and went overseas with the 53rd Battalion and served in France. He was wounded in late 1917 and returned to Canada in early 1918, then re-opened his office in Saskatoon in 1919. In August 1919 he was one of eight architects from across Canada who were invited to submit a design for the War Memorial Museum & Hall of Honour in Regina. His elaborate and refined Edwardian design was illustrated and described in the Toronto journal called Construction, xii, Sept. 1919, 284-85, 288-90. The jurors set aside his impressive submission however, and selected the Montreal firm of Nobbs & Hyde as winners, but their scheme was never built.
Webster was one of he founding members of the Sask. Association of Architects and was registered as Member No. 001 in that organization in February 1912, and he later served as President of the SAA in 1919-20. He was also elected as Associate Member of the Royal Inst. of British Architects in London, England in June 1912. After the stock market crash of October 1929, Webster invited the Regina architect Edward J. Gilbert to form a new partnership in Saskatoon called Webster & Gilbert, Architects & Engineers (Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 5 April 1930, 3; R.A.I.C. Journal, vii, May 1930, xxvii). Over the next ten years, their firm obtained several commissions for institutional, educational and commercial buildings throughout central Saskatchewan, and their firm survived the downturn in the national economy. When David Webster was appointed Deputy Minister of Public Works for Saskatchewan in April 1939 he moved to Regina, leaving his son, John C. Webster, also an architect, in Saskatoon in the partnership with Gilbert, thus retaining the original name of the practise (see list of works under John C. Webster). David Webster remained in Regina with the D.P.W. until September 1948, but was asked to continue in the post until his official retirement in December 1950.
Webster died in Saskatoon on 1 January 1952 (obituary Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 2 Jan. 1952, 3 and 6; obit. Regina Leader-Post, 2 Jan. 1952, 3; biog. and list of buildings by Webster in H.J. Boam, The Prairie Provinces of Canada, 1914, 194-95, illus.; biog. Pioneers and Prominent People of Saskatchewan, 1924, 307-08; biog. and port. in The National Reference Book, iii, 1929-30, 452; biog. In E.J. Gilbert, Up The Years with the S.A.A., 1969, 21; essay on Webster by Brock Silversides in “Saskatoon Architects 1905-1920” in Saskatoon History, No. 3, 1985, 28-30; biog. Royal Institute of British Architects, Directory of British Architects 1834-1914, 2001, vol. ii, 948; inf. Sask. Association of Architects, Regina; inf. Frank Korvemaker, Regina). A photographic portrait of Webster taken in 1913 was published in the Saskatchewan Assoc. of Architects First Annual Yearbook in 1913. A copy of this publication is now held in the Rare Book Room of the Univ. of Regina Library. Another photographic portrait of Webster from c. 1937 was published in Star-Phoenix [Saskatoon], 18 Nov 1937, 11. A later photographic portrait of Webster, taken c. 1940, is held at the Sask. Archives Board, Regina, Acc. RA 6420.
D. WEBSTER (works in Saskatoon unless noted)
ALEXANDRA PUBLIC SCHOOL, Avenue G near 20th Street, major addition, 1908, a commission won by Webster in a competition (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 24 April 1908, 6; and 28 Nov. 1908, 10, descrip.; C.R., xix, 13 May 1908, 29; Morning Leader [Regina], 19 June 1909, Saskatoon Supplement)
WEBSTER & NOEL (works in Saskatoon unless noted)
3RD AVENUE NORTH, at 24th Street East, residence for James A. Aiken, 1908 (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 9 July 1908, 5, t.c.)
NUTANA, residence for Albert E. Young, Victoria Avenue near 11th Street, ".....on the river bank", 1908 (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 21 Aug. 1908, 4, descrip.; and 28 Aug. 1908, 5, t.c.)
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, 3rd Avenue at 21st Street, 1908 (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 10 Sept. 1908, 1; C.R., xxii, 16 Sept. 1908, 27)
5TH AVENUE NORTH, near 24th Street East, residence for Alfred H. Gebbie, 1908 (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 6 Oct. 1908, 6, t.c.; C.R., xxii, 21 Oct. 1908, 27, t.c.)
ROGERS FRUIT CO.LTD., 1st Avenue, warehouse, 1908 (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 20 Aug. 1908, 5, t.c.; and 29 Aug. 1908, 1, descrip.; C.R., xxii, 21 Oct. 1908, 28)
AVENUE C SOUTH, opposite Isinger Park, residence for James W. Alcock, 1908 (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 22 Sept. 1908, 6; C.R., xxii, 28 Oct. 1908, 23)
5TH AVENUE NORTH, near 24th Street East, residence for Nicholas Benolken, 1909 (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 8 April 1909, 7, t.c.)
CASWELL HILL, residence for Alexander M. Gibb, Avenue B North at Charles Street, 1909 (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 19 April 1909, 8, t.c.)
5TH AVENUE NORTH, at 24th Street East, a mansion for Charles H. Wentz, "...costing $34,000", 1909 (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 5 May 1909, 8)
unnamed town, located "...north of the city", a residence for Hugh Hodge, 1909 (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 5 May 1909, 8)
CALDER BLOCK, 2nd Avenue South, at 22nd Street East, for Sheriff Leonard G. Calder, 1909 (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 28 May 1909, 7, t.c.)
KEMPTHORNE BLOCK, 2nd Avenue South near 21st Street East, a three storey commercial block for S.T. Kempthorne, 1909-10 (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 8 April 1909, 7, t.c.; and 24 April 1909, 1, descrip.; and 16 June 1909, 9, descrip.)
EARLY & EARLY BLOCK, 20th Street East, near Avenue C. South, commercial block for Spencer A. Early and J. Hunter Early, 1909 (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 19 June 1909, 9, t.c.)
TUDHOPE & ANDERSON CO., Avenue A near 21st Street, warehouse, 1909 (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 13 Oct. 1909, 8, t.c.)
HUMBOLDT, SASK., Indoor Skating & Curling Arena, 1909 (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 13 Oct. 1909, 8, descrip.)
D. WEBSTER (works in Saskatoon unless noted)
NUTANA COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE, 11th Street East at Victoria Avenue, 1909; major addition, 1919-20 (C.R., xxxiii, 12 Nov. 1919, 47; Saskatoon Daily Star, 30 Oct. 1919, 15, descriip.; inf. Saskatoon Public School Board)
CASWELL HILL PUBLIC SCHOOL, 30th Street at Avenue B, 1910; addition, 1930 (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 30 March 1910, 1; C.R., xliv, 12 Feb. 1930, 60; Sask. Association of Architects, Historic Architecture of Saskatchwan, 1986, 146, illus.)
ALBERT PUBLIC SCHOOL, Clarence Avenue South at 12th Street East, 1911-12 (inf. Saskatoon Public School Board)
ALEXANDRA-PRINCESS PUBLIC SCHOOL, 20th Street at Avenue H South, 1911-12; demol. 1961 (C.R., xxv, 26 April 1911, 53)
KING EDWARD PUBLIC SCHOOL, 25th Street East at 6th Avenue North, designed in 1910; built 1911-12; burned c. 1980 and demol. (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 30 March 1910, 1; inf. Saskatoon Public School Board)
SUTHERLAND PUBLIC SCHOOL, Egbert Avenue at 110th Street, 1912-13; demol. 1959 (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 28 June 1912, Section Two, p. 6, t.c.; inf. Saskatoon Public School Board)
KING GEORGE PUBLIC SCHOOL, Avenue K South at 16th Street West, designed in 1910; built 1912-13 (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 30 March 1910, 1; inf. Saskatoon Public School Board)
WESTMOUNT PUBLIC SCHOOL, Avenue J. North at 28th Street West, 1912-13 (inf. Saskatoon Public School Board)
BLAIN-McMILLAN BLOCK, 3rd Avenue South, for Frederick A. Blain and Angus McMillan, 1912 (C.R., xxvi, 10 April 1912, 68; Saskatoon Daily Star, 4 May 1912, 5)
ARDATH, SASK., Methodist Church, 1912-13 (Proud Heritage - Conquest - Saskatchewan - Canada, 1967-68, 213, illus.; inf. Frank Korvemaker, Regina)
20TH STREET, moving picture theatre for Frederick A. Blain, 1912 (C.R., xxvi, 17 April 1912, 66)
NORTH BATTLEFORD, SASK., Collegiate Institute, 1912 (C.R., xxvi, 10 April 1912, 64, t.c.; Saskatoon Daily Star, 23 May 1912, 2, t.c.)
KINDERSLEY, SASK., public school, 1912 (H. Boam, The Prairie Provinces of Canada, 1914, 194-5)
DUFFERIN STREET, at Main Street, apartment block for Samuel J. Clotworthy, 1912 (C.R., xxvi, 6 March 1912, 66)
11TH STREET, residence for William F. Moser, 1912 (C.R., xxvi, 27 March 1912, 67)
WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Eastlake Avenue at 12th Street, Nutana, 1912 (Saskatoon Daily Star, 4 May 1912, 5)
6th AVENUE, apartment block for E.S. Blain, 1912 (Saskatoon Daily Star, 22 June 1912, 5, t.c.)
VICTORIA PUBLIC SCHOOL, Broadway Avenue at 12th Street, 1912 (inf. Saskatoon Public School Board)
WILKIE, SASK., public school, 1912 (H. Boam, The Prairie Provinces of Canada, 1914, 194-5)
GRACE METHODIST CHURCH, 10th Street, Nutana, 1912 (Saskatoon Daily Star, 28 June 1912, Section Two, p. 6, t.c.; H. Boam, The Prairie Provinces of Canada, 1914, 194-5)
ST. THOMAS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Avenue H. South at 20th Street, a new manse for the church, 1912 (Saskatoon Daily Star, 13 July 1912, Section Two, p. 6, t.c.)
DUCK LAKE, SASK., a large brick school building, 1914 (Saskatoon Phoenix, 22 May 1914, 9, t.c.)
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION BUILDING (or hut), 21st Street, 1919 (Saskatoon Daily Star, 13 May 1919, 3)
NUTANA, SASKATOON, a two room public school, 1919 (Saskatoon Phoenix, 30 July 1919, 13, t.c.)
MELFORT, SASK., hospital, 1919 (C.R., xxxiii, 24 Sept. 1919, 46)
LAIRD, SASK., large addition to public school. 1920 (Saskatoon Phoenix, 16 Jan, 1920, 2, descrip.)
NUTANA, SASKATOON, a new Roman Catholic School for St. Paul's Parish, 1920 (Saskatoon Daily Star, 28 April 1920, 10, t.c.)
ARDATH, SASK., public school, 1920-21; demol. c. 1985 (Saskatoon Daily Star, 18 March 1920, 3, descrip.; and 29 April 1920, 14, t.c.; and 1 Feb. 1921, 15, descrip.; C.R., xxxiv, 24 March 1920, 56)
ELSTOW, SASK., major addition to public school, 1920-21(Saskatoon Daily Star, 24 July 1920, 15, t.c.; and 22 Feb. 1921, 12, t.c.)
FOAM LAKE, SASK., large addition to public sxhool, 1920 (Saskatoon Daily Star, 9 Sept. 1920, 13, t.c.)
J.H. EARLY MOTOR CAR CO., Third Avenue, an auto showroom and service centre for Studebaker cars, 1921 (Saskatoon Phoenix, 19 March 1921, Automobile Section, p. 4, descrip.)
COLEVILLE, SASK., public school, 1921 (Saskatoon Phoenix, 25 April 1921, 15, t.c.)
ESTON, SASK., public school, 1924 (Morning Leader [Regina], 29 May 1924, 12, t.c.; inf. Ross Herrington, Regina)
DOMINION MOTORS AUTO GARAGE, First Avenue North, 1926 (Star-Phoenix [Saskatoon], 15 Dec. 1926, Section Two, 11)
SASKATOON CARTAGE & WAREHOUSE CO., Ontario Avenue, 1926-27 (C.R., xl, 24 Nov. 1926, 52)
SASKATOON MUNICIPAL HOSPITAL, Queen Street North at 7th Avenue North, major addition, 1927 (C.R., xli, 26 Jan. 1927, 53; Saskatoon Phoenix, 18 April 1927, 12, t.c.)
PAPST BREWING CO., large brewery complex with tanks and storage buildings, 2nd Avenue North at Queen Street, 1927-28 (Daily Commercial News [Toronto], 25 June 1927, 6; Saskatoon Daily Star, 21 April 1928, 3, descrip.)
HOTEL CECIL, 20th Street East, a new 40 room hotel, 1928 (Saskatoon Daily Star, 14 March 1928, 14, t.c.)
MACKLEM PUBLIC SCHOOL, major addition, 1928 (Saskatoon Daily Star, 5 May 1928, 3)
ST. JOSEPH'S ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL, Broadway at 8th Street, 1928 (Saskatoon Daily Star, 19 May 1928, 3; C.R., xlii, 13 June 1928, 66)
3RD AVENUE NORTH, at 26th Street, apartment block, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 30 May 1928, 173)
WINTER FAIR BUILDING, Lorne Avenue at Ruth Street, 1929 (C.R., xliii, 17 April 1929, 67)
WESTERN APARTMENTS LTD., three apartment blocks at 5th Avenue North at 23rd Street East, 1929-30 (C.R., xliii, 15 May 1929, 71; and xliv, 30 April 1930, 67)
POLICE STATION, 4th Avenue at 23rd Street East, 1929 (C.R., xliii, 21 Aug. 1929, 96, t.c.)
REGINA, SASK., showroom and warehouse for I.J. Haug & Sons, 8th Avenue at Osler Street, 1929 (C.R., xliii, 17 April 1929, 68)
WEBSTER & GILBERT (works in Saskatoon unless noted)
PRINCE ALBERT, SASK., Prince Edward Public School, 1931 (C.R., xlv, 15 April 1931, 62; dwgs. at Sask. Dept. of Public Works, Regina)
J.H. EARLY MOTOR CO., 3rd Avenue North at 23rd Street East, showroom and garage, 1932 (C.R., xlvi, 11 May 1932, 48)
NORTH BATTLEFORD, SASK, Craig's Department Store, 101 Street at 11 Avenue, 1932 (Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 4 Nov. 1932, 3 & 17, illus. & descrip.; inf. Frank Korvemaker, Regina)
INDOOR SKATING RINK, Riverside Drive near 3rd Avenue, 1933 (C.R., xlvii, 31 May 1933, 94)
INDOOR SKATING RINK & ARENA, 24th Street at 2nd Avenue, 1936-37 (C.R., vol. 50, 23 Sept. 1936, 28; Star-Phoenix [Saskatoon], 18 Nov. 1937, 11, illus. & detailed architectural descrip.; and p. 13, descrip.)
LENEY, SASK., public school, 1937 (Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 5 April 1937, 17, t.c.)
MELFORT, SASK., major addition to Lady Minto Hospital, 1937 (Winnipeg Tribune, 29 May 1937, 6)
ELITE CAFE, 2nd Avenue, 1938 (Star-Phoenix [Saskatoon], 11 Aug. 1938, 3, detailed descrip.)
FOAM LAKE, SASK., Federal Building, Main Street, 1938 (G. Utas, Summary Classification of Heritage Buildings, 1982, 7)
N.B. for works by Webster & Gilbert after 1939, see entry under John C. Webster.
COMPETITIONS
SASKATOON, SASK., Nutana Collegiate, 11th Street at Victoria Avenue, 1909. The firm of Webster & Noel were one of 25 competitors from as far away as Vancouver and Toronto who sent in designs for this major commission (Daily Phoenix [Saskatoon], 12 June 1909, 12), The four finalists included Webster & Noel, but the First Prize was later awarded to Storey & Van Egmond of Regina.
REGINA, SASK., War Memorial Museum, 1919. Eight Canadian firms were invited to submit designs for this project, including David Webster of Saskatoon (Saskatoon Phoenix, 22 July 1919, 3; Const., xii, Sept. 1919, 276-9, 282, 285, illus. & descrip.). The winners were Nobbs & Hyde of Montreal, but their design was never built.