TOWNSEND, Samuel Hamilton (1856-1940), born in Toronto, Ont. on 9 September 1856, he graduated from the Toronto Model School in 1870. In June 1874 he joined the office of the prominent Toronto architect William G. Storm and served a two year apprenticeship with him. In early 1876 he was invited by Herbert Hancock to form a new partnership (see list of works under Hancock & Townsend), and they collaborated for nearly four years before the dissolution of the firm in 1880. Townsend then left for England to work, and to study, and returned to Toronto in September 1883 and opened an office under his own name. Townsend specialized in the design of large residences for wealthy Toronto families. The largest concentration of his work can be found on the Macpherson Estate in the Rosedale neighbourhood where his sumptuous houses line Crescent Road, Cluny Avenue, and Chestnut Park Road. He was an adherent of the Queen Anne style, and his residential works are invariably composed using an asymmetrical plan, with broad sweeping roof planes, projecting bay windows, and deep recessed entrances placed to either side of the property.
He was one of the founding members of the Toronto Architectural Guild in 1887, and of the Ontario Association of Architects in 1889. He served as Secretary of the organization in 1890, and as President of the OAA in 1898. He was also elected as an Associate Member of the Royal Canadian Academy from 1891 to 1909, and exhibited several of his designs at their annual exhibitions (E. McMann, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts: Exhibitions & Members, 1981, 405, list of works). He appears to have all but retired from active practise by 1913, and no references to his work have been found after this date. His successor was Alfred Baker, who took over the practise. Townsend died in Toronto on 27 March 1940 (obit. Globe & Mail [Toronto], 28 March 1940, 4; Toronto Star, 28 March 1940, 10; Telegram [Toronto], 28 March 1940, 13; obit. Engineering & Contract Record [Toronto], liii, 3 April 1940, 39; biog. and port. Canadian Architect & Builder, xi, Feb. 1898, 28)
RESIDENCES
(works in Toronto unless noted)
ST. GEORGE STREET, at Lowther Avenue, for James O. Buchanan, 1889-90 (C.A.B., iii, April 1890, 47)
NASSAU STREET, houses for an unidentified client, 1891 (C.A.B., iv, July 1891, illus.)
ST. JOSEPH STREET, for James Hedley, 1891 (C.A.B., iv, Dec. 1891, illus.)
WELLESLEY STREET WEST, near Bay Street, alterations to residence for William Boultbee, 1892 (Toronto b.p. 881, 20 June 1892)
SPENCER AVENUE, for Ernest G. Orme, 1893 (Toronto b.p. 1474, 8 Nov. 1893)
CRESCENT ROAD, for Alfred E. Boultbee, 1895 (Toronto b.p. 2143, 25 Sept. 1895)
BERNARD AVENUE, residence for Alex Orr, 1898 (Toronto b.p. 13, 18 Feb. 1898)
CRESCENT ROAD, east of Yonge Street, several houses on the Macpherson Estate, 1899-1901 (Toronto b.p. 246-48, 24 March 1899; C.R., xi, 4 April 1900, 3; C.A.B., xviii, April 1905, illus.; xix, June 1906, illus.)
CRESCENT ROAD, near Cluny Drive, for Charles J. Townsend, 1899 (Toronto b.p. 151, 8 July 1899)
CRESCENT ROAD, near Cluny Drive, for W. Mulock Boultbee, 1899 (Toronto b.p. 40, 4 May 1899)
PARK ROAD, near Crescent Road, for Charles N. Candee, 1899 (Toronto b.p. 289, 27 Sept. 1899)
WALMER ROAD, near Bernard Avenue, for Andrew Nicholson, 1901 (Toronto b.p. 53, 14 June 1901)
SHERBROOKE, QUE., for J.M. Jenckes, 1901 (C.R., xii, 21 Aug. 1901, 3)
WALMER ROAD, at Bernard Avenue, for James P. Watson, 1901-02 (Toronto b.p. 76, 13 Nov. 1901; C.A.B., xiv, Dec. 1901, illus.)
WALMER ROAD, near Bernard Avenue, for Andrew Nicholson, 1901 (Toronto b.p. 77, 13 Nov. 1901)
CLUNY AVENUE, near Crescent Road, several houses on the Macpherson Estate, 1902 (Toronto b.p. 179, 11 Jan. 1902; C.R., xiii, 14 May 1902, 4, t.c.; 22 July 1902, 6; C.A.B., xviii, April 1905, illus.)
McKENZIE AVENUE, at Dale Avenue, for Albert E. Kemp, 1903 (Toronto b.p. 1690, 15 Sept. 1903)
MADISON AVENUE, near Bernard Avenue, for William M. Douglas, 1903 (C.R., xiv, 16 Sept. 1903, 3)
CLUNY AVENUE, for Ferguson J. Dunbar, 1904 (Toronto b.p. 328, 26 April 1904)
CLUNY AVENUE, at Crescent Road, for John J. Dixon, 1904 (Toronto b.p. 333, 27 April 1904)
DOVERCOURT ROAD, near College Street, for Dr. J.H. McLane, 1904 (Toronto b.p. 998, 5 Aug. 1904)
CHESTNUT PARK ROAD, for James C. Foy, 1905 (Toronto b.p. 1099, 12 June 1905)
CHESTNUT PARK ROAD, near Yonge Street, for Wilbur C. Matthews, 1906 (Toronto b.p. 5246, 12 Sept. 1906)
CHESTNUT PARK ROAD, near Roxborough Street East, for W.T. Giles, 1906 (Toronto b.p. 5245, 12 Sept. 1906)
ELM AVENUE, near Gordon Avenue, for Richard B. Fudger, 1906 (Toronto b.p. 5867, 8 Nov. 1906)
RUSHOLME ROAD, near College Street, for Samuel Jardine, 1907 (Toronto b.p. 6896, 10 April 1907)
BEAUMONT ROAD, near Glen Road, for Henry C. McLeod, 1907 (Toronto b.p. 7187, 26 April 1907)
CRESCENT ROAD, near Scarth Road, for Charles H. Mortimer, 1907 (Toronto b.p. 7718, 23 May 1907)
SOUTH DRIVE, near Glen Road, for Walter H. Clemes, 1907 (Toronto b.p. 8428, 10 July 1907)
CHESTNUT PARK ROAD, at Roxborough Street East, for Dr. Harvey Vaux, 1908 (Toronto b.p. 11334, 5 June 1908)
HAWTHORNE GARDENS, for William P. Gundy, 1910 (Toronto b.p. 20347, 5 May 1910)
CHESTNUT PARK ROAD, near Roxborough Street East, for W.C. Mathews, 1910 (Toronto b.p. 24284, 5 Nov. 1910)
ROXBOROUGH STREET EAST, for T. Bradley Hyde, 1911 (Toronto b.p. 31921, 5 Dec. 1911)
OTHER WORKS
QUEENSTON, ONT., St. Saviour's Brock Memorial Anglican Church, Princess Street at Highlander Street, 1877-79; still standing in 2022 (Buffalo Commercial Advertiser [Buffalo, N.Y.], 6 Nov. 1879, 3, descrip.; Thorold Post, 7 Nov. 1879, 1, descrip.; C.A.B., iv, Oct. 1891, illus.; The Times [Niagara-on-the-Lake], 19 Nov. 1897, 1, history of the church)
ST. PETER'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, Bleeker Street at Carlton Street, new Sunday School to the north of the church, 1879; still standing in 2022 (Globe [Toronto], 30 June 1879, 3)
SARNIA, ONT., High School, major addition and improvements, 1888 (Sarnia Observer, 15 June 1888, 5; C.A.B., viii, Oct. 1895, 125, illus. & descrip.)
SARNIA, ONT., Sarnia Collegiate, London Road, 1889-91; renamed London Road Public School in 1922; demol. 1976 (Lawrence A. Crich, The Way It Was: The History of the Sarnia Public Elementary Schools, 1986, 39-43; inf. Ian Mason, Sarnia)
UNION BANK, Wellington Street West, addition and alterations, 1894; demol. (C.R., v, 19 April 1894, 1)
ROYAL CANADIAN YACHT CLUB, Esplanade Street West opposite Union Station, 1896; demol. (C.R., vii, 19 March 1896, 1, t.c.; Toronto b.p. 3136, 8 April 1896)
EVENING NEWS PRINTING CO., Yonge Street near Adelaide Street West, new terra cotta facade, 1899 (C.R., x, 8 Nov. 1899, 3)
GUTTA PERCHA RUBBER CO., O'Hara Avenue near Marion Street, factory, 1900 ; addition 1903 (C.R., xi, 7 Feb. 1900, 3; Toronto b.p. 995, 15 April 1903)
POLSON IRON WORKS, Esplanade Street East at Sherbourne Street, 1902 (C.R., xiii, 30 April 1902, 4)
FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH, Bathurst Street near College Street, 1904 (C.A.B., xvii, Nov. 1904, illus.)
COMPETITIONS
TORONTO, ONT., City Hall & Court House, 1885. During the first round of this civic competition, Townsend competed against nearly 50 other architects from the United States and Canada for this important public building (Globe [Toronto], 16 March 1886, 8, list of competitors). All the entries were later set aside and a second competition of seven finalists was called in late 1886. Townsend complained publicly about the mismanagement of the first round and the flawed judging process. The eventual winner of the second competition was Edward J. Lennox.