SINCLAIR, Thomas (1879-1913), a successful architect in Brandon, Manitoba from 1906 until his untimely death in 1913. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland on 20 January 1879, he was educated there and at the age of 16 yrs. he joined the office of Thomas G. Leadbetter as a junior assistant in 1894-95, then gained a full apprenticeship with Leadbetter & Fairley from 1895 to 1900. During this period he took courses in architecture and construction at the School of Applied Arts at Edinburgh University under the supervision of Frank W. Simon, who would later win the competition for the design of the Provincial Parliament Building in Winnipeg. Sinclair then worked as assistant to Scott & Campbell, Architects in Edinburgh in 1900-04, and later as assistant to Henry R. Taylor.
Sinclair emigrated to Canada in April 1904 and settled in Quebec Province where he “...spent time in one of the large offices in Montreal” (see biography in The Brandon Weekly Sun, 19 April 1906, 8). In early 1906 to moved to Brandon, Manitoba where he opened his own office and obtained commissions for educational, ecclesiastical, commercial, industrial and residential projects throughout southern Manitoba and in southern Saskatchewan. Despite stiff competition from his local rivals W.A. Elliott, W.H. Shillinglaw, and David Marshall, Sinclair managed to complete more than 30 projects before WWI, but his promising career ended “...after a long and painful illness” in late 1913. Sinclair died in Brandon on 19 December 1913 at the age of 34 years (obituary with photographic port. Brandon Weekly Sun 25 Dec. 1913, 7; obit. Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 20 Dec. 1913, 13; obit. R.I.B.A. Journal [London], xxii, 7 Nov. 1914, 16; biog. S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., The Story of Manitoba: Biographical – Illustrated, Vol. 2, 1913, 129-30; biog. Royal Inst. of British Architects [London], Directory of British Architects 1934-1914, 2001, Vol. 2, 621; inf. Dictionary of Scottish Architects [Edinburgh], entry for Thomas Sinclair [online] ).
BRANDON
WARD FIVE PUBLIC SCHOOL, McTavish Avenue at 11th Street, 1906 (Brandon Weekly Sun, 19 April 1906, 1, descrip.)
ALEXANDRA PUBLIC SCHOOL, College Avenue near 11th Street, 1906 (Brandon b.p. 538, 4 June 1906)
A.E.M. McKENZIE & CO., Pacific Avenue, warehouse, 1906 (Brandon b.p. 600, 13 Aug. 1906)
(with David Ewart) ARMOURY BUILDING, for the Federal Dept. of Public Works, Victoria Street, addition of a rifle gallery, 1907 (C.R., xviii, 13 Nov. 1907, 18; Brandon Weekly Sun, 14 Nov. 1907, 1, descrip.)
8th STREET, restaurant for William Ferguson, 1909 (Brandon b.p. 1169, 13 May 1909)
11th STREET, residence for John S. Maxwell, 1909 (Brandon b.p. 1171, 13 May 1909)
ST. MICHAEL'S ROMAN CATHOLIC ACADEMY, Victoria Avenue East at First Street, for the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions, 1909-10; demol. c. 2000 (Royal Inst.of British Architects, London, Membership Application Form for Thomas Sinclair, Architect, dated 10 March 1911, list of works)
LORNE AVENUE, at 7th Street, apartment block, 1910 (C.R., xxiv, 16 Feb. 1910, 25)
ST. MARY'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, First Street at Louise Avenue, 1910 (C.R., xxiv, 23 Feb. 1910, 22)
McKENZIE STEELE BRIGGS SEED CO., 9th Street, a 6 storey office and warehouse, 1910 (Brandon b.p. 1369, 12 May 1910; Brandon Weekly Sun, 23 Feb. 1911, 2, illus. & descrip.; C.R., xxv, 5 April 1911, 44-5, illus. & descrip.; Brandon: An Architectural Walking Tour, 1982, illus.)
10th STREET, at Princess Avenue, theatre for Charles F. Eagles, 1910 (C.R., xxiv, 1 June 1910, 25; Brandon b.p. 1399, 13 June 1910)
A.E. McKENZIE & CO., 9th Street, stores and offices, 1910 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 11 Aug. 1910, 3, descrip.; Brandon b.p. 1447, 14 Sept. 1910)
KING GEORGE SCHOOL, Victoria Avenue near Park Street, 1911 (Brandon b.p. 1481, 17 March 1911; Brandon Weekly Sun, 12 Oct. 1911, 1, descrip.)
14th STREET, at Princess Avenue, commercial block for A.E. Bullock, 1912 (C.R., xxvi, 10 April 1912, 68)
SHERMAN THEATRE, 10th Street at Princess Avenue, for R.B. Sherman, 1912 (Brandon b.p. 1772, 4 July 1912)
WINTER FAIR ARENA, for the Brandon Winter Fair Association, 1912 (C.R., xxv, 13 Dec. 1911, 118; Brandon b.p. 1775, 18 July 1912)
FRASER BLOCK, Rosser Avenue, for Alexander C. Fraser, 1912 (Brandon b.p. 1811, 30 Aug. 1912)
11th STREET, school for the Brandon School Board, 1912-13 (Brandon b.p. 1872, 21 Dec. 1912)
MASSEY-HARRIS CO., 7th Street at Pacific Avenue, warehouse for the Brandon Holding Co., 1913; converted to apartments c. 1990 and now called Massey Manor (Brandon b.p. 1963, 4 June 1913; Winnipeg Tribune, 28 Feb. 1914, 7, illlus.; Brandon: An Architectural Walking Tour, 1982, illus.)
ELSEWHERE
HARDING, MAN., public school, 1906 (C.R., xvii, 2 May 1906, 2, t.c.)
WHITEWOOD, SASK., a new public school, 1907 (historical article in the Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 3 Aug. 1925, 14)
DAUPHIN, MAN., major addition of classrooms and assembly hall to the South School, 1909 (Dauphin Herald, 20 May 1909, 5, t.c.)
ELVA, MAN., Presbyterian Church, 1909 (C.R., xxiii, 26 May 1909, 20)
KENTON, MAN., Municipal Hall, 1909 (C.R., xxiii, 7 July 1909, 20, t.c.)
JUSTICE, MAN., Methodist Church, 1909; converted to a private residence c. 1970; still standing in 2023 (C.R., xxiii, 28 July 1909, 21, t.c.)
SOURIS, MAN., public school, 1911 (Brandon Weekly Sun, 19 Jan. 1911, 6, descrip.; 25 May 1911, 6, descrip.; C.R., xxv, 14 June 1911, 60)
SWIFT CURRENT, SASK., Knox Presbyterian Church, 3rd Avenue N.E. at Chaplin Street East, 1912 (Leader [Regina], 27 April 1912, 33, t.c.; Brandon Weekly Sun, 9 May 1912, 1, descrip.)
COMPETITIONS
DAUPHIN, MAN., public school, 1909. Sinclair was one of three architects from Manitoba who submitted a design for a large public school in Dauphin in early 1909 (Dauphin Herald, 18 March 1909, 1, descrip.). All three architects were then asked to revise and re-submit their proposal. The winner was J.H. Bossons.