GALBRAITH, William Breden (1885-1937), active in Toronto, Ont. and a prolific designer of substantial private houses in a variety of eclectic styles, most often located in the neighbourhoods of Forest Hill, Lawrence Park, Moore Park and Rosedale. Born in Montreal on 24 January 1885 he attended Albert College in Belleville and arrived in Toronto in 1904 where he was listed variously as an accountant (in 1904-06) and as a travelling salesman for McGregor Harris Co. (1908-10). He represented Canada at the 1908 Olympic Games in London, competing in the five mile run event. In 1911-14 his name as 'draftsman' was listed in Toronto directories, but he appears to have had no formal education or training in architecture, and may have been entirely self-taught. By 1913 he had begun to style himself as an architect, and he collaborated with W.S. Dinnick, the prominent developer of the Lawrence Park subdivision, to design at least six houses there built between 1913 and 1916, including his own house on St. Leonard's Avenue.
Between March 1925 and April 1930 Galbraith published more than 30 articles on residential architecture in the Toronto weekly magazine called Saturday Night (see citations below). Many of the completed houses illustrated in this journal were designed by Galbraith and in 1930 he reprinted most of the articles in a publication entitled A Canadian Home Plan Book. Credit for the publication was given to the Architectural Service Bureau, 57 Bloor Street West, Toronto which, coincidentally, was also the address of Galbraith's architectural office at that time. A photographic portrait and biography of the architect appears in this book (page 8) along with articles on practical and aesthetic aspects of the houses he had designed in the Toronto area. Galbraith died in Toronto on 12 October 1937 (obit. Telegram [Toronto], 13 Oct. 1937, 27; Toronto Star, 14 Oct. 1937, 5; obit. Engineering & Contract Record [Toronto], 20 Oct. 1937, 52; inf. James L. Packham, Toronto; inf. Ontario Association of Architects)
(works in Toronto unless noted)
RED DEER, ALTA., residence for A.H. Russell, Waskasoo Park, 1912 (Red Deer Advocate, 22 Nov. 1912, 4; Red Deer News, 1 Jan. 1913, 4)
RED DEER, ALTA., residence for F.M. Hacking, Poplar Street, 1912 (Red Deer Advocate, 22 Nov. 1912, 4; Red Deer News, 1 Jan. 1913, 4)
ST. LEONARD'S AVENUE, residence for W. Breden Galbraith, architect, 1913 (Canadian Home Plan Book, 1930, 42, illus.)
LAWRENCE PARK, residence for an unidentified client, 1915 (Const., ix, June 1916, 192-3, illus.)
ORIOLE PARKWAY, residence for Roderick J. MacLennan, 1916 (Const., ix, July 1916, 241)
GOTHIC AVENUE, residence for W.R. Levack, 1916 (Const., ix, Oct. 1916, 362)
QUEEN STREET WEST, residence for J.A. Trebilcock, 1917 (Const., x, Jan. 1917, 40)
TODMORDEN, EAST YORK, residence for Wilfred Davies '...on the estate of Robert Davies', Broadview Avenue at Bater Avenue, 1919 (C.R., xxxiii, 29 Oct. 1919, 1011; Saturday Night [Toronto], 26 Dec. 1925, 21, illus. & descrip.)
MOUNTCLAIR APARTMENTS, St. Clair Avenue West at Kendal Avenue, 1919 (Toronto b.p. 20453, 22 Feb. 1919)
LONSDALE ROAD, at Russell Hill Road, residence for Meyer Brenner, 1919-20 (Toronto b.p. 28099, 16 Dec. 1919; Saturday Night [Toronto], 31 Oct. 1925, 28, illus. & descrip.)
BLOOR STREET EAST, at Castle Frank Road, residence for Dr. John F. Ross, 1920 (Toronto b.p. 29220, 24 March 1920)
GLEN ROAD, opposite Beaumont Road, residence for Dr. Lorne H. Cook, 1920 (Toronto b.p. 34825, 15 Oct. 1920; Saturday Night [Toronto], 11 April 1925, 32, illus.)
GLEN ROAD, near Binscarth Road, residence for H. Frank Vigeon, 1920 (Saturday Night [Toronto], 28 Nov. 1925, 45, illus.)
GLENGROVE AVENUE EAST, residence for Dr. Guy G. Hume, c. 1924 (Saturday Night [Toronto], 28 March 1925, 29, illus.)
MOUNT PLEASANT ROAD, at Glengrove Road, residence for Clarence A. Westley, 1925 (Saturday Night [Toronto], 4 July 1925, 25, illus. & descrip.)
WARREN ROAD, residence for Allen Neilson, 1925 (Saturday Night [Toronto], 14 Nov. 1925, 32, illus.)
GLEN ROAD, duplex for W. Grant Noble and W.G. Noble Jr., 1925 (Saturday Night [Toronto], 12 Dec. 1925, 40, illus. & descrip.)
EDGAR AVENUE, residence for Kenneth S. Zimmerman, 1925 (Saturday Night [Toronto], 20 Feb. 1926, 29, illus. & descrip.)
NORTH YORK, residence for an unnamed client, Donwoods Drive near Yonge Street, 1925 (Saturday Night [Toronto], 20 March 1926, 32, illus. & descrip.; C.R., xlii, 18 April 1928, 106, illus. in advert.)
NORTH YORK, residence for Frederick T. Maughan, Ivor Road, c. 1926 (Canadian Home Plan Book, 1930, 22, illus.)
PORT CREDIT, ONT., residence for Walter Keens '.......on the Toronto-Hamilton Highway', c. 1926 (Canadian Home Plan Book, 1930, 30, illus.)
GANANOQUE, ONT., factory for Skinner Co. Ltd., 1926 (C.R., xl, 15 Sept. 1926, 54; xli, 12 Oct. 1927, 50-1)
ST. EDMUND'S DRIVE, near Lawrence Avenue East, residence for Albert R. Greene, c. 1928 (Saturday Night [Toronto], 12 April 1930, 20, illus. & descrip.)
CORTLEIGH BOULEVARD, prototype for a 'Toronto Model Home', 1930 (Telegram [Toronto], 23 Sept. 1930, 13, illus. & descrip.; 30 Sept. 1930, 5, illus. & descrip.)
TRULL FUNERAL HOME, Danforth Avenue near Byron Avenue, 1930 (C.R., xliv, 5 Nov. 1930, 62; Toronto Star, 9 May 1930, 35, descrip.; and 27 Feb. 1931, 32, descrip.)